This thesis aims to interpret the construction of cultural identity of the Caribbean islands in Derek Walcott¡¦s The Haitian Trilogy: Henri Christophe, Drums and Colours, and The Haitian Earth. To rely on the postcolonial and cultural critics¡¦ study on mimicry, multiple voices and identity construction, I take the construction of cultural identity as a transitional process to fabricate a way to identify with the land that people live on. The colonial background and the postcolonial exploration in the Caribbean islands combined with its diverse racial components, the Caribbeans always experience the predicament in identity construction. Derek Walcott composes his writings from this complex environment and represents the identity formation through continuing observation and exploration. In Introduction, the historical context and the literary development in the Caribbean islands introduce the theme of history and cultural as the common consideration of Caribbean writers; therefore, among their writings, the construction of cultural identity situates a significant position in their writings. The Haitian Revolution plays a significant role in the cultural identity formation in the Caribbean literary writings, since it is the turning point to lead this area from colonization to postcolonial situation, and it inspires writers to review the historical incident and to rewrite the history that they, at this time, write by themselves. Derek Walcott¡¦s The Haitian Trilogy comes not from a planned writing sequel, but from spontaneously reiterative consideration of the Haitian Revolution as a means to write the history of one¡¦s own land and to construct the cultural identity from the self-articulation. Chapter Two¡XHenri Christophe examines the means of mimicry to loosen the colonial control over the colonized and furthermore subvert the colonial power. Chapter Three¡XDrums and Colours portrays the colonial and postcolonial subject relation by way of writing the colonial history and juxtaposing multiple voices of the different classes of characters. Chapter Four¡XThe Haitian Earth aims to demonstrate the struggle to free from the colonization in order to construct the cultural identity from the identification with the land rather than with the remorse of the suffering past. The conclusion collocates the above discussion about the trilogy for the transitional process of the cultural identity formation and illuminates Walcott¡¦s position on the construction of the cultural identity in the Caribbean islands and other similar areas.

This thesis analyzes three of the plays inspired by the Haitian Revolution and written by black playwrights. The first chapter covers William Edgar Easton’s Dessalines, a Dramatic Tale: A Single Chapter from Haiti’s History. It discusses Easton’s decision to depict Dessalines as a man of faith, a believer, a Christian. The second chapter employs Langston Hughes’ play, Troubled Island, to argue Dessalines’ modernity. The third play, by Saint Lucian playwright Derek Walcott, is The Haitian Earth. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of his play and its contribution to black consciousness. I propose that the revolution plays a major role in World History, and argue that the Haitian Revolution served as a looking glass to many African Americans in search of a black identity. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection