Refracting The Tempest through the postcolonial lens: George Lamming’s water with Berries and Pleasures of Exile

Abstract

Aims: This paper aims to critically examine the postcolonial reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest through the works of George Lamming, particularly Water with Berries and The Pleasures of Exile. It seeks to explore how the canonical text is reconfigured to interrogate colonial power structures, identity formation, and the enduring psychological impact of empire.

Methodology and Approaches: The study adopts a postcolonial theoretical framework, drawing on the insights of Frantz Fanon and Octave Mannoni to analyse the transformation of the Prospero–Caliban relationship.

Outcome: The analysis reveals that The Tempest operates both as a text that historically legitimises colonial discourse and as a fertile site for its subversion. Lamming’s rewriting foregrounds Caliban as a figure of resistance, while exposing the complexities of linguistic inheritance and psychological dependency. The reversal of colonial trajectories—from colony to metropolis—highlights the persistence of imperial power in altered forms within postcolonial realities.

Conclusion and Suggestions: The paper concludes that Lamming’s engagement with The Tempest extends beyond mere adaptation, offering a profound critique of colonial legacies that continue to shape cultural and intellectual identities. It suggests the need for further interdisciplinary studies that examine literary rewritings as dynamic sites of resistance and re-articulation, particularly in relation to language, memory, and postcolonial subjectivity.