Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2002

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Mitchell, Susan

Abstract

Behind Dasheen Leaves is a collection of poems that is challenged by the resonance of the Caribbean post-colonial voice. It is a challenge that this collection brazenly battles, as it avoids exoticizing the work, while it submerges the reader in cultural representations. The poems are manifestations of religious syncretism, multiculturalism, and feminist ideas. Behind Dasheen Leaves affects the reader by depicting the products of colonialism while evoking human emotions and experiences. The characters in this collection experience loss, and they struggle with the inability to define self in a society of miscegenation and assimilation. The syncretistic nature of the poems and the lives of the speakers within the poems force the reader to define self in respect to religion, culture, and other societal components evident in the work. Behind Dasheen Leaves normalizes the universe (for its characters, readers, and of course for its writer) as it serves as an emotional, linguistic, and vivid retention of what can no longer be described as lost heritage or history.

Extent

29 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2002.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT12907

Format

pdf

Download

Share

COinS