Casteel, Sarah Phillips. “Reterritorializing Caribbean Diaspora Literature.” American Literary History, vol. 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 624-633. MLA International Bibliography, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MLA&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CN2812993792&it=r&asid=5be986ba237ad0a3ad04d0cbbe57b77e. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

The author of this piece is discussing Caribbean literature and the ways in which it describes the Caribbean and the diaspora, and the impact that the works then have on the people and ideas about those places. She writes that Caribbean literature is part of a reterritorializing process. My understanding of this is that, Caribbean diaspora literature helps to keep the culture, politics, etc. of the Caribbean strong, and connected to its homeland. She discusses three new studies of Caribbean literature, and they suggest that, despite providing a connection between the homeland and the diaspora, many authors are afraid of being “inauthentic”. There is some type of disconnect between writing from the Caribbean and writing from the diaspora. A main theme of the studies and of Caribbean literature is the idea of space. Many protagonists of Caribbean literature face questions of belonging in a certain space, and there is a back and forth of belonging in the diaspora or not, and questions of still belonging back home. The author goes on to talk about the different ideas and concerns raised by each of the three studies. Some writers reject the ideas and values of their communities, and this can cause tension among people. There seems to be a question of betrayal for some readers of Caribbean diaspora literature. I think that this piece will definitely be helpful for my project because it gives three different opinions of the effect and purposes of Caribbean diaspora literature, and I think that the distinctions are very important for me to note and discuss for my part of the project. Also, the author provides examples of Caribbean authors that I can look into to get a better understanding of each of the studies reactions and interpretations of Caribbean diaspora literature.

 

Dash, J. Michael. “Roundtable: Writing, History, and Revolution.” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism, vol. 9, no. 2, Sept. 2005, pp. 189-201. EBSCOhost, ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=18314206&site=ehost-live.

This article is a record of an interview with Dany Laferrière, Louis-Philippe Dalembert, Edwidge Danticat, Évelyne Trouillot, all of whom are Haitian authors. They talk a lot about history and the connections and ties between literature and history especially in education. Laferriere talks first about how his experience with history is mainly all through literature. He explains that as time went on, historical writing, and writing in general tried to shy away from French literary influences. People wrote trying to make sure that the backdrop, and setting of their work, was recognizable Haitian. The close ties with Haiti and its history in literature made him want to create something that wasn’t necessarily Haitian, but rather, “a book written by a Haitian” (pg. 192). Danticat talks about how she suspects the authors of historical pieces didn’t know their words would be passed down and remembered by students. She said that she learned a lot about history by memorizing and reciting lines from literature. One thing that the authors talked about was the idea that history wasn’t something that could be played with, as opposed to literature. They have had to come up with new ways to blend history and literature and to point out history’s mistakes and flaws and as Dalembert puts it, he doesn’t joke with history, but rather, attempts to “desanctify” it (pg. 195). I think that this piece could also be beneficial to my project because it’s a first-hand account of being a Caribbean author, and it gives direct insight into what it might be like to write about Caribbean history. It also gives me a way to branch off into their specific works and connect their opinions of literature and history to the writing that they have done. It’s a very useful article to have found, and I would like to look at it more in depth.

 

Francis, Donette A. “Caribbean/North American Writers (Contemporary). “Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, edited by Colin A. Palmer, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 405-407. Gale Virtual Reference Library, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX34444700242&asid=b8a68214c3f7308b2aeb5ba1c23597eb. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

The author is discussing various works and stories by Caribbean-American writers. She compares stories and links together their common themes of cultural baggage, racial tensions, and topics relating to gender, class, and differences in nationality. She then moves on to discuss questions surrounding the diaspora, and the connections that still exist between people in the diaspora and people back home. She shows an example from a story saying that people will always be welcomed if they choose to return. However, she notes examples of literature that point out the flaws and limitations of the diaspora, such as Satisfy My Soul, by Colin Channer. The author also brings up and discusses a new generation of women writers, who use their work to explore questions of sexuality and abuse. She makes a point that Caribbean literature covers a huge range of topics. Writings include “queer, feminist, immigrant, Latino, African American, American minority literature, or science fiction,” and so on (pg 406). Overall, I think that this piece will be extremely useful in creating my part of the assignment. It gives a broad overview of topics that have been covered in Caribbean writing, and then the author names a near inexhaustible number of writers and stories that I can look into and use as future references. Also, she provides summaries for a few of the stories, so those will be helpful to me as well, in providing examples of Caribbean literature and what subjects are important to do more research on. She mentions contemporary authors as well as older authors, and I think that this could also be useful in my project, because I would like to include a wide range of examples, showing how topics and themes may or may not have changed over time.

 

Hull, Gloria T. “Conference Closing Address: The Black Woman Writer And The Diaspora.” The Black Scholar, vol. 17, no. 2, 1986, pp. 2–4., www.jstor.org/stable/41067252.

The author of this piece was talking about a Conference held in 1986 of black women writers. She talks about her own experience at the conference first and describes it as a place where they were able to share their writings regardless of “color, sex or national origin”. She gives some quotes from women in attendance about the  number of people there and the appreciation they have of the other women at the conference. The author then talks about hardships that women have faced and the improvements they have made in bringing awareness to female literary contributions. She talks a little bit about the term feminism, and her positive opinion that people are looking at the title a bit less, and are starting to focus on the work done by feminists. She says “Women are more willing to put terminology aside in favor of working together” (pg. 3). She concludes with saying that the panels at the conference allowed for her and other women to connect their literary works, and the idea that the pieces they are create are part of a greater whole. I enjoyed reading the article, but I don’t think it has too much relevance to my piece. It doesn’t really have any focus on Caribbean literature and doesn’t provide too many examples for further research. I may use it as an example of ways that literature can bring communities together though, which tie in to other aspects of my groups project. I also am curious to find other examples of literary gatherings though, because I may be able to find an account of a conference that is more directly related to the literature of the Caribbean diaspora.

 

Smith, Faith Lois. “Literature of the English-Speaking Caribbean.” Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, edited by Colin A. Palmer, 2nd ed., vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 1319-1322. Gale Virtual Reference Library, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CCX3444700767&it=r&asid=71ca59bed347e3008f93d347f9dbd145. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.

The author of this piece talks about Caribbean literature and outside perceptions of its worth. She begins with a quote claiming that over a number of years there have really been only 2 works worth reading. The author goes on to counter this in her piece. She writes about the wide variety of art that the Caribbean produces, from “signs, dreams, graffiti, West African masquerade, the King James Bible, the Rastafarian Promise Key, political and religious utopias, imperial edicts and wars, seditious broadsides”, etc. (pg 1319). She says that this has all been dismissed as “noise”, but it is really just as important as any “good” book. Her next issue with the statement is that some people judge pieces differently if they are written in Creole languages or have characters who are more “genuinely Creole” (pg. 1320). She challenges this by asking if Claude McKay’s work Constab Ballads, which is written in Jamaican Creole, is any more genuine than his sonnets. She says that the judgement and determination of good literature is usually a matter of perspective. One example she gives of this is whether or not a piece of literature has to be viewed in the context of the author’s nationality. She finishes saying that it’s hard to define what good literature may be given that perceptions of the Caribbean, the implications of the language being used, and even the idea of what literature is, all play a factor in that determination. I think that this piece will be very useful as it shows misconceptions about Caribbean literature and gives examples of famous Caribbean writers. I think that it will be helpful as a reminder of the difference lenses and perspectives that people come from and read from.