The lines I referenced here include Caliban's declaration "not fe dem/not fe dem / de way caliban / done / but fe we / fe a-we / for nat one a we shd response if prospero get / curse / wid im own / curser" (Brathwaite 2.26-34) as well as the lines "inna / libraria / all a dem brooks of the dead" (Brathwaite 2.144-46). I wanted to visually interpret Caliban's linguistic journey in "Letter SycoraX" using an image I took a little over three years ago. By adapting an old photo which no longer held any meaningful context into something new and relevant, I aimed to both analyze and reimagine Brathwaite's character Caliban's power over language.
This image presents two relatively straightforward references to Caliban in "Letter SycoraX." The first is the books themselves, which are Shakespearean and classical texts that transform from their expected forms into a nearly unrecognizable "glitch." This touches upon the way Brathwaite's Caliban has changed from Shakespeare's character through his free manipulation of the "classical" English language. Second, the "glitch" itself acts similarly to the way Caliban carves and maneuvers the English language using his digital word processor - his "cursor" (Brathwaite 2.34). The effect this transformation has on the viewer calls particular attention to the way we interpret new, different concepts like Caliban's nation-language. On first glance, one might assume that my photo has been uploaded incorrectly, since those familiar with computers have learned to associate a "glitch" with something going wrong. Likewise, the text of "Letter SycoraX" features frequent misspellings of English words, tending to be read as mistakes rather than inventions. The image above asks us to consider how what we are familiar with effects how we view unfamiliar concepts in art and literature. Just as familiarity with computers makes this image seem wrong, familiarity with the English language makes Caliban's words in "Letter SycoraX" seem wrong. Holding classic, expected, and familiar concepts on a pedestal can be blinding, and I think Brathwaite speaks to this, especially in the way Caliban feels confined by the "brooks [books] of the dead" (Brathwaite 2.146). Caliban does not physically appear in this image, but my goal was to incorporate some of the core aspects of his character in "Letter SycoraX," almost as if Caliban was the artist.
by Lily McBeath