Caribbean Literature

Caribbean literature, literary works of the Caribbean area written in Spanish, French, or English. The literature of the Caribbean has no indigenous tradition.

The pre-Columbian American Indians left few rock carvings or inscriptions (petroglyphs), and their oral traditions did not survive 16th- century Spanish colonization. Britain, and the Netherlands.

The West Africans who replaced them were also without a written tradition, so for about 400 years Caribbean literature was an offshoot and imitation of the models of the colonial powers— Spain, France Great Britain and The Netherlands.

The British Caribbean, developing its national literature after 1945, made its own contribution in the folk dialect novel: Vic Reid’s New Day (1949), Samuel Selvon’s A Brighter Sun (1952) and The Lonely Londoners (1956), George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin (1953), and V.S. Naipaul’s Mystic Masseur(1957) and A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), among others; and in the poetry of Louise Bennett (Jamaica Labrish, 1966). 

Caribbean or West Indies literature? Both terms are often used interchangeably despite having different origins and referring to slightly different groups of people.

West Indies: 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. Caribbean: Defined as "of the Caribbean...its people, and their cultures" only

Yellow Is the color of gold, butter and ripe lemons. In the spectrum of visible light, yellow is found between green and orange. Blue Is the colour of the clear sky and the deep sea. It is located between violet and green on the optical spectrum. Red Is the color of blood, and because of this it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger and courage.

ANTIGUA: also known as Waladli by the native population, is an island in the West Indies. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.

Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. JAMAICA KINCAID Born May 25, 1949 Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. Born in St. John's, Antigua (part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda).

Sent to NY as an au pair KINCAID’S BIO Grew up in relative poverty Educated in the British Colonial Education System. Sent to NY as an au pair Refused to send money home Cut ties with her family for 20 years Removed from school to help the family.

Birth Name Change CHANGING HER NAME She was born Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson. Change She decided to change her name as "a way for [her] to do things without being the same person who couldn't do them—the same person who had all these weights"

CAREER OVERVIEW College Girls Magazines Other magazines Popularity She resigned from her job to attend college at New Hampshire, but dropped after a year and returned to NYC. Girls Magazines Started writing for girls magazines and changed her name to Jamaica in 1973 when her first story was published. Other magazines Became a writer for The Village Voice and Ingénue. Popularity Her stories started to appear in The Paris Review and The New Yorker (where her novel Lucy was serialised). The New Yorker Was employed as staff writer in 1976 and then as a featured columnist for 9 years. Her Novels Loosely autobiographical. “Everything I say is true and everything I say is not true.”

USUAL THEMES Colonialism and colonial legacy Postcolonialism and neo-colonialism  Gender and sexuality, renaming  Mother-daughter relationships British and American imperialism Colonial education Racism, class, power, and adolescence

TONE & STYLE Much criticised by critics. Harold Bloom claims Kincaid stresses social and political practices at the expense of literary qualities. Others say she falls under the category of magical realism, whereas others claim she is a Modernist.

ANNIE JOHN (1985)

Plot: details the growth of a girl in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. It covers issues as diverse as mother-daughter relationships, lesbianism, racism, clinical depression, poverty, education, and the struggle between medicine based on "scientific fact" and that based on "native superstitious know-how".

The book's chapters were originally published separately in The New Yorker, before being combined and published as the novel Annie John, the stories connected by Kincaid's use of Annie John as the narrator.

Since it was first published as a series, we may use each of the chapters as stand alone short stories or all of them tied together as a novel.

😉😉 ✋👆👉👍👤👦👧👨👩👪💃💃🏃💑❤😂😉😋😒😭👶😸🐟🐟🍒🍔💣📌📖🔨🎃🎈🎨🏈🏰🌏🔌🔑 Sources: Brittanica.com Slidescarnival.com Teaching Anglophone Caribbean Literature by Supriya M. Nair ✋👆👉👍👤👦👧👨👩👪💃💃🏃💑❤😂😉😋😒😭👶😸🐟🐟🍒🍔💣📌📖🔨🎃🎈🎨🏈🏰🌏🔌🔑