Caribbean Literature

The evolution of Caribbean literary productions started centuries before the Europeans graced these shores and continues to kick downstairs today. Quite noticeably, it developed in a manner which transcended all speech barriers and cultures. Today the verbiages of the Caribbean are rooted in that of the colonial powers France, Britain, Spain and Holland whose historical encounters are quite evident through show up the region.The cosmopolitan nature of the regions language and ethnical diversity develop from the mixture of European languages with Native American languages (mainly the Caribs and Arawaks) in the formation of creoles and local patois (hybrid languages) and those of Africans brought to the Caribbean as slaves, not withstanding the contributions of Asians mainly from India and China, and lay due easterners. The fabric of Caribbean Literature is woven with the historical issues of enslavement and forced migration, the cerebrate themes of home and exile, and colon ialism and decolonization.The social and cultural themes of tradition, landscape, culture and community are similarly encompassed by Caribbean Literature. It as well addresses such universal questions as identity, sexuality, family deportment, pain, joy, and the functions of the imagination. It is virtually impossible to keep Caribbean Literature only inwardly the confines of books produced within the Caribbean Islands. Caribbean Literature as well as transcends the borders of Central and South America extending to the shores of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and coastal areas of Colombia, Nicaragua, Belize and Honduras.Evidence of aspects of Caribbean Literature can also be seen in literary kit and boodle produced in various areas of the USA including Miami and New Orleans. Works of Caribbean Literature select also been produced by people of Caribbean ancestry who live primarily in Europe and major urban centers of the United States. ORAL LITERATURE spontaneous literat ure can be considered as the earliest form of Caribbean Literature consisting mainly of rich folk- tale traditions, legends andmyths, songs and poetry. Today this legacy is resplendent in popular music such as the CALYPSO, the Cuban SON, and the Puerto Rican BOMBA in the traditions of storytelling originating out of West Africa and India and in supernatural tales from African religions, including SANTERIA, LUCUMI,VODUN (vodoo), and SHANGO. Proverbs, riddles, and sayings that reinterpret African, European, and East Indian traditions are also most prominent in Caribbean literature.Among these are Anancy (a fraud spider) stories animal dilema tales, which typically teach a moral lesson stories of village life or evil women tall tales and rhetorical flourishes, such as boasting, toasts, and speeches. PRE AND point INDEPENDENCE LITERARY WORKS Autobiography and poetry were the most prevailing literary whole kit from the 16th century to the mid 19th century. In these works were introd uced themes that became common in Caribbean literature exile, migration, displacement and questions of identity.The history of bloody shame Prince, a West Indian Slave, (Related by Herself), is the most prominent of these writings in face. Early Caribbean writings in Spanish saying that of the memorial of the slave Juan Francisco Manzano of Cuba in the 1820s and 1830s, Jose Maria Herida Placido ( a slave who was executed in1844 for his affair in a slave uprising) and the Cuban anthropologist Miguel Barnet. Max Urena of the Dominican res publica produced nationalist works in the 19th century. The French address Caribbean saw works by Emeric Bergeaud and Desmevar Delorme.Distinct national literary traditions began in the 20thcentury because few Caribbean countries gained their emancipation before this period. Twentieth century Caribbean literature can be shared into three periods the first thirty age during colonial rule the years just prior to independence between the 1940s and 1960s or later, and the period later independence. During the fledgling years (1930s) a movement celebrating African culture and value rose to prominence. The movement originated in France and was called NEGRITUDE.However, its founders involve Leon Gontran Damas of French Guiana and Aime Cesaire of Martinique. Rene Maran of Martinique won the Prix Goncourt (a French literary shekels) with the novel Batouala (1921) which called for identification with black culture. In the Spanish speaking Caribbean African themes were presented in a most exotic manner, highlighting African and black identity for artistic inspiration. Prominent writers in this movement include Luis Pales Matos from Puerto Rico and Emillo Ballagas from Cuba.The works of Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen from the 1930s share sentiments with the politics of NEGRITUDE and address issues touch the struggle against colonialism. Alejo Carpentier, also of Cuba, achieved recognition with his novels in which he explores the history and sources of Caribbean culture. The English speaking Caribbean abounds with prominent writers including Jamaican novelist Tom Redcam (Thomas Macdermot), Claude Mckay, Jamaican born poet, and perhaps the best known writer of this generation internationally.Mckay later became one of the principal writers of Harlem Renaissance, a flowering black culture in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. Other writers who rose to prominence during this period are C. L. R. James of Trinidad, whose works protest against colonialism and help to define the anticolonial political and cultural struggles of his time. He was also instrumental in the formation of the literary magazines Trinidad (founded 1929) and the Beacon founded (1931) these publications were instrumental in the development of a Caribbean literary tradition.Alfred Mendes and Ralph de Boissiere (Trinidadians) both contributed articles and poetry to the magazines. PRE INDEPENDENCE spiritual rebirth This period saw the emergenc e of a generation of writers whose works adjudicate after liberation and presented a distinctive portrait of Caribbean culture. The Jamaican Vic Reid, looks send on to a new day of independence with his novel New twenty-four hour period (1949) the displaced, downtrodden, urban population of the Caribbean is portrayed by Roger Mais also of Jamaica.He also experiments with get on rhythms in his language, while Una Mason, a Jamaican poet uses blues rhythm in her poetry collections. A vivid portrait of Guyanas countryside and society is presented by Edgar Mittleholzer in his novel A Morning At The Office (1950). On the some other hand, one of the first and most important Caribbean works dealing with puerility and coming of age in a colonial context was produced by George Lamming, from Barbados, in the novel In The Castle Of My Skin (1953).This novel focuses on the struggles of three young boys with poverty, a colonial education, social change and the beat of an identity hovering in the background is the promise of migration to the metropolitan centers. The mythology of Native Americans and Africans is accent in Wilson Harriss novel Palace of the Peacock (1960), while Martin Carters Poems of Resistance seek liberation from colonial rule. During this period a number of female writers were also very active. Beryl Gilroy of Guyana wrote novels, childrens stories, and an autobiography.Sylvia Wynter of Jamaica incorporates elements of folk culture into her work. From Dominica, Phyllis Shand Allfrey won recognition for her analysis of colonial power in her work, while Jean Rhys received critical cheering for novels round women caught in situations they are unable to change. POST INDEPENDENCE This period saw the emergence of poets from the English speaking Caribbean Derek Walcott from Saint Lucia is perhaps the known Caribbean writer internationally. In 1992 he won the Nobel Prize for literature. In sum to poetry, Walcott is well known as a playwright.At the same time Eduard Kamau Brathwaite challenged the testicle structures of European poetry by adopting the rhythms, references, and language of the African and Afro- Caribbean traditions. Brathwaite broadened the possible use of language in his works for a number of subsequent writers, including Jamaican oral poets Mutabaruka, Linton Quesi Johnson, and John Binta Breeze. Earl Lovelace and V. S. Naipaul count among other noted English language writers born in Trinidad and Tobago. Naipaul received recognition for novels that focus on East Indians living in the Caribbean.Lovelace whose works won a Commonwealth prize wrote on issues of poverty, education, and village life. The French speaking Caribbean saw prominent coeval writers in Daniel Maxim of Guadeloupe and Edouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau of Martinique. Chamoiseau explores issues of black identity, and creole cultural identity. The latter was produced along with Jean Bernabe and Rafael Confiant. Chamoiseau won the Pri G oncourt for his novel Texaco (1929). Noted female writers are Maryse Conde of Guadeloupe who is considered a significant voice among female writers, having won several French prizes for her literary work.Simone Schwarz -Bart, also of Guadeloupe, writes of the search for identity while Nancy Morejon of Cuba is recognized as a leading poetic voice. Her collection entitled Cuaderno de Granada 1984 (Grenada Notebook, 1984) honors those who participated in Grenadas socialist revolution in 1983. Caribbean writers have impacted greatly on the international bowl and have gained worldwide recognition for their numerous works. Literary critics are also recognizing the Caribbean roots of some African American writers who are explicit about their Caribbean parentage