Caribbean literature is theliterature of the various territories of theCaribbean region. Literature in English from the formerBritish West Indies may be referred to asAnglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, asWest Indian literature. Most of these territories have become independent nations since the 1960s, though some retain colonial ties to theUnited Kingdom. They share, apart from theEnglish language, a number of political, cultural, and social ties which make it useful to consider their literary output in a single category. Note that other non-independent islands may include the Caribbeanunincorporated territories of the United States, however literature from this region has not yet been studied as a separate category and is independent from West Indian literature. The more wide-ranging term "Caribbean literature" generally refers to the literature of all Caribbean territories regardless of language—whether written in English,Spanish,French,Hindustani, orDutch, or one of numerouscreoles.[1]
The literature of Caribbean is exceptional, both in language and subject. Through themes of innocence, exile and return to motherland, resistance and endurance, engagement and alienation, self determination, Caribbean literature provides a powerful platform forPost-Colonial studies and to Caribbean literatures in importance the context of all literature.
As scholarship expands, there is debate about the correct term to use for literature that comes from the region. Both terms are often used interchangeably despite having different origins and referring to slightly different groups of people. Since so much of Caribbean identity is linked to "insidious racism" and "the justification of slave labor", it is usual to refer to the author of the piece for their identity preference.[2]
West Indian is defined as coming from the "West Indies", which includes "the islands of the Caribbean" and was "used first [for] indigenous population, and subsequently both [for] settlers of European origin and of people of African origin brought to the area as slaves." West Indian can also refer to things that can be "traced back" to the West Indies but the creators "live elsewhere".[3] West Indian "was a term coined by colonising European powers."[4] Caribbean, on the other hand, is defined as "of the Caribbean...its people, and their cultures" only.[5]
Further issues include language classifications like Creole Caribbean literature and Anglophone Caribbean literature. Different languages also make different references to the texts. While there is no terminology that is obsolete, the issue requires acknowledgement, since it is the literature of historically oppressed people.[2] The Spanish Caribbean islands include Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Panama as well as the islands of Venezuela and the Caribbean coast of Colombia.[6]
The literature ofAnguilla,Antigua and Barbuda,Aruba,Curaçao, theBahamas,Barbados,Belize, theBritish Virgin Islands, theCayman Islands,Dominica,Grenada,Guyana,Haiti,Jamaica,Montserrat,Saint Martin,St Kitts and Nevis,St Lucia,St Vincent and the Grenadines,Suriname,Trinidad and Tobago,Turks and Caicos and theU.S. Virgin Islands would normally be considered to belong to the wider category of West Indian literature.
The term "West Indies" first began to achieve wide currency in the 1950s, when writers such asSamuel Selvon,John Hearne,Edgar Mittelholzer,V. S. Naipaul,Andrew Salkey, andGeorge Lamming began to be published in theUnited Kingdom.[7] A sense of a single literature developing across the islands was also encouraged in the 1940s by theBBC radio programmeCaribbean Voices, which featured stories and poems written by West Indian authors, recorded in London under the direction of founding producerUna Marson and laterHenry Swanzy, and broadcast back to the islands.[8] Magazines such asKyk-Over-Al in Guyana,Bim in Barbados, andFocus in Jamaica, which published work by writers from across the region, also encouraged links and helped build an audience.[9]
Many—perhaps most—West Indian writers have found it necessary to leave their home territories and base themselves in theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, orCanada in order to make a living from their work—in some cases spending the greater parts of their careers away from the territories of their birth. Critics in their adopted territories might argue that, for instance,V. S. Naipaul ought to be considered a British writer instead of a Trinidadian writer, orJamaica Kincaid andPaule Marshall American writers, but most West Indian readers and critics still consider these writers "West Indian".
West Indian literature ranges over subjects and themes as wide as those of any other "national" literature, but in general many West Indian writers share a special concern with questions of identity, ethnicity, and language that rise out of the Caribbean historical experience.
One unique and pervasive characteristic of Caribbean literature is the use of "dialect" forms of the national language, often termedcreole. The various local variations in the language adopted from thecolonial powers such asBritain,Spain,Portugal,France and theNetherlands, have been modified over the years within each country and each has developed a blend that is unique to their country. Many Caribbean authors in their writing switch liberally between the local variation—now commonly termednation language—and the standard form of the language.[10]Two West Indian writers have won theNobel Prize for literature:Derek Walcott (1992), born in St. Lucia, resident mostly in Trinidad during the 1960s and '70s, and partly in the United States since then; andV. S. Naipaul (2001), born in Trinidad and resident in theUnited Kingdom since 1950. (Saint-John Perse, who wonthe Nobel Prize in 1960, was born in the French territory ofGuadeloupe.)
Other notable names in (anglophone) Caribbean literature have includedUna Marson,Earl Lovelace,Austin Clarke,Claude McKay,Louise Bennett,Orlando Patterson,Andrew Salkey,Edward Kamau Brathwaite (who was born in Barbados and has lived in Ghana and Jamaica),Linton Kwesi Johnson,Velma Pollard andMichelle Cliff, to name only a few. In more recent times, a number of literary voices have emerged from the Caribbean as well as the Caribbean diaspora, including KittitianCaryl Phillips (who has lived in the UK since one month of age);Edwidge Danticat, aHaitian immigrant to the United States;Anthony Kellman from Barbados, who divides his time between Barbados and the United States;Andrea Levy of the United Kingdom; JamaicansAlecia McKenzie, who has lived in Belgium, Singapore and France, andColin Channer andMarlon James, the author of the2015 Man Booker Prize-winning novelA Brief History of Seven Killings (as well asJohn Crow's Devil,The Book of Night Women, the unpublished screenplay "Dead Men", and the short story "Under Cover of Darkness"), AntiguanMarie-Elena John, andLasana M. Sekou fromSaint Martin.
Caribbean lands and seas have been depicted as a paradise on earth by foreign artists and writers.[11] Scholars and writers inPostcolonial Studies have researched and published on this cultural phenomenon of an empty island, and the racist implications of a fantasy void of local people and their cultures.[12][13] Caribbean classic novels such asJean Rhys'sWide Sargasso Sea (1966) have inspired films, stories, and poems by other artists who seek to decolonize the relationship of people and landscapes.[11][14]
Caribbean novelists imbue island landscape with bustling life of the locals and migrants. The migration of Caribbean workers to thePanama Canal is often used as a narrative foundation.Maryse Condé’s novelTree of Life (1992) discusses the involvement of family ties and how people seek to improve their lot in life by working to build thePanama Canal.[15] Another contemporary classic about migrant cultures isRamabai Espinet’s novelThe Swinging Bridge (2003), which explores trauma of displacement,Indian indentureship, and the phenomena of invisibility relating to women.[16]
Caribbean stories and poems are ripe with references to storms, hurricanes, and natural disasters.[17] Derek Walcott wrote "The Sea is History," and dramatized the impact of tropical storms and hurricanes on the locals.[18]
Caribbean writing deploys agricultural symbolism to represent the complexities of colonial rule and the intrinsic values of the lands. Native fruits and vegetables appear in colonized and decolonizing discourse.Derek Walcott describes the complications of colonialism using local fruit metaphors, such asstar apples, in his poetry to connote the complexity of acidity and the sweetness.[19][20]Giannina Braschi's postcolonial workUnited States of Banana imagines a political and economic deal between China and Puerto Rico as the exchange of a bowl of rice for a bowl of beans, and aLychee for aQuenepa.[21]
Caribbean poetry is vast and rapidly evolving field of poetry written by people from theCaribbean region and the diaspora.
Caribbean poetry generally refers to a myriad of poetic forms, spanningepic, lyrical verse,prose poems,dramatic poetry andoral poetry, composed in Caribbean territories regardless of language. It is most often, however, written in English,Spanish,Spanglish,French,Hindustani,Dutch, or any number ofcreoles. Poetry in English from the formerBritish West Indies has been referred to asAnglo-Caribbean poetry orWest Indian poetry.
Since the mid-1970s, Caribbean poetry has gained increasing visibility with the publication inBritain andNorth America of several anthologies. Over the decades the canon has shifted and expanded, drawing both on oral and literary traditions and including more women poets and politically charged works. Caribbean writers, performance poets, newspaper poets, singer-songwriters have created a popular art form, a poetry heard by audiences all over the world. Caribbean oral poetry shares the vigour of the written tradition.
Among the most prominent Caribbean poets whose works are widely studied (and translated into other languages) are:Derek Walcott (who won the1992 Nobel Prize for Literature),Kamau Brathwaite,Edouard Glissant,Giannina Braschi,Lorna Goodinson,Aimé Fernand Césaire,Linton Kwesi Johnson,Kwame Dawes, andClaudia Rankine.
Common themes include: exile and return to the motherland; the relationship of language to nation;colonialism andpostcolonialism;self-determination and liberty; racial identity.
There is great abundance of talent, styles, and subjects covered by Caribbean women writers spanning the genres of poetry, theater, short stories, essays, and novels. There is also a burgeoning field of scholarship on how women authors address women's lives under dictatorships, eroticism and the body, history and identity, migration,Afro Caribbean history, decolonization, revolution, queer theory, among countless other topics.
Major novelists includeMaryse Condé (Guadeloupe),Merle Hodge (Trinidad),Paule Marshall (Barbadian-American),Cynthia McLeod (Suriname),Astrid Roemer (Suriname)Elizabeth Nunez (Trinidad-American ),Tiphanie Yanique (Virgin Islands),Rosario Ferre, (Puerto Rico), and Michelle Cliff (Jamaica).
Poets includeMahadai Das (Guyana),Lenelle Moïse (Haiti),Nancy Morejón,Pamela Mordecai (Jamaica),Lorna Goodison (Jamaica),Julia de Burgos,Mara Pastor,Giannina Braschi (Puerto Rico),Merle Collins (Grenada),Shara McCallum (Jamaica),Chiqui Vicioso (Dominican Republic),Jennifer Rahim (Trinidad and Tobago),Olive Senior (Jamaica) and Yvonne Weekes [Montserrat/Barbados].
Playwrights includeUna Marson who wrote in English, andIna Césaire (Martinique) andSimone Schwarz-Bart (France/Guadeloupe) who write in French.[22]
There are many epic stories, plays, and poems written in and about the Caribbean. Dating to the 16th century,Juan de Castellanos'sElegy to the Illustrious Gentlemen of the Indies (1589) is anepic in verse that traces Columbus's arrival to the conquest ofCuba,Jamaica,Trinidad, andMargarita.[23] The work relatesJuan Ponce de León's colonization ofPuerto Rico in search for the mythicfountain of youth.[23] Later epics of theSpanish West Indies include Manuel de Jesus Galvan'snational epic "The Sword and the Cross" (1954) that relates the myths and histories of the colony ofHispaniola.[23]
In the 20th century, epics approach subjects suchracist legacies,economic terrorism, and thedecolonization of Caribbean culture and politics.[24][25] Nobel Prize winnerDerek Walcott wroteOmeros (1990).[26] Thisepic poem is divided into seven books containing sixty-four chapters. Most of the poem is composed in a three-line form that is reminiscent of theterza rima form thatDante used forThe Divine Comedy.[27] The work uses local island folklore and ancient Greek myths such asHomer'Iliad to address legacies of Greek, Roman, and American culture including racism and slavery.[28] Parts of the story occur on Walcott's native islandSt. Lucia, but there are also time travels toancient Greece and Rome, as well as travels to modern dayLisbon,London,Dublin,Toronto.[29]
Giannina Braschi'sEmpire of Dreams (1988) is apostmodern epic composed of six books of poetry that blend elements ofeclogues,epigrams, lyrics,prose poem, diary, jingles, Puerto Ricanfolklore, and politicalmanifesto.[30] The work traces the history of the Spanish language from medieval times to contemporaryPuerto Rico,Cuban,Chicano, andNuyorican culture.[31] Braschi's later epic, written in English, isUnited States of Banana (2011), a geopolitical tragic-comedy about the fall of theAmerican empire, the liberation of Puerto Rico, and the realignment of powers amongCaribbean nations.[32] Mixing elements of poetry,lyric essay, Caribbean songs, andsocratic dialogues, this epic tackles the subjects ofglobal debt,financial terrorism, anddecolonization.[33]
Trinidadianplaywright and novelistEarl Lovelace's work has been described as performative epics that mix the rhythms ofsteelband andcalypso with complex narratives aboutblack power and the political, spiritual, and psychic struggles fordecolonization.[34] His best known works areThe Dragon Can't Dance (1979) andSalt (1996) which won theCommonwealth Book Prize.[35]
Many parts of the Caribbean have begun in recent years to host literary festivals, including in Anguilla, the Anguilla Lit Fest, inCuba theHavana International Book Fair, inTrinidad and Tobago theNGC Bocas Lit Fest,[36] inJamaica theCalabash International Literary Festival,[37] inSaint Martin/Sint Maarten the St. Martin Book Fair,[38] inBarbados Bim Literary Festival,[39] in theDominican Republic the Santo Domingo International Book Fair, inDominica the Nature Island Literary Festival and Book Fair,[40] Alliouagana Festival of the Word[41] inMontserrat, the Virgin Islands Literary Festival and Book Fair, the International Poetry Festival - Puerto Rico, and Antigua and Barbuda Literary Festival.[42] The Caribbean Literature Day is celebrated annually on July 12, in the Caribbean region, across all language zones, and by Caribbean literature lovers worldwide.[43]
(Grouped by territory of birth or upbringing)
Tree of Life is also a grand account of the Caribbean, the politics of race and immigration, and the intricate, often sordid legacy of colonialism... Albert Louis seeks his fortune helping the Americans dig the Panama Canal.
Walcott's poetry does not content itself with decrying the effects of colonial ... like its fruits, its savour', he maintains, 'is a mixture of the acid and the sweet.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)Walcott appropriated Greek classics, local folklore and the British literary canon in his explorations of the ambiguities of race, history and cultural identity.
Poetry here dresses itself in the garb of dramatic monologue, love letter, TV commercial, diary excerpt, movie criticism, celebrity confession, literary theory, bastinado, manifesto
In Caribbean literature, (Braschi) is bringing Puerto Rico's plight into play with other nations, states, and semi-nation states of the region.
Lovelace writes of "traces of Africa, the passions of the black dispossessed, the liturgies of the Shouter churches - he strives to imagine a society which might at last break free from its colonial past, dramatizing the political and psychic struggles of the poor for selfhood."