This paper focuses on “Gardening in the Tropics” (1994), the second poetry collection by Olive Senior, a contemporary Jamaican-born Canadian author. Taking its cue from the volume’s provocative title, my analysis begins by considering the meanings that should be attributed to the notion of ‘gardening’ and its historical phenomenology in the Caribbean region, in connection with both European colonization and West Indian ancestral heritage. Subsequently, attention is drawn to the ways the poems’ Creolized voices, imagery and discursive tools succeed in foregrounding the axiology, cultural roots/routes, resistance and survival strategies of Caribbean peoples. Space is also devoted to the motifs of conservation, horticulture and the ecosystem, including references to a number of indigenous or nativized plants, which Senior significantly recollects by retrieving their original (pre-Linnaean) names.
Questo articolo si focalizza su “Gardening in the Tropics” (1994), la seconda raccolta poetica di Olive Senior, autrice contemporanea canadese di origini giamaicane. Prendendo spunto dal titolo provocatorio del volume, la mia analisi si apre con una riflessione sui significati che dovrebbero essere attribuiti all’idea del ‘gardening’ e sulla sua fenomenologia storica nella regione caraibica, in relazione sia alla colonizzazione europea, sia all’eredità ancestrale che connota le Indie Occidentali. L’attenzione converge poi sui modi in cui le voci creolizzate, l’immaginario e gli strumenti discorsivi delle poesie riescono a far luce sull’assiologia, le radici e le rotte culturali, le strategie di resistenza e sopravvivenza dei popoli caraibici. Spazio è anche dedicato ai motivi della conservazione, dell’orticoltura e dell’ecosistema, compresi i riferimenti alle piante autoctone o acclimatate, che Senior significativamente rievoca con i rispettivi nomi originari (anteriori alla nomenclatura introdotta da Linneo).
“Mixed up in this amazing fecundity”. Persistenze ecosistemiche e vitalistico-ancestrali in “Gardening in the Tropics” di Olive Senior
LAURA GIOVANNELLI
2023-01-01
Abstract
This paper focuses on “Gardening in the Tropics” (1994), the second poetry collection by Olive Senior, a contemporary Jamaican-born Canadian author. Taking its cue from the volume’s provocative title, my analysis begins by considering the meanings that should be attributed to the notion of ‘gardening’ and its historical phenomenology in the Caribbean region, in connection with both European colonization and West Indian ancestral heritage. Subsequently, attention is drawn to the ways the poems’ Creolized voices, imagery and discursive tools succeed in foregrounding the axiology, cultural roots/routes, resistance and survival strategies of Caribbean peoples. Space is also devoted to the motifs of conservation, horticulture and the ecosystem, including references to a number of indigenous or nativized plants, which Senior significantly recollects by retrieving their original (pre-Linnaean) names.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
