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Background to Caribbean Literature

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Background to Caribbean Literature American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vo1. 1, No, 2, 2013, 56-62 DOI: 10.11634/232907811301304 The History and Shaping of Caribbean Literature Julia Udofia Department of English, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria The abrupt “beginning” of the history of the Caribbean, coupled with the brutal mode of occupation and violence among the colonizing forces has led many scholars to conclude that the area is “historyless” and unlikely to proceed further than its crude and violent beginnings. This paper examines this peculiar history and its attendant effect on the shaping and criticism of Caribbean literature. Since Caribbean literature is also, to some extent, a response to history, the paper also highlights the major individual Caribbean writers’ responses to the history of this place. Being mainly library-based, the research relies on such critical materials as articles, reviews, books and interviews published on the literature of this place. Works in the area of history also help to shed light on the historical realities of this place. In the end, it is found out that as a result of the debilitating history of this area, much of the criticism of the literature of this place is often “jaundiced”. However, it is believed that despite this stereotyped criticism and despite the assertion that history exerts a definitive influence on the creative imagination, the Caribbean man can live down the ravages of history and transcend his alien milieu. Keywords: Caribbean literature, history, slavery, criticism Introduction The History of the Caribbean The history of the founding and settling of the The history of the Caribbean is peculiar. It does not Caribbean has implications for the societies that have evolve gradually and naturally out of a remote emerged. Following the accidental “discovery” of the mythological and archaeological past, but begins place in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, the abruptly with the “discovery” of the Bahamas in Caribbean environment has been a fertile ground for 1492 by Christopher Columbus. This abrupt writers whose recreations and explorations of their beginning has led historians like Eric Williams locale as ways of examining the relations between the (1970) and literary artists like V.S. Naipaul (1969) to land, the people, the psychological dimensions of assert that the Caribbean is merely a geographical their situations prefigure their determined struggle to expression which lacks a noteworthy history. survive, and bond together as ways of defining their Naipaul, in particular, claims that the West Indies is a humanity and dignity. This paper examines this sterile, static, manufactured society due to the peculiar history of the Caribbean as well as its accidental nature of its discovery and the brutal mode attendant effect on the criticism of the literature of of occupation and violence among the colonizing that area. It also highlights the various literary forces. Many Caribbean scholars have also concluded responses of the individual writers of this region to that the area is “historyless” and unlikely to proceed these historical realities. further than its crude and violent beginnings. According to Naipaul, “history is built on creation and achievement and nothing was created in the West Methodology Indies”, (1969, p. 39). This lack of creation refers to the dearth of Being a literary research, this work is mainly library- monuments, libraries and other visible public based. It relies on such critical sources as articles, amenities other than the remains of old plantation reviews, books and interviews published on the houses and memoirs of the slave experience. The literature of this area. Also, works in the area of European colonizers regarded the area as one whose history have helped to provide more information on economic potentials were to be fully exploited, but the historical realities of this place. It is the hope that not a place to settle in permanently. This was why the these materials will in turn lead to a thorough plantation system was entrenched and thence, the understanding of not only the literature and criticism proliferation of absentee landlords who enjoyed the of the literature of this area, but also of the Caribbean fruits of their labour outside the West Indies. And so, society. Print ISSN 2329-0781 - Online ISSN 2329-079X / World Scholars http://www.worldscholars.org 57 J. Udofia the problem with West Indian history does not lie exert a unified political and cultural control over the solely in its mode of discovery as there was also the non-European population. problem of jealousy and in-fighting among the Furthermore, the Europeans’ inability to impose colonizers who were single-minded in their quest for a common creolised cultural ethos on the slaves who quick self-profit. were also multi-cultural in origin was exacerbated by Initially, Columbus thought that the West Indies the imperialists’ lack of interest in the continuous would open up a lucrative trade route for Spain. Also, spiritual and physical welfare of the Islands and its because of the proliferation of gold body ornaments inhabitants. As a result, the negro slaves were largely on the Bahamans he had met, Columbus concluded left to evolve their own cultural expressions and that there was an inexhaustible supply of gold to be value systems based on vestiges of different African obtained from the West Indies. Thus, his primary traditions, various European influences and interest was the economic exploitation, and not the communal responses to the new milieu. improvement of the area. Later on, it was discovered that the gold supply was finite and the colonizer’s Slavery in the Caribbean attention turned to the large-scale cultivation of sugar which was then a highly lucrative crop. The Spaniards who were the original imperialists in At all times, the European presence in the Caribbean the Caribbean already had a system of slavery which was primarily motivated by selfish economic made it easy for them to resort to this method of considerations. Because of this, they did not hesitate procuring labour for their mines and plantations. to undercut one another and eventually seek all Several sources of labour, including aboriginal inhumane means of obtaining a steady supply of Indians, white slaves and convicts labour were sought easily replaceable labour for the effective cultivation before blacks were brought into the West Indies. of their plantations. Negro slavery was initiated by the king of Spain on The West Indies can be referred to as an September 3, 1501 and began with the transportation artificially created society because with the exception of numbers of Christian negro slaves from Spain to of the indigenous Indian population which was the West Indies. African slave trade began shortly largely swiftly exterminated, the inhabitants of the afterwards. Caribbean either migrated or were forcibly The mining of gold and to a greater extent, the transported there. With this conglomeration of people discovery of the great economic potential of sugar- of different races and religious beliefs and with cultivation in the world market precipitated the different motives of being in the Caribbean, it was institutionalization of slavery in the West Indies. difficult to create a common Caribbean ethos, Plantation slavery began in the 16th century and from especially, given the fundamental inequalities created that time onwards, the fortunes of the Islands were by the institution of slavery. greatly influenced by the price of sugar. Also, the During Columbus’s second trip to the Caribbean in requirements of the sugar industry determined the 1493, he brought Spanish domestic cereals, nature of the West Indian population. vegetables, fruits and sugar cane to the West Indies. The cultivation of cane was highly capital-and- It is therefore; correct to regard the West Indians as labour-intensive. The more sophisticated and an imported people in a largely imported efficient machines for extracting sugar were environment. The early and later imperialists in the expensive and the crop itself was highly perishable Caribbean had the sole motive of exploiting the which meant that it had to be processed shortly after natural, mineral and agricultural resources of the area harvesting. Also, the planting and harvesting of cane both for personal benefits and for the good of their required considerable labour and the manufacturing various mother countries. process was arduous. The production of sugar on an The lure of gold, sugar and slaves thus economic scale therefore, required a considerable precipitated imperialist forays into the area by Spain, initial financial outlay and a large cheap labour force. Portugal, Britain, France and the Netherlands. Each Negro slavery provided easily available and of these imperialists fought to obtain a considerable replaceable unskilled labour. It also led to a change in share of the Caribbean wealth. And this gave rise the racial composition and social structure of the naturally to piracy, double-crossing, brutality and Islands. lack of cohesion among the powers. Each group of Under slavery, the humanity of the blacks was Europeans had its own language, religion and progressively eroded, especially with the arduous political allegiances. They were also constantly work hours, stringent penalties for absenteeism and engaged in the bid to protect or expand their the promulgation of slave codes which gave legal territories and so had little opportunity or need to sanction to slavery. These codes deprived the slaves American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 58 of the freedom of movement and the simplest subsistence farming or seasonal itinerant labour exercise of their freewill. For instance, they could not rather than work long hours for meagre wages in the marry without their masters’ permission, could not plantations of their erstwhile masters. This created a own property, were considered to be moveable vacuum in the labour force which was later filled by property and could be punished even unto death by the migration of indentured Indian labourers to the their masters.
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