Yeats’ nationalism and the question of language: A study of said’s ‘yeats and decolonization’

Post-colonial discourse relies heavily on the position of the writers writing from the erstwhile colonized spaces and the stand they take. Among other things, the idea of language becomes a point of departure vis-à-vis which the writers try to recoup their histories, traditions, customs and native narratives which have been shadowed by the more dominating narratives of the colonizers. This article, thus tries to revisit the essay penned by Said, ‘Yeats and Decolonization’, in order to bring out the discrepancies which lie at the heart of the argument in the essay. As Said tries to negotiate his way, salvaging Yeats as a writer who writes from a nativist–nationalist position, Said gives way to a debate appropriating the language question which he addresses in the context of other writers like Thiongo but Yeats. Said doesn’t pose the question of language vis-à-vis Yeats who never wrote in Gaelic, language of Ireland, but always in English. The article tries to problematize the position of Said as he looks at the colonial enterprise as a massive project which tried to reshape the colonies to make it ‘look familiar’ to their eyes and in turn made the natives feel belittle about their native language and traditions. Ngugi Wa Thiongo talks about the decolonization of mind, an argument which is rooted in language and consequently talks about a return to the native language as the first step in the decolonization process. The article, therefore, assesses Said’s position and tries to put the language question first in Yeats’ nationalism.