Nationalist Consciousness in Derek Walcott's Omeros

Nationalist consciousness is the shared sense of national communality of a group of people who uphold a common background despite cultural and linguistic differences. This study is set out to establish that a nation's history is one factor that can evoke a sense of nationalist consciousness. The history of St. Lucia, as obtains in the text, is examined by detailing how it embodies both nation-creation and nation-building. Thus, by exploring the metaphoric representation of these two concepts, the nation's history is highlighted as an element that can evoke a sense of nationalist consciousness in Omeros. "This is an excellent study, employing the theoretical model of intertextuality to establish how a literary text Omeros achieves nation-creation and nation-building. The researcher's mature handling of the subject, familiarity with subject/literature and mature control of the metalanguage and the mechanics of the language as well as mature expression make this work an invaluable contribution both to the literature on Omeros and to studies on historicity and intertextuality." ~ Prof. D. I. Teilanyo, Professor of English and Literary Studies, University of Benin, Nigeria.