By Hannah Lilly
2020

Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place discusses the effects of tourism and colonization on Antigua, a previously occupied country, and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s “What is a Minor Literature?”discusses the effects of deterritorialization and reterritorialization on cultures, literature, and people. It is evident through analysis of Kincaid and Deleuze and Guattari’s work that colonization promotes the formation of minor literatures and cultures through deterritorialization, which is further extended using tourism as a source of revenue. Even after liberation, countries that rely on tourism economies are subjected to cater to the people who colonized them, and their culture becomes mistaken for the tourist attractions implemented merely for visitors.

Minor literature is defined as a work of literature a minority creates within a major language (Deleuze and Guattari 16). Minor literatures and cultures appear when countries with standing languages and cultures are brought together with a new group of people and dominated by the other group. A prime example is in 20th century Prague, where authors such as Franz Kafka grew up with German, Czech, Hebrew and Yiddish influence, and were forced to choose between using an oppressor’s language to express themselves or keep true to their culture and risk their voices being misinterpreted or not heard. Another example of a work in a minor literature is Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, as Kincaid speaks of Antigua’s history of tourism and colonization in English rather than Creole. When talking about the Antigua she grew up in, Kincaid states, “That Antigua no longer exists. That Antigua no longer exists partly for the usual reason, the passing of time, and partly because the bad-minded people who used to rule over it, the English, no longer do so” (21).

This quote reveals how stark the differences between the past and present Antigua are due to liberation. This is a prime example of deterritorialization, as the culture became so influenced by British domination that Antigua became a minority in its homeland, and therefore a minor literature. The deterritorialization that occurred due to colonial rule severed cultural traditions; while Kincaid’s work in the minor literature along with efforts to preserve Antiguan culture promote reterritorialization, Britain and other powerful countries still have a cultural impact on Antigua through their increased power in the economic and social world.

As previously stated, British colonization not only has lasting impacts on Antiguan culture, but additionally Antigua’s economy and perception by the world. Previously, Kincaid stated that she “met the world through England, and if the world wanted to meet [her] it would have to do so through England” (33). During colonization, the people of Antigua were told of different countries with a leaning bias towards Britain, and most people did not have the luxury of travelling the world to decide for themselves. Additionally, the world viewed Antigua as a British colony, and it was therefore mainly perceived in relation to Britain. This section is vital, as it highlights the relationship between colonization and tourism – today, when tourists travel to Antigua to “experience the culture,” they are often fed a mirage of Antigua, which is

forced onto both the natives and the tourists by richer, more powerful countries such as England and the United States. These countries implement this through a modernized form of mercantilism. This is apparent when Kincaid states,

When you sit down to eat your delicious meal, it’s better that you don’t know that most of what you are eating came off a plane from Miami. And before it got on a plane in Miami, who knows where it came from? A good guess is that it came from a place like Antigua first, where it was grown dirt-cheap, went to Miami, and came back. (14)

This quote highlights the dynamic between tourist countries and richer countries – the parallel to mercantilism reveals how richer countries benefit off tourism by exploiting smaller countries of their goods and resources, similarly to how Britain would purchase spices, ores, and other natural resources from its colonies for a lower price. Putting the narrative in the point of view of a tourist additionally exemplifies the notion that the tourist country’s purpose is to serve the people other countries, signifying the off-centered power balance. It is evident that prior to liberation, colonizing countries used their colonies’ people and resources for their direct benefit; after liberation they continue to do so, but in more discrete manners.

It is vital that the power dynamic in the economic world be leveled for smaller countries such as Antigua, as tourism economies often falsify the traditions of countries such as Antigua and reterritorialize their cultures the same way colonization did. Deleuze and Guattari believe that “Mouth, tongue, and teeth have their primitive territory in food, and in devoting themselves to the articulation of sounds, they deterritorialize themselves” (19).In dedicating specific places for tourists to visit, natives are deterritorializing their culture for economic stability. It was initially believed that after being freed from British influence in Antigua, the country would be

able to reterritorialize itself back to its original roots. However, as a result of the rising tourism economy, a new “culture” emerges to increase profit from tourists, and native culture becomes a smaller culture in Antigua. In the past, people viewed Antigua merely as a colony of Britain, and if tourism economies persist as major sources of revenue, today people will only view Antigua as the tourist sites they see in resorts and online. Antigua once again becomes a minor culture in its home country.

In A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid explores the connections between tourism and colonialism, and discusses how tourism holds the roots of colonization, and Deleuze and Guattari exemplify how deterritorialization affects cultures and people. Countries such as Antigua that were colonized and then freed were put at a disadvantage financially, and were therefore forced to resort to tourism as a means for revenue. The creation of the “tourist culture” for revenue not only benefits richer, more powerful countries at the expense of smaller countries, in the mercantile example of food importation from and to the island, but it additionally creates a false perception of native culture and tradition. As a result of the tourist economy, Antigua is deterritorialized, and there is a divide between the Antiguan culture the outside world perceives and the culture of native Antiguans.

Pictured above is a group of tourists on the Great Wall of China. Recently, there have been concerns about the Great Wall experiencing rapid deterioration from tourists taking bricks with home with them as souvenirs. I chose this photo because it exemplifies how tourism can be detrimental to a country’s culture and history. Like in Antigua, a monumental part of China’s culture is being deteriorated due to tourism.

Works Cited

Guattari, Felix, and Gilles Deleuze. What Is a Minor Literature?, vol. 11, 1983, pp. 13–33.

Guy, Dylan. “15 Photos Of Famous Vacation Spots That Show Travelers’ Expectations Vs. Reality.” BoredomTherapy, 24 Jan. 2017, boredomtherapy.com/s/travel-expectations-vs-r eality?as=799&asv=1&bdk=0. Accessed 19 Dec. 2020.

Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Daunt Books, 2018.