CYRIL DABYDEEN

Book Details

• Title: Cyril Dabydeen

• Author: Jameela Begum

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• ISBN: 8170335765

• Publication Year: 2000

• Pages: 144

• Binding: Hardback

• Sale Territory: India

About the Book

Cyril Dabydeen is a critical monograph that examines the celebrated Caribbean-Canadian writer’s works through the lens of diasporic theory. This volume offers an insightful analysis of Dabydeen’s poetry, short stories, and novels, positioning him as “one of the most confident and accomplished voices of the Caribbean Diaspora this side of the late 20th century” (Kamau Brathwaite).

Jameela Begum explores Dabydeen’s creative journey—not as a nostalgic retreat into the past, but as a profound exploration of the Caribbean experience and its diasporic identity. His writing reflects the complexities of cultural displacement, nostalgia, and the challenges of settlement in Canada, while also embracing Indo-Caribbean sensibilities shaped by his heritage.

With sensitivity and scholarly depth, Begum highlights Dabydeen’s ability to transcend temporal boundaries, weaving myth, history, and legend with a warmth and humour that make his voice both unique and universal.

About the Author

Jameela Begum (b. 1952) is the Director of the Centre for Canadian Studies and Professor at the Institute of English, University of Kerala. She is currently President of the Indian Association for Canadian Studies. A Shastri Indo-Canadian Fellow at York University, Toronto, she has delivered lecture series on Canadian Literature in 1990 and 1993, and has presented research at numerous international conferences.
Her editorial works include:

• Commonwealth Literature: Themes and Techniques

• Canadian Literature: Perspectives

• South Asian Canadiana

• Canadian Voices (anthology of poems)

• Literary Theory: (Re)Reading Culture and Aesthetics