Quote by M. NourbeSe Philip: “Language is a landscape we inhabit, not merely describe.”

This profound metaphor suggests that language is not just a tool for communication, but a complete environment that shapes our thoughts and identities. We live within its rules and possibilities, rather than simply using it.

The late 1980s saw intense exploration in postcolonial literature of how language itself is a site of power and cultural struggle. Philip's poetry deeply investigates how colonial languages both restrict and offer possibilities for expressing unique Black identities and histories.

Trinidadian-Canadian poet and essayist whose experimental work confronts the violence of colonial language and legal systems. Her 2008 poetry collection Zong! reconstructs the legal decision in the Zong massacre — in which enslaved people were thrown overboard for insurance money — from the original court documents.