London Taxi Driver

Denne analysehjælp guider dig igennem digtet "London Taxi Driver" af David Dabydeen, som du blandt andet kan læse i tekstbogen London - migrant city, s. 126. I guiden tager vi et kig på alle de elementer i digtet, som vil være relevante at drage frem, hvis du selv skal skrive en analyse. Vi kigger både på sprogbrug og opbygning, tema og budskab samt muligheder for perspektivering.

Præsentation af teksten

Titel: “London Taxi Driver” (1988)
Forfatter: David Dabydeen
Genre: Poesi

David Dabydeen (f. 1955) er en britisk-guyansk kritiker og forfatter. Han har siden 2010 været Guyanas ambassadør i Kina samtidig med at han er tilknyttet University of Warwick som professor. De fleste af Dabydeens værker handler om identitet og postkoloniale problemstillinger.

Uddrag

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Summary

The poem presents a cab ride from Tooting, in south London, to Waterloo station. During the ride, the cab driver swears and is angered by the traffic. He tells the passenger about his life in London, about being single and lonely and about the soap operas he watches. They pass the slums of Lambeth, and the narrator explains that the driver has come to London from Berbice (Guyana), where women carry water on their heads and men dig to make mud houses. In the past, European Christians tried to colonise Guyana, but the people’s old religion (Hinduism) can still be seen in the flags, even if they are old and discoloured. Now, is the taxi driver's fights against the traffic and the traffic rules he often breaks. His sole comfort in London is paid sex.