The “Discourse on Colonialism” by Cesaire is a poem that mainly provides an idea that colonialism was never been kind and compassionate movement. Instead of aiming for the life improvement of the people who were colonized, the poem states that majority of its motives are self-centered. On the other and, the poem “I am Joaquin” by Gonzales is viewed as a founding literacy work of other Chicano poems (Hartley, n.d.). It started to make up the identity of Chicano and the concept of revolutionary subjectivity of Chicanismo.
There are various concepts that the “Discourse on Colonialism” that can be applied to “I am Joaquin”. One of the concepts is that the first poem presents a self-centered or focus on specific race, such as the White Europeans, and improves it to establish their identity. Same with the second poem, which establishes its own Chicano identity. In fact, Cesaire (2000) stated that Europe can be viewed as the creation of the third world, which started when they colonized to show their power. The concept of both poems are mainly focused on identity, but with different manners of presentation. In addition, the Gonzales’ piece also expresses a concept that presents movement from present back to the past. For example, an explanation of current Chicano literatures that were founded based on the previous writings. This is a notion that is applicable based on Cesaire’s work. It is a presentation of the present events before looking back to where it all started.
Gonzales and Cesaire’s works both portrays an idea that aims to promote their own identity. Although they have different ways of presentation, they were able to provide the driving forces that lead to the foundation of different identities.
References
Césaire, A. (2000). Discourse on colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Hartley, G. (n.d.). "Corky" Gonzales & Retroactive Chicanismo. Retrieved from http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/hartley/pubs/corky.html
