By Melany Barros-Mesias
2020
How are Caribbean culture and the concept of culture (in general) perceived by the narrator or author in A Small Place and Poetics of Relation?
The marketing of impoverished countries demonstrates a peripheral view of the local reality. In short, it disregards the history of how their people established and nationalized their respective traditions. Through the efforts made by Jamaica Kincaid and Édouard Glissant, their bias or neutral recognition of culture elaborates on how political and economic structures have led tourism and multiculturalism to thrive around the world.
Kincaid in her written piece, A Small Place, takes the approach of speaking on behalf of the population that welcome tourists into the Caribbean, specifically Antigua (3). She utilizes imagery to explain the perspective of how tourists perceive the island as “beautiful” and “deliciously hot”, but opposes slightly with discussing how the weather has led to drought being an existing issue for Antigua (4). As she proceeds to lead “you” the tourist, she goes over various details “you” are oblivious to such as the actual price of riding a taxi or how Antigua’s health system fails to assist its respective beneficiaries (5,7). To see how through her storytelling, she manages to detail many flaws missed in the first impression of the island. Many tourists often overlook the effort and time it may take to have produced certain craftsmanship that, in reality, is a luxury to citizens that live there. This information truly allowed for readers to receive insight onto how tourists are not impacted through the failure and deceit of the country’s economy. Instead, they contribute to the financial system that continues this cycle of poverty to exist for Antiguans. The economy tourists fuel benefits this product they are going to experience, which is the illusion of an elegant and tropical vacation.
Kincaid also introduces the tourist to the library she is familiar with (8). She describes it as being under reparations, due to the earthquake that had left it damaged for over a decade. She recalls its connection to the colonial times, mentioning how Antigua achieved independence from Britain (9). In the text it states, “Antiguans are so proud of this that each year, to mark the day, they go to church and thank God, a British God, for this.” The metaphor of a “British God” is an indicator of how this community felt possessed even through their belief system. Antiguan independence is disregarded due to how Europeans and North Americans have described their conquests of the West with wealth from exploited labor (10). The British took advantage and exported people from Africa to islands like Antigua to be able to have free labor. Therefore, Britain, being the mother country, colonized and adjusted this population to their hierarchy (24, 25). By mentioning this, Kincaid highlights that everything that makes up Antigua also is a reminder of how difficult it was to achieve freedom. This moment of slavery and oppression was the foundation for how the Antiguans conquered their homeland. It is undeniable how the political structures that Kincaid describes favor a history of being colonized and controlled rather than freedom.
Glissant in, Poetics of Relation, discusses this concept of whether people can ever, metaphorically, be “rooted” to one location (11). Meaning, that it is questioned whether a birthplace can truly identify someone holistically. He describes distinct forms of nomadism, initiating with an example of circular nomadism in the Caribbean (12). He distinguishes the Arawak communities as having to navigate from island to island, or laborers in their pilgrimage to work in different farms. This instance creates a better understanding for why nomadism exists. To see that exclusion is avoided through not having ties to one given place, reveals how liberating it can be to not feel oppressed. Glissant discusses how people, that have had their territory conquered, experience a painful quest as they must learn to reject their colonizer’s ownership of their land (17). Instead of giving into oppression, Glissant sees how the Arawak population is able to place their focus on surviving on a day-to-day basis (12). It could be food or working for pay, but their life experiences are what define who they are. While Glissant provides many examples afterwards that relate to other regions, it begins to support the theme of change versus tradition. Typically, society is very much driven by a higher power, but he challenges this idea with individual rule. With this subtle anarchy, many may consider the idea chaotic while this author is able to depict it as a way to show how to compromise our identity without the baggage that history may carry. Therefore, it is evident in how slightly bias Glissant is with his writing; however, he introduces larger concepts involving multiple cultures.
Glissant also mentions that by opposing economic and cultural forces, totalitarianism is avoided entirely (19). He identifies how generalization is a form of totalitarianism and this has led for there to be one set of rules that indicates countries as the model way to lead (20). By presenting these concepts, Glissant goes beyond the Caribbean to indicate that multiculturalism has come to exist and will help in the evolution of people to not feel oppressed by one given government or economy. He manages to juxtapose this patriotic manner Kincaid references in her writing. This has allowed for there to be these two perspectives of what it means to connect and solely identify to one’s birthplace than to draw from so many. In Kincaid’s writing that shows pride for Antigua, she also portrays anguish from having her history be entirely based on colonization. Glissant debates this with the concept of not creating a connection or sense of belonging with land. A territory’s history of flaws, within its political and economic structures, will only lead to self-inflicted oppression (19). This author truly reminds readers of how restrictive our societies are with standards of rank and power. This idea he shines light on is symbolic of how global communities are becoming blended. Caribbean customs are derivative of many Western societies and this is valid in proving how culture develops.
Throughout both texts, the expression of how Glissant and Kincaid identify the systems that exist in the Caribbean shows how it was not as simple as there being positive or ambiguous aspects about its culture. Instead, there is this idea of bias and how issues based on the past can be mentally approached through one’s experience. Glissant creates this transformative piece of writing that contradicts a black and white lens about culture. He opens it to this idea of economic and political systems constantly changing how we view life. Kincaid was directly opposed in giving a valid perspective of what an Antiguan may experience to survive. She compares the population’s lifestyle to the closed mindset of a tourist, clarifying how ignorant the world is to systemic issues that exist all around the world. In seeing these two works differ, it shows how perspectives are meaningful to further understand how traditions are defined in different respective spaces.
Works Cited
“Errant: Definition of Errant.” Oxford Dictionary. www.lexico.com/en/definition/errant.
Glissant Édouard. Poetics of Relation. University of Michigan Press, 2010.
Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Daunt Books, 2018.
