UWI GRIP


	Name	Dr. Rose-Ann Walker
	Programme:	PhD, Literatures in English
	Department of Programme:	Liberal Arts
	Name of Supervisor/s:	Dr. Patricia Ismond (deceased), Prof. Funso Aiyejina
	Duration of your Programme:	8years Part-time
	Nationality:	Trinidadian

Some of the challenges I was able to overcome while pursuing the degree were feeling alone about the importance of the study, working without an assigned supervisor for a period of time, and being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that required immediate surgery.
I triumphed over those challenges with God’s grace because I really couldn’t persist without the clear feeling that I was called to do the work. It is that conviction which somehow kept me going. My faith experience also told me that if I were indeed chosen to bring out the meaning and significance of Wilfred Cartey’s work and life, then somehow all the necessary support would be provided and I should not worry nor let anxiety reign. As I gradually rested in that understanding, the process had a tremendous positive impact on my relationship with the work, on my spiritual awareness, and on my overall attitude to life – it enabled me to root myself in the present, taking one day at a time confidently, responsibly, and honestly. What existential peace!
Some of my best memories are as follows:
- conversing with Cartey’s sister and nieces to acquire biographical details.
- the occasions of serendipity when I would come across an article or a book that would excite me about the ideas in my thesis;
- the favourable reception of my first seminar presentation on the thesis at UWI, St. Augustine;
- the lively dialogue that was sparked with my presentation of a paper from the thesis at a Postgraduate colloquium in UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados;
- the quiet, ongoing affirmation and support I received from my supervisor as the work took shape.
Key findings / Conclusions from my thesis:
The thesis examines Wilfred Cartey’s thought and aesthetic with a view to establishing their significance for Caribbean letters. It locates Cartey’s thought in the mainstream of discourse on African and Caribbean literatures and shows how his critical and creative philosophy is rooted in a poetics of potential which conceptualizes the spiritual reality of human existence within a paradigm of potentiality and innerness as mediated through Cartey’s self-designated transformative vision.
Key findings:
o Cartey’s thought and aesthetic did not emerge in a vacuum, but as an integral part of a burgeoning Caribbean literary tradition, his work identifying him as an important pan-Africanist pioneer and literary critic.
o In opposition to the reductive, materialistic perspectives of his day, Cartey’s transformative vision portrays an evolutionary view of ultimate reality and of the human person, albeit with language, imagery, and themes which bespeak a Caribbean heritage.
o The movement from personality to presence in Cartey’s transformative vision contextualizes the spiritual reality of human existence which is codified as “potentiality” and “innerness” in Cartey’s poetics of potential.
o Cartey’s transformative vision asserts a theistic belief about the nature of humanity and about being, but without using the language of a specific religion and without using the term “God.”
o Cartey’s transformative vision is a conceptualization of his private experience of blindness, his self-positioning as blind philosopher/seer facilitating his application of a unique form of “seeing” to his reading of African and Caribbean literary texts.
Conclusions:
o Cartey’s thought and aesthetic are central to the development of Caribbean literature, his poetics of potential as mediated through his transformative vision being the distinguishing feature of his legacy in Caribbean letters.
o Cartey’s transformative vision champions the dominance of spirit over matter.
o The fledgling discourses of Caribbean theology and Caribbean philosophy are appropriate for locating Cartey’s thought and aesthetic in Caribbean letters.
Role of supervisors in timely completion of thesis:
I was encouraged initially by Dr. Ismond’s endorsement of how I had planned to approach the work and her subsequent approval of the biographical summary and my first thoughts on Cartey’s poetry. Later, Prof. Aiyejina’s openness and accessibility facilitated ongoing dialogue between us so that I became comfortable with how the thesis was emerging. He also seemed to understand my needs and allowed me the space and time to complete the work in the way it seemed to demand. His support was life-giving when I had to have surgery and follow-up treatment.
Impact of expertise and knowledge on further studies and career:
Working on the thesis made me confront my understanding about what it means to be human. In that regard, it deepened my interest in Ethics even as it illuminated for me the rich research potential that exists in the fields of Caribbean Literature, Caribbean theology and Caribbean Philosophy. After the thesis was submitted, I immediately enrolled in two separate ethics courses for credit (semester two, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009). The courses are part of the curriculum in the B.A Theology degree programme that is administered at UWI St. Augustine through the Regional Seminary, St John Vianney and the Uganda martyrs. My career aim is to establish Cartey’s transformative paradigm as an appropriate interpretive framework for humanizing literary criticism and giving it widespread meaningfulness and appeal.
Programme pursued at undergraduate level. How did it prepare me for postgraduate work?
Economics was my undergraduate major. Completing that degree at Columbia University, New York, prepared me for postgraduate work in that it exposed me to what academic excellence entails. Additionally, because of the university’s liberal arts focus, my knowledge base became multidisciplinary as together with subjects in my major, I also completed electives in Spanish grammar and literature, English literature, African American literature, Structure and Style, Psychology, Art history and Public Speaking. Altogether, my undergraduate experience enabled me to recognize my academic strengths on which I have continued to build in my journey of continuous development.
Other major academic awards:
-Most Outstanding Student, Cipriani Labour College, Trinidad, 1972-1974.
- Dean’s Honor Roll, Columbia University, 1975.
- Lifetime membership in the International Language Honour Society, Gamma Zeta Chapter, Columbia University, New York, 1978 for excellence in undergraduate Spanish language and Literature; awarded Sigma Delta Pi (Greek Letters).
Publications have appeared in the following:
- The Catholic News
- T&T Review
- Newsday
How I hope the research has contributed to the development of society:
Seeing that Cartey’s work was produced after he became blind, I hope the research will improve recognition of the blind as an integral part of the Caribbean’s intellectual capital with potential waiting to be explored. Additionally, the research foregrounds the notion of a blind sensibility and blindness as a form of discourse, issues that are yet to receive scholarly attention in the Caribbean academy. Finally, it is hoped that the study will establish Cartey’s place as a pioneer in the literary and intellectual history of the Caribbean and that his transformative aesthetic will positively impact Caribbean theological and philosophical discourse.
Some guidelines/tips for postgraduate students:
o Be clear about what you want to do / accomplish.
o Stay committed to the work.
o Set high standards.
o Be open to guidance/advice from your supervisor.
o Have a positive self-concept.
o Be open to change.
o Let the work speak to you.
Some suggestions for improving the postgraduate experience:
- Make funding available specifically for the older non-traditional student whose potential for success is appropriately evidenced by her/his prior academic achievements and continuous development history.
- Institute specific academic advising for the older non-traditional student whose interface with the academic environment may generate concerns that have not been considered by the university.
- Provide supervisors who are willing to guide older non-traditional students to success.
How do I feel about receiving the award?
I feel extremely gratified not only for myself, but for Cartey. This award gives his
thought and aesthetic a special place in the public domain and highlights them for
further scrutiny and critical attention. I am also happy to be a model of what could
be achieved despite illness and other personal challenges, the journey actually
evidencing the interplay of “potentiality” and “innerness,” the core parameters of
Cartey’s poetics of potential.

The University of The West Indies

Interview with Dr. Rose-Ann Walker, Cave Hill Campus