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Landscape, Place and Belonging in Selected Poems of the Afro-Cuban Writer Jesús Cos Causse
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of Caribbean history. The second critical / theoretical frame of reference embraces broad anti-colonial/post-colonial theories regarding European colonisation and its agenda to plunder and exploit non-European peoples and their lands, and treat colonised territories as areas of deficit.
Rejection of the plantation system
Cos Causse’s poetry berates the tradition of colonial writing in which the land / place is represented as being “background decoration” and secondary to technological developments and societal advancements. His obvious commitment to presenting his local landscape as more than a “backdrop” must be viewed as an agenda to reject and suppress “supremacist models” informed by the ideology of colonisation, which “otherises” Caribbean landscape along with its people. In this regard, his poems become a site of contestation to the colonising attempts to objectify and homogenise peoples and places, in keeping with Eurocentric values and ideologies. By depicting tropes drawn from the local landscape, he leaves no doubt that Cuba and the wider Caribbean, possess their own tropical flora and fauna, which are a source of pride to him. There is no nostalgia, no longing for daffodils and tulips which many of us learnt about in the Caribbean, long before we knew the names of some of our own tropical plants. Cos Causse simply celebrates and consistently gives emphasis to different features of his landscape, in a manner which confounds anthropocentrism - a cynical aspect of the ideology of colonisation that rationalises and justifies the colonisation of non-human nature through the imposition of the colonisers’ concept of ideal landscapes on indigenous cultures and landforms.
Jesús Cos Causse
Caribbean history etched in nature
Cos Causse suggests that the land is not divorced from the particular history and ongoing stories of triumph of Caribbean people. He intimates too, that Caribbean lands must be recognised in relation to how the sea links the Caribbean to Africa, not only in terms of geography, but also through the historical journeys which have connected both spaces. Furthermore, land becomes integral to the establishment of Cuban / Caribbean identity. His objective is, undoubtedly, to present key aspects of the place he occupies as an essential constituent of his existence, his history and understanding of himself as Cuban and as Caribbean.
Importance of this study of Cos Causse’s poetry
This article fills an important gap in the information about black writing in Cuba. Although Cos Causse is very prolific, very little has been published about his poetry, except this researcher’s articles which have appeared in international journals. The study gives attention to Cos Causse’s expressions of identity as a member of the Haitian diaspora in Cuba.
This study is important for pointing to the ways in which literature, in general, and Caribbean poetry specifically, can provide an insight into Caribbean history, and re-examiness how this history has traditionally been written. It also serves as an inspiration for self-examination and a re-evaluation of our attitude to the land and spaces of the Caribbean – an act that should lead to deeper understanding of issues related to agency, identity and nation in the Caribbean. Finally, through this study, the many similarities among the islands, in terms of their flora and fauna, are highlighted.
Recognising Outstanding Researchers 2016