On Seeing England for the First Time

Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid: Bio (1)• Born Elaine Potter

Richardson in St. Johns, Antigua in 1949; lived her step-father, mother, and three brothers

• father: a carpenter and cabinetmaker

• mother: a homemaker and political activist.

• Completed her secondary education under the British system

Jamaica Kincaid: Bio (2)

• Left Antigua (before its Independence) when she was 17.

• As the eldest of four, and the only girl, she was apprenticed to a seamstress, then plucked from school, where she was excelling, and sent to the US as an au pair (“really a servant”互婢，指以授课、协助家务等换取膳宿的姑娘 )

• changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid because her family disapproved of her writing.

Antigua（拉丁美洲岛国安提瓜）• A lot more blacks

than white people; • A British colony till

1967.

Kincaid on Colonialism & Antigua

• Within the structure of the British educational system imposed upon Antiguans, Kincaid grew to "detest everything about England, except the literature”

• rage at colonialism & the failure of Antigua independence ： – “You distorted or erased my history and

glorified your own"

Para. 1

• In the first paragraph of her piece, Kincaid uses a metaphor of a "jewel" to describe England and extends this figure of speech for several sentences. What connotations does jewel have in this context?

Para. 1

• Compare the three following descriptions of England: one with a metaphor, one with a simile, and one with a sensory detail. Identify the differences in the connotations of diction in each description. By the end of this piece, which image of England fits the rest of Kincaid's details the best: the jewel, the mutton, or the veins? Why?

Para. 1

• Look up the word "Jerusalem" in an encyclopedia so that you understand its many potential connotations when a writer employs it. Then reread it in the context of Kincaid's words. What does Kincaid mean by "Jerusalem" in her piece? What associations does it carry here?

Para. 1

• Kincaid writes, "England was to be our source myth and the source from which we got our sense of reality, our sense of what was meaningful, our sense of what was meaningless." What are the connotations of the phrase "source myth"? How do examples used later show that England is both a "source" and "mythic"?

Para. 2

• What does the phrase “Made in England” come to mean in the essay? Consider Kincaid’s account of her father’s hat. In what ways does the “brown felt hat” represent England? How does Kincaid view the hat?

• Paragraph 2 is ended with “But this breakfast business was Made in England like almost everything else that surrounded us, the exceptions being the sea, the sky, and the air we breathed.” After reading Kincaid's essay, does this statement sound like a hyperbole? Why or why not?

Para. 4

• In paragraph 4, Kincaid uses the following diction: "declaration of war," "conquered," "erasure," "awe," and "small." How do such word choices connect to the examples she has given throughout this piece?

Para.5

• How can the writer see England many times for the first time?

• How does British history influence her family?

Para.6-9

• How does the Antiguan way of living form a contrast to that of the British colonizers?

Para. 10

• What does Kincaid mean when she writes “The space between the idea of something and its reality is always wide and deep and dark. ”?

• What does the writer think of Christopher Columbus?

Para.11-13

• What does the writer think of the British after being able to see the real England?

Para. 14

• What is the effect of the shirt-shopping example provided in para.14? What does it contribute to your understanding of Kincaid’s attitude toward England?

Para. 16

• When Kincaid finally visits England, what aspects of the country does she dislike the most? What does she mean when she says toward the end of her essay that “I may be capable of prejudice, but my prejudices have no weight to them”? Do you find her opinions prejudiced? In your opinion has she or has she not “prejudged” England?

• Is Kincaid's description mostly objective or impressionistic or both? Can you find an example of each type of description? Why do you think she chose this particular angle for her description?

Para.17

• Why is the white cliff of Dover mentioned?

• A poem about Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold.

Dover Beach by Matthew ArnoldThe sea is calm tonight.

The tide is full, the moon lies fair

Upon the straits; on the French coast the light

Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,

Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!

Only, from the long line of spray

Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,

Listen! you hear the grating roar

Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high strand,

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,

With tremulous cadence slow, and bring

The eternal note of sadness in.

• 今夜海面平静。潮水涨满，明月高悬海峡之上；对面法国海岸灯光明灭；英格兰绝壁耸立；远处的宁静海湾，闪烁、无边。快来窗边，夜晚空气如蜜甜！唯一的是，从那长长的海浪线，从那大海和月光漂洗的土地交会之地，听啊！你听得见那嘎吱嘎吱的呐喊那是海浪带着卵石退去，又抛起，再次回来时，将其送上高地，一来，一去，周而复始，有张有驰，不慌不急，带来了忧愁的永恒调子。

Sophocles long ago

Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow

Of human misery; we

Find also in the sound a thought,

Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

• 远古的索福克勒斯曾在爱琴海将它听见，带给他脑子的是人类不幸之污浊的落落起起；我们在这声音里也找到一个思想，当在这遥远的北海岸边将它听见。

The Sea of Faith

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.

But now I only hear

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,

Retreating, to the breath

Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear

And naked shingles of the world.

• 信仰之海也曾一度涨满，围绕地球的海岸如同一卷明丽的腰带伸展。但如今我只能听见它忧郁、绵长、退却的呐喊，在后撤，和着夜风的呼吸，撤下这个世界硕大阴沉的边缘和赤裸的碎石滩。

Ah, love, let us be true

To one another! for the world, which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

And we are here as on a darkling plain

Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

Where ignorant armies clash by night.

• 啊，爱人，让我们彼此忠诚坚贞！因为这个世界，它像梦幻之地在我们面前摊开，如此多样，如此美丽，如此崭新，其实没有欢乐，没有爱情，也没有光明，没有确定，没有平和，痛苦也没有助援；而我们在此也如同身处暗夜的平原，响遍了抗争斗杀的阵阵杂乱警鸣，有如无知的队伍趁夜交兵

MAKING CONNECTIONS:

• What countries do you know of that have been occupied by a foreign power? Which ones in the world are currently occupied? What history do you know about that country? Make a list of countries that interest you and then research some information about a particular country's precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial history. Is the country's current status still considered postcolonial, and if so, what does that definition mean in terms of day-to-day life -- politics, economics, and society?