The author Oonya Kempadoo in “Tide Running” incorporates culture, gender struggles, and economics of the country where the novel is set in Tobago. The main characters Bella and Cliff play a small role to a much larger role within the novel. Moreover, the colonial history of the island serves as a foundation to the present living of the citizens of Tobago.
The two island republic of Trinidad and Tobago has been one of the most influential of the Anglophone Caribbean nations having attracted a succession of Spanish, English, French, African and Indian peoples and also having developed a Creole culture that particularly through its calypso music has influenced the world. Its population is fairly evenly divided between those of African and Indian descent, speaking English, as well as Hindi, French patois and numerous island dialects. The capital, Port-of-Spain, gives nominal testimony to the first European encounter, that of Christopher Columbus in 1498. He named it the colony Trinidad after the three peaks at its southern tip and the name Tobago probably derives from tobacco. Spain initially took little interests in Trinidad because of its apparent lack of gold or other precious metals. It was not until 1532 that the Spanish first settled and brought along the islands first African slaves. Trinidad remained firmly in Spanish control until 1783. Trinidad became a tug-o-war between many colonial powers. Spain colonized Trinidad in 1532 while Dutch settlers planted sugar on plantations in Tobago in the 1630s. In 1781, France colonized Tobago and further developed its plantation economy. The British captured Trinidad from Spain in 1797 and in 1802 Spain formally ceded the island to Britain.
By 1784, the French were the dominant forc...
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...d Economic Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2 (June 2003), pp. 167-170
Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27865332
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Contrasts between the works exist mostly in structure and slightly in background. Julia de Burgos wrote her poem in the 1930’s, whereas Ferré penned her story in the 1970’s. These times were vastly different in what determined socially acceptability. There was less leverage in Julia de Burgos’ time for women writers and their ideas, especially those as thought provokingly empowered that hers tended to be, compared to Ferré’s world forty years later. Puerto Rico in the seventies still remained marred by sexism, yet went through a wave of legal Feminist reform and change that made small progress. Identity as a strong, independent female separate from the male dominated culture was still a growing identity however, which is why the connections to Julia de Burgos could still be noticeable.
Firstly, the Caribbean smuggling was viewed as necessary and positive in the late eighteenth century. According to William Taggart, a British sailor traveling to testify at his smuggling trial in April 1760, the illegal transportation of goods from the Spanish port of Monte Christi led to general prosperity in the area, as there were only 100 relatively poor families and that the governor had full knowledge of this and demanded a tax of one silver Spanish coin. Taggart mi...
societies to reexamine their view of the Caribbean. In this paper the following topics in The
The novel deals with the pain and pleasure of the past and present and how that effects the identity construction of an individual. The ethnic/racial identity of an individual can be influences by the complexities of a post-colonial society filled with social clashes, inferiority, and the othering of individuals. The novel focuses on the Haitians who have migrated to the Dominican Republic to escape poverty but are still alienated and devalued because of their poor economical conditions. By migrating to the Dominican Republic and crossing the boundary between the two countries they are symbolically being marked as ‘other’ and seen as ‘inferior’ by
Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is focused on the hyper-masculine culture of the Dominican, and many argue that his portrayal of the slew of women in the novel is misogynistic because they are often silenced by the plot and kept out of the narration (Matsui). However, Diaz crafts strong women, and it is society that views them as objects. The novel recognizes the masculine lens of the culture while still examining the lives of resilient women. In this way, the novel showcases a feminist stance and critiques the misogynist culture it is set in by showcasing the strength and depth of these women that help to shape the narrative while acknowledging that it is the limits society places on them because of their sexuality
"Jamaica Unemployment Rate - Economy." Index Mundi - Country Facts. Index Mundi, Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. .
...spoke a Spanish Creole. This made a clear distinction between the two and made it easy for the government to identify the difference. The reader sees how such themes of Birth and Death show so prominently throughout the characters that one must focus on how birth and deaths affect the concept of the individual relating to their own Negritude. It is culture, not skin tones but rather the beliefs and values that each country be it Haiti or Dominican Republic relate to. Danticat’s novel helps us understand the strengths and limits that Rene Depestre states in The Birth of Caribbean Civilisation “there is a progressive ‘negritude’ that expounds the need to rise above all the alienations of man . . . and there is “an irrational reactionary and mystic version of ‘negritude’ which serves . . . as a cultural base for neo-colonialist penetration into our countries” (244).
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Rouse. "Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
The routes to cultural connections and bonds are imperative in the formation of an individual’s rooted identity. Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory uses the process of cultivating the Caco women’s past female experiences, in relation to the Haitian tradition of testing, to contrast its effect on them with that of Sophie’s. Danticat uses her personal experience as the start for her understanding of self. In Christina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban, Pilar Puente’s Cuban heritage requires the recordation of her family’s history as a necessary route in creating an identity through shared maternal bonds. Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow narrates the reconnection of Avey Johnson to her cultural teachings from Aunt Cuney through a spiritual experience while on the island of Carriacou. A female elder serves as a vehicle that offers a connection with their cultural tradition through which the protagonist identity is dependent on. The interlocking of a specific cultural practice and its relation to cultural awareness is seen in the narration of these three novels.
The ocean is what connects the people of the Caribbean to their African descendants in and out of time. Through the water they made it to their respective islands, and they, personally, crafted it to be temporal and made it a point of reference. The ocean is without time, and a speaker of many languages, with respect to Natasha Omise’eke Tinsley’s Black Atlantic, Queer Atlantic. The multilingualism of the ocean is reminiscent that there is no one Caribbean experience. The importance of it indicates that the Afro-Caribbean identity is most salient through spirituality. It should come to no surprise that Erzulie, a Haitian loa, is a significant part of the migration of bodies in Ana Maurine Lara’s Erzulie’s Skirt. Ana Maurine Lara’s depiction
The documentary Life and Debt portrays a true example of the impact economic globalization can have on a developing country. When most Americans think about Jamaica, we think about the beautiful beaches, warm weather, and friendly people that make it a fabulous vacation spot. This movie shows the place in a different light, by showing a pressuring problem of debt. The everyday survival of many Jamaicans is based on the economic decisions of the United States and other powerful foreign countries.
Bermuda and Bahamas spent most of the 18th century in a legal conflict because of the Turks and Caicos Islan...
When one thinks of Barbados, one thinks of luscious, turquoise blue waters; soft white sand beaches; blue, white clouded skies; fresh fruits; exotic, delicious dishes and honeymoons. One, however, tends to forget the formation of this land. This Caribbean luxury Island has much history and great heritage. In this report, I will detail Barbados’s location, history, labor relations, population size and structure, industries, plus add a little zest with the beauty of the Island.
The. Caribbean Quarterly 51.1 (2005): 15-24. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web. The Web.