Home - Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Critical Perspectives on Caribbean Literature and Culture
Editor: Dorsía Smith, Tatiana Tagirova, and Suzanna Engman
Date Of Publication: Mar 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2697-6
Isbn: 1-4438-2697-9
Critical Perspectives on Caribbean Literature and Culture is a collection of a dozen essays by Caribbean scholars living in the Caribbean and around the world. Each of the three sections of the book explores the Caribbean as a diasporic space through the lenses of literary and cultural systems. “Negotiating Borders: Women, Sexuality, and Identity” examines the creolized identities of Caribbean societies, gender roles of women, impact of sexual tourism, and censorship of Latino gays and lesbians. The essayists in this section note that much work still needs to be done in academia to give voice to repressed Caribbean populations. “Creating Spaces of Caribbean Artistic Expression: Multiple Representations” focuses on how music, identity, art, and language depict the diversity of the Caribbean experience. In this section, the essayists examine how the process of creation extends to new cultural expressions. “Deconstructing the Diaspora: Caribbean Writers as Political Activists” takes into account the tension between oppressor and oppressed, a pressing issue for many Caribbean authors, and focuses on the role of writers in reconstructing Caribbean culture, politics, and history.

In pursuit of a more comprehensive West Indian view, this publication provides a novel perspective on Caribbean literary, cultural, and historical experience. The essays featured complement each other in their representation of the multiplicitous Caribbean region with all its claims and anxieties. They cover a wide range of writers and diverse cross-cultural encounters within the Caribbean region and reflect on issues such as Caribbean identity, migration, and artistic form of expression. This publication cuts across geographies, cultures, and disciplines, enriching Caribbean scholarship by recognizing the Caribbean’s tradition of resistance and courage.

Dorsia Smith holds a PhD in Caribbean Literature and is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. She is also the co-editor of Caribbean without Borders: Literature, Language and Culture (2008) and the editor of Latina/Chicana Mothering (2011). She is currently working on a book about ethnic mothering.

Tatiana Tagirova holds a PhD in Caribbean Literature and Linguistics from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. She has published her work in La Torre, Sargasso, and Tesolgram. At the present moment, she teaches writing and World Literature at Elizabeth City State University.

Suzanna Engman received a master’s degree in Rhetoric and Language from the University of New Mexico, USA, and a PhD in Caribbean Literature from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (UPR-RP). She was the editor of the UPR-RP’s research magazine, Inventio, for six years and is currently the university’s institutional grant developer.

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Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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