I.

Introduction

Caribbean Literature, written and oral literature of the Caribbean from before the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century to the present. This literature emerged within a context of many languages and cultures. The languages of the Caribbean—French, English, Spanish, and Dutch—are remnants of the colonizing powers and their historical encounters with the region. Creoles and local patois (hybrid languages) developed from the mixture of European languages with Native American languages, especially Carib and Arawak, and the languages of Africans brought to the Caribbean as slaves. Asians, primarily from India and China, and Middle Easterners also contribute to the region’s cultural diversity.

The topics of Caribbean literature encompass the historical issues of enslavement and forced migration, the related themes of home and exile, and colonialism and decolonization. Caribbean literature also embraces the social and cultural themes of tradition, landscape, culture, and community, and addresses such universal questions as identity, sexuality, family life, pain, joy, and the uses of the imagination.

To limit Caribbean literature to writing produced in the Caribbean islands, however, is to exclude a large body of work. Caribbean literature also originated in the area of Central and South America that borders the Caribbean Sea: Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana; and coastal areas of Colombia, Nicaragua, Belize, and Honduras. Even some of the literature produced in the United States cities of Miami, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana, shares certain aspects of Caribbean culture. Also included in Caribbean literature are works written by people of Caribbean ancestry who live outside the Caribbean, primarily in Europe and major urban centers of the United States.

II.

Oral Literature

The earliest form of Caribbean literature is oral literature, consisting of a rich folktale tradition, legends and myths, and songs and poetry. It flourishes today in popular music, such as the calypso, the Cuban son, and the Puerto Rican bomba; in storytelling customs derived from West Africa and India; and in supernatural tales from African religions, including Santería, Lucumi, Vodun, and Shango. Caribbean oral literature also thrives in proverbs, riddles, and sayings that reinterpret African, European, and East Indian traditions. Prominent among these are anancy (spider trickster) stories; animal dilemma tales, which typically teach a moral lesson; stories of village life or evil women; tall tales; and rhetorical flourishes, such as boasting, toasts, and speeches.

III.

Early Writings

During the period of European enslavement of Native American and African people, from the 16th century to the mid-19th century, the most prevalent Caribbean literary forms were autobiography and poetry. These works introduce themes that became common in Caribbean literature: exile, migration, displacement, and questions of identity. The most significant of these writings in the English language is The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, Related by Herself (1831).

Early Caribbean writings in Spanish include the poetry and autobiography of the slave Juan Francisco Manzano of Cuba in the 1820s and 1830s. José María Heredia is recognized as the first Cuban writer (1820) to produce anti-colonialist poems. Poesías (Poetry, 1838) and Poesías escogidas (Selected Poetry, 1842) were written by Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (known as Plácido), who was executed in 1844 for his alleged role in a slave uprising. Biografía de un cimarrón (1966; The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave, 1968), by Cuban anthropologist Miguel Barnet, is based on the narratives of Esteban Montejo, a 104-year-old former slave who recounted his life through interviews. Though published much later, this work is considered a traditional slave narrative. Max Henrique Ureña of the Dominican Republic wrote nationalist works in the 19th century. In the French-speaking Caribbean, novels first appeared in Haiti in the mid-19th century: Stella (1859), by Eméric Bergeaud; and Francesca, les jeux du sort (Francesca, The Game of Fate, 1873) and Le damné (The Damned, 1877) by Demesvar Delorme.

IV.

20th-Century Writing

Few Caribbean countries gained their independence before the 20th century; for this reason, the development of distinct, national literary traditions began in the 20th century. Caribbean literature of the 20th century can be roughly divided into three periods: the first 30 years, during colonial rule; the years just prior to independence, from about 1940 to 1960 or later, depending on the country; and the period after independence.

A.

Early 20th Century

A prominent work in the French-speaking Caribbean is the novel Batouala (1921; translated 1922), by René Maran of Martinique, which won the Prix Goncourt (a French literary prize). In its call for identification with black culture it anticipates négritude, a 1930s movement celebrating African culture and values. Another precursor of négritude is a study of Haitian culture, Ainsi parla l’oncle (1928; So Spoke the Uncle, 1983) by Jean Price-Mars. Although the négritude movement originated in France, its founders include Léon-Gontran Damas of French Guiana and Aimé Césaire of Martinique. Césaire’s poem Cahier d’un retour au pays natal (1939; Return to My Native Land, 1968) is considered one of the classic compositions of the négritude movement.

The negrismo movement in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean presented African themes in an exotic manner, appropriating African and black identity for artistic inspiration. Writers in this movement include Luis Palés Matos from Puerto Rico and Emilio Ballagas from Cuba. The works of Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén from the 1930s share affinities with the politics of négritude. His works include Motivos de son (Son Motifs, 1930), Sóngoro cosongo (1931), West Indies, Ltd. (1934), Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas (Songs for Soldiers and Rhythms for Tourists, 1937), and El son entero (The Whole Rhythm, 1947). Guillén’s work addresses issues surrounding the struggle against colonialism. Another Cuban, Alejo Carpentier, achieved recognition with the novels El reino de este mundo (1949; The Kingdom of This World, 1957) and Los pasos perdidos (1953; The Lost Steps, 1956), which explores the history and sources of Caribbean culture.

The best-known writers in the English-speaking Caribbean include Jamaican novelists Tom Redcam (the pseudonym of Thomas MacDermot), author of Becka’s Buckra Baby (1903), and Herbert G. de Lisser, author of Jane’s Career (1914; originally published as Jane: A Story of Jamaica, 1913), The White Witch of Rosehall (1929), and Under the Sun: A Jamaican Comedy (1937). Jamaican-born poet Claude McKay is perhaps the best-known writer of this generation internationally. He produced Constab Ballads (1912) before moving to New York City. There he became one of the leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of black culture in New York in the 1920s and 1930s, with such works as Home to Harlem (1928) and Banana Bottom (1933). The works of C. L. R. James of Trinidad include the novel Minty Alley (1936) and the historical study The Black Jacobins (1938). In his writings, James protests against colonialism and helps define the anticolonial political and cultural struggles of his time. He was instrumental in the formation of the literary magazines Trinidad (founded 1929) and The Beacon (founded 1931); these magazines aided in the development of a Caribbean literary tradition. Other prominent writers of this period include Trinidadians Alfred Mendes and Ralph de Boissière, both of whom contributed short stories, articles, and poetry to Trinidad and The Beacon.

B.

The End of Colonial Rule

In the period leading to political independence, a generation of writers emerged whose works voiced the desire for liberation and presented a distinctive portrait of Caribbean culture. The novel New Day (1949), by Jamaican writer Vic Reid, looks forward to a “new day” of independence. Roger Mais of Jamaica portrays the displaced, downtrodden, urban population of the Caribbean in the novels The Hills Were Joyful Together (1953) and Brother Man (1954). Mais experiments with jazz rhythms in his language. Jamaican poet Una Marson uses blues rhythms in Tropic Reveries (1930) and other poetry collections. The novel A Morning at the Office (1950), by Edgar Mittelholzer of Guyana, presents a vivid portrait of Guyana’s countryside and society. George Lamming, from Barbados, published In the Castle of My Skin (1953), one of the first and most important Caribbean works dealing with childhood and coming of age in a colonial context. The novel focuses on the struggles of three young boys with poverty, a colonial education, social change, and the forging of an identity; hovering in the background is the promise of migration to the metropolitan centers. Wilson Harris of Guyana emphasizes the mythology of Native Americans and Africans in his novel Palace of the Peacock (1960). Poems of Resistance from British Guiana (1954), by Guyana’s Martin Carter, voices a hope for liberation from colonial rule.

A number of female writers were also active during this period. Beryl Gilroy of Guyana wrote novels, children’s stories, and an autobiography. Some of her works were published years later, including Frangipani House (1986), Boy-Sandwich (1989), and Stedman and Joanna (1991). Sylvia Wynter incorporates elements of folk culture into The Hills of Hebron: A Jamaican Novel (1966). From Dominica, Phyllis Shand Allfrey won recognition for her analysis of colonial power in Orchid House (1953). Jean Rhys received critical acclaim for novels about women caught in situations they are unable to change, including After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1930), Good Morning, Midnight (1939), and Wide Sargasso Sea (1966).

C.

After Independence

The era following independence saw the emergence of poets from the English-speaking Caribbean: Derek Walcott from Saint Lucia and Edward Kamau Brathwaite from Barbados. Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992, is perhaps the best-known Caribbean writer internationally. In addition to poetry, Walcott is well known as a playwright, most notably for his collection Dream on Monkey Mountain, and Other Plays (1970). His poetry collections include In a Green Night (1962), Another Life (1973), The Star-Apple Kingdom (1979), and Omeros (1990).

At the same time Edward Kamau Brathwaite challenged the formal structures of European poetry by adopting the rhythms, references, and language of the African and Afro-Caribbean traditions. In The History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry (1984), a study of Caribbean verse, he attempts to identify and define the linguistic mixture of the Caribbean. In his essays and poetry, including Rights of Passage (1967), Masks (1968), and Islands (1969), Brathwaite broadens the possible uses of language for a number of subsequent writers, including Jamaican oral poets Mutabaruka, Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Jean Binta Breeze.

Other noted English-language writers from the Caribbean include V. S. Naipaul and Earl Lovelace. Born in Trinidad of East Indian ancestry, Naipaul received recognition for novels that focus on Indians living in the Caribbean, including A House for Mr. Biswas (1961) and Guerrillas (1975). His later fiction and nonfiction focused more often on countries in Asia and Africa. Lovelace, also from Trinidad, discusses education, poverty, and village life in his novels, which include The Schoolmaster (1968), The Dragon Can’t Dance (1979), and Salt (1996), which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize.

In the French-speaking Caribbean, prominent contemporary writers include Daniel Maximin of Guadeloupe and Édouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau of Martinique. Maximin explores issues of black identity in L’isolé soleil (1981; Lone Sun, 1989) and Soufrières (1987). Glissant’s novels investigate the Afro-Caribbean heritage. Chamoiseau published Eloge de la Créolité (1989; In Praise of Creoleness, bilingual edition, 1993), an examination of Creole cultural identity cowritten with Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant. Chamoiseau won the Prix Goncourt for his novel Texaco (1992; translated 1997).

Maryse Condé of Guadeloupe is considered a significant voice among female writers, having won French literary prizes for her novel Ségou (1984; translated 1987). Simone Schwarz-Bart, also of Guadeloupe, writes of the search for identity in the novel Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle (1972; The Bridge of Beyond, 1974), which is considered her masterpiece. Nancy Morejón of Cuba is recognized as a leading poetic voice. Her collection Cuaderno de Granada (1984; Grenada Notebook, 1984) honors those who participated in Grenada’s revolution in 1983.

Writers of Caribbean ancestry living outside the Caribbean are receiving increasing international recognition. They include Canadian-based writers Marlene Nourbese Philip from Tobago and Claire Harris from Trinidad. Olive Senior, born in Jamaica and later a Canadian resident, was the first winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, for Summer Lightning (1986). Astrid Roemer, born in Dutch-speaking Suriname and a long-time resident of the Netherlands, has published more than 11 works, including Over de gekte van een vrouw (About a Woman’s Madness, 1979). Female writers based in London, England, include Jean Buffong of Grenada, Joan Riley of Jamaica, Grace Nichols of Guyana, Amryl Johnson of Trinidad, Beryl Gilroy of Guyana, and Janice Shinebourne of Guyana. In the United States, Antiguan-born Jamaica Kincaid, Dominican-born Julia Alvarez, Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat, and Jamaican-born Michelle Cliff have garnered critical attention. Puerto Rican writers in New York City, dubbed Nuyoricans, include Nicholasa Mohr, Carmen María Esteves, and Martín Espada. Literary critics are also recognizing the Caribbean roots of some African American writers who are explicit about their Caribbean parentage, including Paule Marshall, Audre Lorde, and Rosa Guy.