This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts
2,650 words (approx. 10.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 97.95
Abstract This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts. Referring to the post-colonial and feminist theory, the author of this paper analyzes women's writing as a reflection of traditions with story-telling, women's "voice," and histories that are particular to women and Caribbean culture.
Abstract This paper traces two shifts in feminist criticism as it relates to Caribbeanliterature, primarily George Lamming's 1953 novel, "In the Castle of My Skin". The paper discusses the historical and cultural context of the novel and critical responses to it. It also looks at the feminist critical response.
Abstract This paper closely analyzes the erotic and eco-feminist aspects of two works by Ursula LeGuin and Michelle Cliff. This paper is highly analytical, employs points of post-colonial theory and revels in the idea of women as supreme. The works addressed are Cliff's "Abeng" and LeGuin's, "She Unnames Them and Other Selected Works".
From the Paper "Eco-feminist theory is an extension of the politically charged feminist movement, which combines gender and race oppression with the subjugation of the natural world. According to this theory, the female gender is interconnected with the surrounding world. Thus, gender appropriate terminology emerges, such as 'mother nature' and 'mother earth,' in order to solidify the female's attachment to her natural surroundings. In Michelle Cliff's novel Abeng, female protagonist Clare Savage is burdened with the inability to experience a sense of 'oneness,' or what Audre Lorde calls "the erotic" with her Jamaican homeland and family members. Lorde describes the erotic as "a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling" (Lorde 103). It is necessary to understand this novel from an eco-feminist view so that the theory can be used as a scope or lens when approaching works that are classically labeled, 'feminist' or in this case, 'eco-feminist works.'"
Abstract This essay is a post-colonial analysis of Caribbean women, and provides an examination of identity issues in Caribbeanliterature written by women. In this paper, post-colonialism is discussed in-relation to feminism. The literature considered here is examined as a way to produce a strong theoretical argument that critically enables important questions of identity and culture in Caribbean contexts of women's writing.
Abstract This paper discusses the way that Rojo illustrates the Caribbean and how he compares it to a machine and gives examples from music, religion, literature, and Carnaval, all elements that are part of the culture. It explains how they have evolved from the mingling of varied cultures that define the Caribbean as it is today.
From the Paper "The Caribbean, according to Benitez-Rojo, is a machine that was created from the time that Christopher Columbus? discovery of the area to the machine of the sugar plantation. In comparing the Caribbean to a machine he believes that it was the mercantilist Europeans who took the natural resources, infused with the blood of Africa to make the Caribbean the machine that it was and the machine that it continues to be. Though created by the Europeans, it was the blood of Africa (the slaves) that kept the machine working in earlier days. The Caribbean became the place in between commercial monopoly and pirates. Nevertheless, the Caribbean opened the doors for the capitalism of the west. Benitez-Rojo asserts that the history of capitalism and the history of the Caribbean are one and the same."
Abstract This paper explores how the institution of slavery affects the present day outlook of many Caribbean citizens. The experience of colonization and enslavement is considered in terms of Caribbean identity, attitudes, culture and behavior. A review of literature in this field is presented.
From the Paper "The importance of the institution of slavery in the history of the Caribbean region needs little introduction. However, in the present, one finds vestiges of the enslaved, as opposed to the descendants of slaves, in a region where history has a strong influence over identity, attitudes, culture and behaviour. Matters of how colonial societies stamped metropolitan cultures on their members have been fully discussed by Frantz Fanon in the French case. (Black Skins, 1967) Arnold Itwaru has written on how colonial hangovers do continue, encountered by people of Caribbean origin, yet again, in the Canadian setting. (1994) The influence of imperialism is very long."
Abstract The paper maintains that the radical feministcritique in general is valuable, since it emphasizes the sexist nature of Freud theories. The same critique points out the assumption in his work that the woman is to be evaluated on the basis of a male standard. Furthermore, the paper shows how this critique highlights the fact that according to Freud, female sexual identity originates in castration so that a woman is viewed as no more than a castrated male.
The paper discusses the drug problems of the people of the Caribbean and the drug trafficking that goes on there. It also deals with the dangers that drug trafficking causes to other countries and their people.
3,650 words (approx. 14.6 pages), 5 sources, 2001, $ 101.95
Abstract This paper is about the drug trafficking problems of the Caribbean. The author examines the Caribbean region as a long standing area where illegal substances have been grown and sold. The people are poverty stricken and sell drugs as a means to make money. The author looks into the Caribbean's climate and location which make it an ideal place to grow and sell drugs. The people are able to transport drugs to other countries through the use of planes, boats, etc. The paper goes on to discuss how this poses as a threat to all countries because it makes drugs available which leads to drug problems for their citizens.
From the paper:
"The Caribbean is known for its agriculturally equipped weather conditions, which makes for most islands to be very fertile. Many farmers in the Caribbean grow drugs as part of their produce to earn more money. They can then sell the illegal substances to islanders, tourists, and then ship the rest off to be sold to other countries? citizens. This poses as a threat to the health of all people who are able to buy drugs as a result of drug trafficking in the Caribbean. It also poses a threat to governments because they have to use their funding on programs to educate citizens about the dangers of drugs as well as rehabilitate those citizens that are addicted to drugs and suffer from drug abuse."
Abstract This paper attempts to deconstruct and expose the inherent patriarchal ideologies in Freud's psychoanalysis of his famous patient, "Dora". The basis of Freud's psychoanalytic theories revolved around sexuality, and his account of her "madness" condemns her sexuality and dismisses all feminine sexuality. This is a feministcritique of Freud's theories, in general, and specifically, in regards to his comments on the case of "Dora", which attempt to expose the unconscious assumptions that Freud saw in everyone else but himself. The contention of this paper is thus that the society and culture and gender of an individual directly influences his or her perception and interpretation of another individual, and thus Freud, as a privileged, white man in a patriarchal society, could never hope to help or analyse "Dora" accurately.
From the Paper "For Dr Sigmund Freud the case analysis of "Dora" signified the possibility of proclaiming a marriage between dream analysis and psychoanalysis to the psychoanalytic community (Freud, 1901/1905: 44ff.). Yet it was never the woman in analysis who was of importance for either Freud or the psychoanalytic community. Ida Bauer was never important and nor was her Symbolic representation, Dora. Indeed all the women within Dora's case are characterised as ?nothing,? no woman is important (Gallop, 1985: 216). It might be argued that we can never truly know the content of Ida's "nothingness" because Dora was Freud's invention, his interpretation, biases and desires postured onto her feminine form (Geargear, 1985: 177). However we need not know Ida's real life story as Freud's narration of her is more indicative of Ida's status as a woman within a patriarchal society than any autobiographical account could ever have been. Thus Dora becomes a fluid character who need not claim a "real" identity or to be set in an historical moment for she exceeds Ida and is instead the transcendent woman; her hysteria is every woman's hysteria."
Abstract In this paper, a feministcritique of Andrew Marvel's poem "To His Coy Mistress" is offered that focuses on the speaker's tactics in trying to coerce his Lady into sex.
From the Paper "Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" is a poem in ABAB rhyme scheme that is divided into three stanzas for a total of ? lines. In the first stanza the speaker informs his intended Lady how he would love her if time were no consideration. In the second stanza he warns her that time is fleeting and they are mortal."
Abstract This paper attempts to show the errors made in generalizations of Caribbean families. The paper talks about how one Caribbean family is discussed using North American or European models that may not suit Caribbean societies. The paper also points to generalizations that emphasize the lower-class Afro-Caribbean family as somehow typical.
From the Paper "Models of male marginality and female domesticity have to do with ideas of power, sexuality and gender, in different kinds of Caribbean families. The result of different ideals for men and women has been assumed to create a big gender gap in Caribbean cultures. These are said to have shaped the nature of the family quite strongly. In the past, errors have been made in comparing Caribbean families to those in North America or Europe, or by assuming only one or two models of how the Caribbean family might be different. "
Abstract This paper analyzes Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, published in 1847 when England's political climate showed evidence of an emerging feminist movement. The paper examines the heroine, Catherine Earnshaw and her figurative double, Heathcliff to illuminate Bronte's commentary on the maddening confinement of female individuality.
From the Paper "As a result of her hopelessness, Heathcliff becomes Catherine's device for strength. So when little Catherine asked for a whip, she got Heathcliff instead who proved to be her metaphorical "whip" in using him as a tool for power."
Abstract This essay is a study of the island of Jamaica. It gives an historical overview of its discovery. It details Jamaica's social, political, and economic situation and describes the main factors that effect its situation. This paper also examines the adjacent Caribbean islands and their present day situations. It gives an historical overview of the discovery of the Caribbean and the part the British and Japanese have played in the Caribbean's history.
From the Paper "Early in the sixteenth century, Spaniards landed on, and claimed, the island of Jamaica. Previously inhabited only by Arawak Indians, the island, located along the ocean route connecting the Old World to the New World, soon became a way station for Spanish galleons and a marketplace for slaves and goods from many countries. Along with the Spaniards, it was home to British citizens as well as multinational buccaneers and entrepreneurs.
"According to Daniel J. Seyler, in his contribution to Countries of the World, "Jamaica's story is one of independence that began in the seventeenth century with the Maroons, runaway slaves who resisted the British colonizers by carrying out hit-and run attacks from the interior. Their 7,000 descendants in the Cockpit Country have symbolized the fervent, sometimes belligerent, love of freedom that is ingrained in the Jamaican people as a result of both their British tutelage and their history of slavery. Independence came quietly, however, without a revolutionary struggle, apparently reflecting the lasting imprint of the British parliamentary legacy on Jamaican society" (Seyler 1991)."
Abstract This undergraduate level media-criticism paper takes a feminist view of television advertising. It looks at the continuing stereotypes of body image, social role, and career in contrast to emerging images which seem to contradict these more 'traditional' portrayals of women.
Abstract The paper looks at two points about Indo-Caribbean people and the Indo-Caribbean culture. The first question discusses the historical, racial, social and cultural implications of the field-song "Oh Maninga." The second looks at two contributions to the study of Indo-Caribbean culture by women, specifically writing and cultural transmission.
From the Paper "The song "Oh Maninga" illustrates a small part of the world of the Indo-Caribbean indentured laborer. The song shows a part of the world that was not frequently seen or discussed in historical literature until recently. Patterns of race and class, gender and culture can be seen in this song. Until the last few decades, people have not been interested in the people who worked in the Caribbean as indentured servants in horrible conditions for little compensation. Part of this is due to the racism inherent in the dominant western culture where those writing the history were not interested in the stories of the poor, especially not the women or otherwise powerless."
