Abstracts H-K
Listed In alphabetical order by name of Author. To view abstract, click on the + sign next to the name of presenter.
Harris, Jo Ann. (Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA):
“`An Uncomfortable Heritage’: Unraveling Irish Roots in the British Atlantics.”
“`An Uncomfortable Heritage’: Unraveling Irish Roots in the British Atlantics.”
As the earliest English colonies established in the Caribbean, Barbados, St. Kitts-Nevis, and Montserrat offer scholars an interesting case study in the development of English creole societies during the 17th century. Of particular interest is the fact that this period predates colonial dependency on African labor. Instead, during the initial settlement period, most plantation managers imported the cheaper and more readily available Irish workers fleeing Catholic persecution in Ireland and England. In many instances, this acquisition of Irish labor rivaled the acquisition of African labor in its methods and brutality.
Faced with an urgency to eliminate what many viewed as the ‘Irish problem’, officials gave scant attention to documenting the details or the process of transporting the Irish to the West Indies. With the exception of limited scholarship based on data gathered in Montserrat, the result is that, until recently, Irish-Caribbean societies have remained an understudied group whose legacy has been coopted by competing versions of transatlantic history. That in turn has led to stereotypes of Irish settlers and what Hiram Morgan argues is “an ambivalent [Irish] heritage” reflecting a “paradoxical involvement in British imperialism”.
This paper proposes a close examination of both fact and fiction surrounding the Irish presence in St. Kitts, Montserrat, and Barbados. Building on earlier data documenting Irish governance in Montserrat, this study centers on the relationship between the Irish in St. Kitts and Montserrat in comparison to the Irish Red-legs in Barbados and the Black Irish of Jamaica.
Faced with an urgency to eliminate what many viewed as the ‘Irish problem’, officials gave scant attention to documenting the details or the process of transporting the Irish to the West Indies. With the exception of limited scholarship based on data gathered in Montserrat, the result is that, until recently, Irish-Caribbean societies have remained an understudied group whose legacy has been coopted by competing versions of transatlantic history. That in turn has led to stereotypes of Irish settlers and what Hiram Morgan argues is “an ambivalent [Irish] heritage” reflecting a “paradoxical involvement in British imperialism”.
This paper proposes a close examination of both fact and fiction surrounding the Irish presence in St. Kitts, Montserrat, and Barbados. Building on earlier data documenting Irish governance in Montserrat, this study centers on the relationship between the Irish in St. Kitts and Montserrat in comparison to the Irish Red-legs in Barbados and the Black Irish of Jamaica.
Harris, Treviene Ayanna. (Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh): “Folk Feminisms in Naomi Jackson’s The Star Side of Bird Hill.”
This paper examines the ways in which the concept of community presented in The Star Side of Bird Hill is intimately tied to and defined by relationships between women in the novel. The female relationships in the text are not only familial or communal, but also manage encompass how the lives, action, and knowledge of women influences our larger understanding of nation and history. The novel, I argue, through its framing as a story of reverse migration, attempts to recover and re-situate women as agential subjects within a society that largely sees them as second class citizens, or sometimes does not see them at all. Removed from what might be categorized as a first world progressive feminist politics, the novel presents the folk, rural, ritual and local as an equally legitimate framework in which poor Barbadian black women perform their own feminisms. Further, it is these performances of folk feminisms that ensure the women’s personal and cultural survival even while they may be among those who are considered the socially marginalized.
Heffelfinger-Nieves, Cristal R. (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus):
“The Representation of Barbadian English-lexifier Creole in Print Mass Media: A Case of Referee Design?”
“The Representation of Barbadian English-lexifier Creole in Print Mass Media: A Case of Referee Design?”
In this paper, I analyze the use of Barbadian/Bajan English-lexifier creole (ELC) in local print media, in relation to English, the official language of the island. Empirical and theoretical accounts of the Caribbean have shown that European languages, such as English, hold a greater degree of prestige when compared to creole languages, erroneously perceived and portrayed as “corrupted” or “broken” versions of the latter (Fenigsen, 2007, 2011; Kouwenberg et al., 2011; Nero, 2014; Roberts, 2008). In this respect, European languages are associated with greater legitimacy and symbolic power (Bourdieu & Thompson, 1991), and thus their use tends to be preferred in more formal domains. In this study, I apply Allan Bell’s (1984) Audience Design framework to qualitative data based on published research concerning Barbadian newspapers, and I complement such findings with my own observations. The results of my analysis confirm that, in fact, English is predominant, while Bajan ELC is restricted, mis-, and underrepresented in this domain (Brown-Blake, 2008; Carrington, 1999; Fenigsen, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011; Kouwenberg et al., 2011). This implies that much of the content of newspapers is not designed by taking the audience into consideration, but rather an external and far more prestigious referee (Bell, 1984), which has consequences for the already marginalized Creole languages and, ultimately, for their speakers. Finally, I reflect briefly upon the use of Bajan ELC in works of literature, another form of print media, thereby exploring different and creative ways of representing the Creole language as well as its speakers.
Hewitt-Bradshaw, Iris. (Univ. of Trinidad and Tobago):
“Linguistic and cultural convergence: Evidence from the food vocabulary of Trinidad and Tobago Creole.”
“Linguistic and cultural convergence: Evidence from the food vocabulary of Trinidad and Tobago Creole.”
This paper examines the ways in which the concept of community presented in The Star Side of Bird Hill is intimately tied to and defined by relationships between women in the novel. The female relationships in the text are not only familial or communal, but also manage encompass how the lives, action, and knowledge of women influences our larger understanding of nation and history. The novel, I argue, through its framing as a story of reverse migration, attempts to recover and re-situate women as a gential subjects within a society that largely sees them as second class citizens, or sometimes does not see them at all. Removed from what might be categorized as a first world progressive feminist politics, the novel presents the folk, rural, ritual and local as an equally legitimate framework in which poor Barbadian black women perform their own feminisms. Further, it is these performances of folk feminisms that ensure the women’s personal and cultural survival even while they may be among those who are considered the socially marginalized.
Hinds-Layne, Marsha. (UWI, SALISES, St. Augustine, Trinidad):
“Building a Nation Through the Humanities: Barbados Fifty and Beyond.”
“Building a Nation Through the Humanities: Barbados Fifty and Beyond.”
The fifty year anniversaries of two of the Caribbean’s big four countries were celebrated in 2016. The anniversaries and the Brexit and Trump phenomena offer good context for reflection and forward panning in the Caribbean.
This paper introduces the potential of intellectual history as a useful methodological framework in bridging some of the gaps in Caribbean history. There are several movements, moments and lives, between in the 20th century Caribbean which await documentation and analysis.
The paper focuses on a doctoral thesis covering the history of the establishment of the Society of Caribbean Linguistics and shows how intellectual history can be applied to create worthwhile cross-sectional views. The thesis covered the development of linguistics within the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana.
This paper introduces the potential of intellectual history as a useful methodological framework in bridging some of the gaps in Caribbean history. There are several movements, moments and lives, between in the 20th century Caribbean which await documentation and analysis.
The paper focuses on a doctoral thesis covering the history of the establishment of the Society of Caribbean Linguistics and shows how intellectual history can be applied to create worthwhile cross-sectional views. The thesis covered the development of linguistics within the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana.
Hunte, Nicola. (UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados):
“Imagining Barbados: Constructing a Nation through Fiction.”
“Imagining Barbados: Constructing a Nation through Fiction.”
The significance of the relationship between literature and identity has been especially pointed for Caribbean writing and a major consideration in critical approaches to that writing. A large part of that critical discussion has focused on this writing’s contribution to or impact on the struggle for political independence in the region – the movement towards nationhood. The approaching semi-centennial celebration of Barbados’s nationhood provides the opportunity to re-consider in the first instance, conceptualisations of national identity and in the second, the specificity of a ‘Barbadian’ national identity. In order to do so, I hope to once again turn to literary expressions by writers from Barbados and which can be read as influenced by Barbadian society. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore the possibility of determining a quintessentially Barbadian aesthetic praxis and its applicability in sustaining a national identity. The method of this examination will take the form of a close reading of selected short stories from those writing in both colonial and post-colonial Barbados in order to take into account the movement toward and then the practice of a ‘Barbadian’ identity. Specifically, I will be looking at the work of W.S. Arthur, A. N. Forde and Karl Sealy which speaks to the pre-independence period; Paule Marshall in the transition period from colonialism to independence; finally, June Henfrey and Cherie and Jones for post-independence Barbadian writing.
Javier, Nurianne Dhalia Arias. (University of Twente, Netherlands).
“Cultural factors and barriers to diabetes management in Aruba.” (VIDEO)
“Cultural factors and barriers to diabetes management in Aruba.” (VIDEO)
Not in attendance.
This paper presents a qualitative research on diabetes management, its success factors and barriers in Aruba, including theoretical studies of global approaches and practices. The main research question of this research is: What are achievable and innovative approaches for successful and strategic management of diabetes in Aruba? There are four sub questions which concern approaches exercised in the past in the local context, modern approaches that are currently being exercised in the global context, success factors and barriers of diabetes management and achievable new approaches for diabetes management in Aruba.
This paper presents a qualitative research on diabetes management, its success factors and barriers in Aruba, including theoretical studies of global approaches and practices. The main research question of this research is: What are achievable and innovative approaches for successful and strategic management of diabetes in Aruba? There are four sub questions which concern approaches exercised in the past in the local context, modern approaches that are currently being exercised in the global context, success factors and barriers of diabetes management and achievable new approaches for diabetes management in Aruba.
Kuwabong, Dannabang. (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus):
“Post-Disaster Dystopias: Reading Hell Under God’s Orders (HUGO) as narrative unveiling of post-Hugo disaster politics and game playing.in the US Virgin Islands.”
“Post-Disaster Dystopias: Reading Hell Under God’s Orders (HUGO) as narrative unveiling of post-Hugo disaster politics and game playing.in the US Virgin Islands.”
In this paper, I borrow the reading methodology outlined by Hannigan in “Disaster Politics and Game Playing” (95-156) to examine the critique of post-Hugo relief efforts of FEMA and mainland USA mainstream “white” Media, recorded in Hell Under God’s Orders (HUGO). I first argue that in St. Croix, the actions of the post-Hugo predominantly Africaribbean population contests the notion of a post-disaster community as an “emergent, temporary, disaster society that operates outside of institutional politics” (Solnit 305) and undermines the hypothesis that the “period immediately following the impact of a . . . natural disaster [is often] a time of community consensus and solidarity” (Hannigan 8). Second, I use the relief efforts mounted by FEMA to prove how post-disaster relief, whether organized and sponsored by governmental or non-governmental agencies are ideologically tied to the politics of race, gender, class, and geography. My third position originates from an examination of how the narratives of the mainstream mainland white media further complicate the post-disaster efforts by the local populations to cope with their trauma. I conclude by positing that post-disaster relief is often tied to and regulated by both local and international politics in international relations.