Abstracts (Last Names D-G)
Listed In alphabetical order by name of Author. To view abstract, click on the + sign next to the name of presenter.
Davis Kahina, Chenzira. (Univ. of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix):
“21st Century VI Caribbean Heritage Education and Arts Legacy: HEAL365© Regional Perspectives.”
“21st Century VI Caribbean Heritage Education and Arts Legacy: HEAL365© Regional Perspectives.”
This presentation explicates current developments in educational, psycho-social and cultural heritage research paradigms being integrated and implemented in select institutions in the Virgin Islands Caribbean Americas. This presentation will share unique perspectives of strategies that integrate best practices for new media resources being developed and implemented for optimal effective teaching of VI, Caribbean and global cultural studies programs. The importance of maintaining excellence and accuracy in educational programs featuring public history, oral traditions, blended with ancestral history and contemporary socioeconomics that transform and influence the life experiences of people living, working, and recreating shared educational and culturally-appropriate narratives of the VI Caribbean Americas will be highlighted. HEAL365© programs use of Culture, Heritage and Identity (CHI) perspectives that erase centuries of misinformation that VI Caribbean American history, people, heritage and origins begin with the invasions of colonialism, mercantilism, capture and enslavement of AfRaKan and Indigenous ancestors are featured. UVI VICCC’s collaborative research partnerships via HEAL365© with the Slave Wrecks Project (SWP)— led by The Smithsonian Institution, George Washington University and global partners; VI Centennial 2017— 100 Years After U.S. Sovereign Rule in the Caribbean; the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) 2015-2024; the Caribbean Pan African Network’s (CPAN) strategic regional/global education and proactive movements; and others will be elucidated.
Donovan, Tim. (Univ. of North Florida): “Spectral time in Wilson Harris’s Jonestown and The Ghost of Memory.”
What is the historical vision dramatized in Wilson Harris’ novels? What is the cultural and political significance of this vision? These questions haunt me.
Harris’s novels, particularly Jonestown and The Ghost of Memory, struggle to witness what he considers to be the paradoxical catastrophe of history. History as a paradoxical catastrophe signifies the joint struggle of contradictory forces. Harris’ writing inscribes a historical catastrophe comprised of fateful forces of death bound energy that advances toward historical finality. Yet this terminal history is complicated in his writing by the suppression of an untimely traumatic remainder, a ghostly energy that turns and opens the possibility for qualitative futurity.
In this presentation, I plan to develop this experience of haunting trauma to a particular historical and cultural vision. To do so, I will link the experience of trauma to the many ghosts that haunt Harris’ recent writing. The focus of my presentation will analyze the status of the ghost in Harris’s writing. In doing so, I will argue that for Harris spectral time opens the possibility of qualitative futurity. Within the conversation of scholars, my argument will further Wai Chee Dimock analysis that “deep time” characterizes only a part of Harris’s historical and cultural vision.
Harris’s novels, particularly Jonestown and The Ghost of Memory, struggle to witness what he considers to be the paradoxical catastrophe of history. History as a paradoxical catastrophe signifies the joint struggle of contradictory forces. Harris’ writing inscribes a historical catastrophe comprised of fateful forces of death bound energy that advances toward historical finality. Yet this terminal history is complicated in his writing by the suppression of an untimely traumatic remainder, a ghostly energy that turns and opens the possibility for qualitative futurity.
In this presentation, I plan to develop this experience of haunting trauma to a particular historical and cultural vision. To do so, I will link the experience of trauma to the many ghosts that haunt Harris’ recent writing. The focus of my presentation will analyze the status of the ghost in Harris’s writing. In doing so, I will argue that for Harris spectral time opens the possibility of qualitative futurity. Within the conversation of scholars, my argument will further Wai Chee Dimock analysis that “deep time” characterizes only a part of Harris’s historical and cultural vision.
Donnell, Alison. (Univ. of Reading, UK) and O’Callaghan, Evelyn. (UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados):
“Material Encounters in Caribbean literary culture: surviving the shivers of archive fever.”
“Material Encounters in Caribbean literary culture: surviving the shivers of archive fever.”
Downes-Alleyne, Gillian. (UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados).
Dupey, Robert. (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus):
“Horizontal and vertical geopolitical implications of the US invasion of Grenada: from Puerto Rico to its sister nations in the Caribbean.”
“Horizontal and vertical geopolitical implications of the US invasion of Grenada: from Puerto Rico to its sister nations in the Caribbean.”
In 1650, the French governor of Martinique, Jacques-Dyel du Parquet, purchased Grenada from a French company and established a settlement in St. George’s, where French colonial interests brutally repressed and eliminated the first Grenadians, the Caribs and Arawaks. Three-hundred twenty-four years of valiant resistance and excruciating struggle by of Grenada’s sons and daughters against the equally racist and bloody European imperialist powers, France and England, had gone by until 1974, when this Caribbean nation at last obtained its national independence. Throughout its history, Grenada has been the victim of the horrors of relentless slavery and occupation by French and British colonial imperialist interests which competed for ownership of this island. The emergence of Eric Gairy as one of its initial leaders in the 20th century led this nation through a period of both triumph and setbacks. Following resilient opposition to Grenada’s first prime minister, he was overthrown in 1979. The Joint Endeavor for Welfare Education and Liberation (New Jewel Movement) inspired by its maximum leader, Maurice Bishop, gave way to a new era in Grenadian history.
In the face of the progressive ideals of the NJM, geopolitical interests of the United States and the Reagan government prompted yet another US invasion in the Caribbean and the greater Latin American region.
This paper proposes the following objectives:
a. critically review the reported assistance of Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent in US-led military efforts;
b. the key auxiliary role played by Puerto Rico, a colony itself of the United States since 1898;
c. critically assess the behavior of the Hernández-Colón government and other leaders in Puerto Rico who fell in line behind US geopolitical interests within the context of this violent invasion of a sister nation of the Caribbean.
In the face of the progressive ideals of the NJM, geopolitical interests of the United States and the Reagan government prompted yet another US invasion in the Caribbean and the greater Latin American region.
This paper proposes the following objectives:
a. critically review the reported assistance of Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent in US-led military efforts;
b. the key auxiliary role played by Puerto Rico, a colony itself of the United States since 1898;
c. critically assess the behavior of the Hernández-Colón government and other leaders in Puerto Rico who fell in line behind US geopolitical interests within the context of this violent invasion of a sister nation of the Caribbean.
Domínguez Rosado, Brenda L. (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus):
“Barbados and Its “Colony” South Carolina: The Historical, Cultural, and Linguistic Connections.”
“Barbados and Its “Colony” South Carolina: The Historical, Cultural, and Linguistic Connections.”
South Carolina is considered to be a colony of Barbados and not of England by some historians (Edgar, 2015). Why? One of the most important reasons is that Barbados played a key role in the establishment and subsequent growth and progress of the state of South Carolina (originally known as “Carolina”). This was initiated in the 17th century in “Charles Towne” (Charleston) when the newly arrived Barbadians (who were either descendants of the British colonizers, recently freed white indentured servants from Ireland or Scotland, or enslaved Africans brought against their will) provided the model for a successful plantation economy and slave society and left a lasting mark that is still observed today in the architecture, city layouts, place names, religion, food, and language in South Carolina and its outlying islands (“Barbadians in Carolina,” 2016; Green, 2012). In this paper, some of these similarities will be presented, but there will be a special emphasis on Gullah (South Carolinian Creole English) which is thought to be influenced by Bajan (Barbadian Creole English) and is a language which provides further confirmation of the link between the West Indies and North America (Mixson Geraty, 2016).
Edwards, Eva de Lourdes. (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus): “‘An Uncomfortable Heritage’: Unraveling Irish Roots in the British Atlantic.”
Caribbean Celts: The madwoman in the attic and the madman in the dungeon
A house, in Caribbean fiction, is a symbol that can represent opposing points when viewed through gender. In Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, the house is a symbol of imprisonment, while in V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas, it is a symbol of freedom. In Brönte’s Jane Eyre, it is a symbol of crumbling power and wealth. Jean Rhys had Celtic roots, a father from Wales, and a mother 3rd generation Dominican of Scots ancestry. Celtic male counterparts infamously known for their piracy and smuggling practices were mostly of Celtic ancestry who, when caught, were relegated to dungeons, the attic’s underground complement. Within an urban studies framework, this paper explores the house, from the attic to the basement, and related symbols such as fire and the tree of life in Rhys’ novel, from a Caribbean and Celtic perspective. It is the house in Walcott’s Nobel Lecture, in the illusory Caribbean village, town, or city culture, and as he well states: “A culture, we all know, is made by its cities.”
A house, in Caribbean fiction, is a symbol that can represent opposing points when viewed through gender. In Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, the house is a symbol of imprisonment, while in V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas, it is a symbol of freedom. In Brönte’s Jane Eyre, it is a symbol of crumbling power and wealth. Jean Rhys had Celtic roots, a father from Wales, and a mother 3rd generation Dominican of Scots ancestry. Celtic male counterparts infamously known for their piracy and smuggling practices were mostly of Celtic ancestry who, when caught, were relegated to dungeons, the attic’s underground complement. Within an urban studies framework, this paper explores the house, from the attic to the basement, and related symbols such as fire and the tree of life in Rhys’ novel, from a Caribbean and Celtic perspective. It is the house in Walcott’s Nobel Lecture, in the illusory Caribbean village, town, or city culture, and as he well states: “A culture, we all know, is made by its cities.”
Faraclas, Nicholas, Mayra Cortes, Juan Sepulveda Figuereo, Ramón Valle Jiménez, Stephanie M. Pérez, Katherine M. Castro Lamboy, Jaime Rivera, Mayra Cardona, Sofía Lebrón Sepúlveda, Rafael Jiménez Baralt, and Doris M. Ortiz Rivera
(Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras):
“Out Of Control: Marronage In The Greater Caribbean.”
(Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras):
“Out Of Control: Marronage In The Greater Caribbean.”
In this paper, we will focus on four cases of marronage in the Greater Caribbean, including: 1) the Garinagu and the Barbados-St. Vincent maroon connection from the mid 1600s onward; 2) maroon support for the Portuguese reconquest of Northeastern Brazil from the Dutch during the first half of the 1600s; 3) marronage in early English Virginia from 1600 onward; and 4) maroons and the overthrow of the plantocracy in Annobon and São Tomé in the late 1500s. Despite the pivotal role that each of these instances of marronage played in shaping Afro- Atlantic history, they are among the least studied cases of resistance to plantation slavery during the colonial period. In our analysis of the growing body of available information about each of these maroon societies, we attempt to trace the threads of resistance by the enslaved and the threads of reaction by the plantocracy that bind them together. This allows us to argue that it is impossible to explain either the establishment of sugar plantation slavery in Barbados or the nature of resistance to slavery there without an understanding of what had happened during the previous century in Virginia, Brazil, and Annobon and São Tomé. Finally, we demonstrate how the Barbados-St. Vincent maroon connection, along with similar phenomena in Suriname, Jamaica and Haiti eventually lead to the collapse of the chattel based slavery regime in the Greater Caribbean.
Gama, Raymond.
"Les représentations: au cœur de la construction et du mouvement social dans la période post-esclavagiste."
"Les représentations: au cœur de la construction et du mouvement social dans la période post-esclavagiste."
L’étude proposée s’inscrit dans la sphère de l’Histoire, de la sociologie et d’une « géohistoire » de la Caraïbe. Trois objectifs sont visés : établir sur la longue durée l’évolution d’un domaine sucrier (XVIIIème-XXème, constitution, ascension & décadence), montrer l’usage du territoire caribéen comme un « moyen de production »1 par une société anonyme (SAUB, Société Anonyme des Usines de Beauport), établir une approche détaillée des rapports sociaux2 dans l’aire de la dite société, en Guadeloupe. Cette thèse d’Histoire présentée à l’Université Antilles-Guyane, en octobre 19973, nous invite à parcourir des périodes variées : des débuts de la colonisation au triomphe de la « mondialisation ». D’une habitation d’à peine 90 hectares (1732), la famille Souques d’abord (1863-1901) et la SAUB (1908-1981) en feront un domaine de plus de 12 000 hectares. La concentration foncière puis industrielle assure au site de l’usine de Beauport un rôle capital dans la transformation des espaces et des vies sur plusieurs générations. Ce parcours spatio-temporel de l’auteur engendre une modélisation socioculturelle caribéenne.
1. À des milliers de km de distance, un groupement de personnes n’ayant que leurs capitaux financiers, est capable de modifier des espaces et des hommes.
2 . Les constructions sociales qui en résultent déterminent des identités personnelles et collectives, sur un espace donné.
3 . Thèse de doctorat de Raymond GAMA, intitulée : Évolution d’un grand domaine sucrier à la Guadeloupe : Rapports sociaux dans le nord Grande – Terre, aire de la SAUB (1908-1981).
1. À des milliers de km de distance, un groupement de personnes n’ayant que leurs capitaux financiers, est capable de modifier des espaces et des hommes.
2 . Les constructions sociales qui en résultent déterminent des identités personnelles et collectives, sur un espace donné.
3 . Thèse de doctorat de Raymond GAMA, intitulée : Évolution d’un grand domaine sucrier à la Guadeloupe : Rapports sociaux dans le nord Grande – Terre, aire de la SAUB (1908-1981).
González-Rivera, Melvin; Yarelmi Iglesias-Vázquez, and Lenna Garay-Rodríguez (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez), and Carmelo Bazaco (The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio):
“¡Eso te quedó bien bacán!: expresiones coloquiales en español.”
“¡Eso te quedó bien bacán!: expresiones coloquiales en español.”
Las expresiones coloquiales se caracterizan por tener un tono informal que permite a su vez una interacción familiar y subjetiva entre los interlocutores (Briz 2010). Estas expresiones proporcionan al investigador campo fértil para el estudio de las propiedades asociadas a estas (Narbona 1991, 1992). La expresividad es una de las características propias del registro coloquial, utilizada por los hablantes de una lengua para expresar su subjetividad (Sancho Cremades 2001-2002). La intensificación es una propiedad constante en las expresiones coloquiales: a través de esta estrategia el acto de habla se ve reforzado, así como el interés de lo que se dice y se cuenta (Narbona 2016). En otras palabras, la intensificación refuerza la verdad de lo expresado –cf. oraciones exclamativas (Sancho Cremades 2008). Así, lo mucho se convierte en montón, lo bonito en chulería y lo bueno en brutal. En este trabajo, analizamos varias expresiones intensificadoras del español coloquial latinoamericano, especialmente del dialecto puertorriqueño. Algunas de estas se construyen a través de morfemas intensificadores, elativos o el adverbio más; mientras otras tienen una sintaxis más elaborada, bien con el verbo ser/estar + oración consecutiva, léxico semánticas, etc. (Padilla-Reyes 2016; Padilla-Reyes, Gutiérrez-Rexach & González-Rivera 2016). Proponemos que algunas de estas construcciones han pasado por un proceso de gramaticalización en el que ha ocurrido: una fijación en la estructura gramatical y un incremento en la frecuencia de uso, una convencionalización de inferencias pragmáticas contextuales y una subjetivación del hablante (Sancho Cremades 2008). Se provee además un análisis formal para algunas de estas construcciones.