Caribbean Imaginations: Writing and Cultural Production

In the global imagination, the Caribbean is either thought of as a place for vacation or a place of extreme violence. This course calls for a deeper engagement with the region and its diaspora by surveying the writing and cultural production of the Caribbean to unpack the varying meanings of a Caribbean imagination in the historical and present moment. We will cover themes ranging from enslavement, indentureship, colonialism, racial formation, gender and sexuality, class, and migration to understand the various transformations in Caribbean literary and expressive cultures. Students will evaluate the aesthetic and political contributions that these imaginative works put forward in a broader understanding of the Caribbean. Materials include novels, short stories, poetry, film, music videos, and visual art. Readings will be inclusive of the Anglophone, Hispanophone, Francophone, and Dutch Caribbean.