Creolization in the Making of the Americas

By contrast, and in accordance with the same revolving movement of contacts and conflicts, the Caribbean Sea is the sea that "diffracts." Since 1492, it has been a preface to the continent (in the seventeenth century, it was sometimes known as the Sea of Peru), a place of passage, of trans...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCaribbean quarterly Vol. 54; no. 1-2; pp. 81 - 89
Main Author Glissant, Edouard
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Mona Routledge 01.03.2008
University of the West Indies, School of Continuing Studies
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
African Americans
Ambiguity
American literature
Creoles
Cultural conflict
Cultural identity
Ethnic groups
Ethnic identity
Faulkner, William (1897-1962)
Language
Minority & ethnic groups
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Native Americans
Pidgins
Plantations
Politics
Self concept
Americas
United States > US
Panama
West Indies
Mexico
Martinique
Belize
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:By contrast, and in accordance with the same revolving movement of contacts and conflicts, the Caribbean Sea is the sea that "diffracts." Since 1492, it has been a preface to the continent (in the seventeenth century, it was sometimes known as the Sea of Peru), a place of passage, of transience rather than exclusion, an archipelago-like reality, which does not imply the intense entrenchment of a self-sufficient thinking of identity, often sectarian, but of relativity, the fabric of a great expanse, the relational complicity with the new earth and sea. [...]it is easy to see why creolization, and not métissage or crossbreeding, accurately describes the process originated by the contacts and conflicts of cultures in the countries being discussed here. Furthermore, creolization opens on a radically new dimension of reality, not on a mechanical combination of components, characterized by value percentages. [...]creolization, which overlaps with linguistic production, does not produce direct synthesis, but résultantes, results: something else, another way. The unity of such a country refers to the way of life, the ideals, the political or economic community they all embrace. [...]one can be American and Irish, American and Jewish, or black and American, native and American, and so on.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0008-6495
2470-6302
DOI:10.1080/00086495.2008.11672337