The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy--Rights of Passage / Islands / Masks

by Edward Kamau Brathwaite

Here for the first time in a single volume is Edward Brathwaite's Caribbean trilogy - Rights of Passage, Masks, and Islands - a brilliant exploration of the predicament of the contemporary New World Negro. Through the tension of jazz/folk rhythm, through historical flashbacks, and excursions to Europe, New York and Africa, the poet interweaves the past and present of his Caribbean homeland - its natural beauty, its violent history, the values that sustain its people - into a vigorous and distinctive poetic statement.

Genres: Poetry, History, Post Colonial, Literature, Nonfiction, Grad School

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Edward Kamau Brathwaite is widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon. A professor of Comparative Literature at New York University, Brathwaite is the 2006 International Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, for his volume of poetry Born to Slow Horses.

Brathwaite held a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex (1968) and was the co-founder of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM). He received both the Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships in 1983, and was a winner of the 1994 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Bussa Award, the Casa de las Américas Prize for poetry, and the 1999 Charity Randall Citation for Performance and Written Poetry from the International Poetry Forum.

Brathwaite is noted for his studies of Black cultural life both in Africa and throughout the African diasporas of the world in works such as Folk Culture of the Slaves in Jamaica (1970); The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770 - 1820 (1971); Contradictory Omens (1974); Afternoon of the Status Crow (1982); and History of the Voice (1984), the publication of which established him as the authority of note on nation language.

Reviews

[Brian Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book in a Caribbean Lit. class I had a rudimentary appreciation of the craft, but I did not relate to the place, the history, the culture, etc. that it describes. I knew nothing of African mythology, and my personal background was very far away from the Caribbean and Africa. My experience has broadened significantly in the 23 years since then, but I still feel like a stranger--an outsider looking into a foreign world--and that is unlikely to ever change. Still, for me, this book in some ways transcends its distant world. There is a mixing of mythology, legend, history, family and community history, and modernity that works to create a rich and compelling experience almost independent of its origins, almost like a novel. I don't think this was the author's intent, but as is often the case, this book transcends itself, becoming something for certain readers that it was probably never intended to be. Perhaps the most extraordinary books, take on a storytelling power that the author fulfills, but doesn't control.

[Tara Betts]

Such a great book for the way it syncretizes so many religious traditions from different parts of the African Diaspora. Braithwaite utilizes syllabics and praise poems too. I could say more, but I just wanted to affirm this book.

[Wayde Compton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Arrivants remains my favourite book of poetry. Somehow it gets better each time I read it.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 5 out of 5]

1994 Neustadt International Literature Prize.
Kamau Brathwaite was from Barbados and his poetry often focuses on the Caribbean and the origin of its black people.
This book is in fact a trilogy of three earlier published epic poems, all covering the “discovery” of America, the ensuing slave trade, the origins of the enslaved people in various African countries and the current daily lives of black people in the Americas.
The poems are very rhythmical, beyond just the metre, and often fall into local vernacular or dialects. It was quite an experience to read these poems and well worth it.

[Renee Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And that no doubt will ever hit / us, the worm’s mischance defeat us, dark roots / of time move in our way to trip us; look, we dance.”

Reading amazing Caribbean poetry never ceases to leave me breathless. Oh Brathwaite the genius you are… MARVEL of a book/collection/series.

Incredibly foundational.

[Jivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I knew more about African-Caribbean religions and cultures in order to get the references. However the poetic representation of diaspora is incredible. The scope, monumental. Undoubtedly a work of genius.

[Suzanne Bhagan]

The Arrivants (1973) by Bajan poet Edward Kamau Brathwaite examines the harrowing journey of Africans across the Atlantic to the New World, their subsequent enslavement, and loss of identity. His poetry encapsulates the sadness and frustration of the captured peoples by drawing parallels with the enslavement of Jews and their release from bondage during Biblical times.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

language rhythm life

[Jiho Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

So looking through a map / of the islands, you see / rocks, history's hot / lies, rot- / ting hulls, cannon / wheels, the sun's / slums: if you hate / us. Jewels, / if there is delight / in your eyes. / The light / shimmers on water, / the cunning / coral keeps it / blue.

Looking through a map / of the Antilles, you see how time / has trapped / its humble servants here. De- / scendants of the slave do not / lie in the lap / of the more fortunate / gods. The rat / in the warehouse is as much king / as the sugar he plunders. / But if your eyes / are kinder, you will observe / butterflies / how they fly higher / and higher before their hope dries / with endeavour / and they fall among flies.

Looking through a map / of the islands, you see / that history teaches / that when hope / splinters, when the pieces / of broken glass lie / in the sunlight, / when only lust rules / the night, when the dust / is not swept out / of the houses, / when men make noises / louder than the sea's / voices then the rope / will never unravel / its knots, the branding / iron's travelling flame that teaches / us pain, will never be / extinguished. The islands' jewels: / Saba, Barbuda, dry flat- / tened Antigua, will remain rocks, / dots, in the sky-blue frame / of the map.

[a l n · Rating 4 out of 5]

sprawling and polyvocal in its lush simplicity and invigorating directness—has a way of pulling colonial history, diasporic relations, and natural beauty into one breath without feeling overwhelmed or occluded

[Amber Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

"After this breach of the sea's balanced/ treaty, how will new maps be drafted?/ Who will suggest a new tentative frontier?/ How will the sky dawn now?"

[Christian Gurdin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a genesis story of the caribbean islands told with archipelagic rhythm, cadence, culture and history in mind

[Finn Horden · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Rights of Passage’ (5)
‘Masks’ (3)
‘Islands’ (3.5)

The person that annotated the copy I am reading from must have likewise enjoyed ‘Rights of Passage’ the most.

[ESTHER MUSYOKA]

VERY GOOD

[S'hi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poems all about movement have to have relevance for these times of more and more movement within society and across cultures. Born in Barbados in 1930 before being educated at Pembroke College Cambridge, Edward Braithwaite’s Carribean trilogy is an interesting juxtaposition to the modern Australia poet Maxine Beneba Clarke. Each rely upon strong rhythms and historical settings to link the cross-currents of black migrations and the internal movements of people coming to terms with very different settings from those they were born to.

This is a book to challenge the songwriters to play with words and not just music.

[Elliot A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of poems that address the topics of slavery and black Atlantic literature. As with all collections, some poems will speak more to the reader than others.

The poems range from almost story-like in narration to very metaphorical and lyrical.

As part of my Black Atlantic Literature class, this collection is a nice supplement to the autobiographical texts I had to read up to this point.

ElliotScribbles

[Rashidabumbray · Rating 4 out of 5]

still learning...im in his class at the moment... will share more soon

[Jared Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ev'ry mout' loss.