Creole Languages and Caribbean Identities
Caribbean Creole languages result from language contact via colonization and the slave trade. Explores creolization from cognitive, historical and comparative perspectives and evaluates popular theories about "Creole genesis" and the role of language acquisition. Also explores non-linguistic creolization in literature, religion and music in the Caribbean and addresses issues of Caribbean identities by examining Creole speakers' and others' beliefs toward Creole cultures. Draws comparisons with aspects of African-American culture.
Spring 2017
Caribbean Creole languages result from language contact via colonization and the slave trade. In this course we explore the history of Creole languages from cognitive, historical and comparative perspectives. We evaluate popular theories about "Creole genesis" and the role of language acquisition. Then we explore the non-linguistic aspects of Creole formation, using sources from literature, religion and music. We also look into issues of Caribbean identities as we examine Creole speakers' and others' beliefs and attitudes toward their cultures. We also make comparisons with relevant aspects of African-American culture in the U.S.
Readings
- SESSIONS: 1: Course introduction, syllabus overview, introduction of our interdisciplinary approach. · READINGS: No readings · SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS: No supplemental materials
- Anderson, Stephen R. Chapter 2 in Doctor Dolittle’s Delusion: Animals and the Uniqueness of Human Language . Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780300115253.
- Roberts, Peter Alan. “Introduction.” Chapter 1 in West Indians and their Language . Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780521696982.
- Arends, Jacques, and Pieter Muysken. “The Socio-Historical Background of Creoles.” In Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. Edited by Norval Smith. Benjamins, 2001. ISBN: 9781556191701.
- Chaudenson, Robert. Creolization of Language and Culture . Routledge, 2001. ISBN: 9780415145930.
- Brotz, Howard, ed. “The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered.” In Negro Social and Political Thought, 1850–1920: Representative Texts . Basic Books, 1966.
- Roberts, Peter Alan. Chapter 5 in West Indians and their Language . Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780521696982.
- Hogan, Patrick Colm, ed. “Creoles.” In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences . Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107475908.
- Bender, Thomas, and Laurent Dubois, eds. “A Season of Revolutions: The United States, France and Haiti.” In Revolution!: The Atlantic World Reborn. Giles, 2011. ISBN: 9781904832942.
- Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. “An Unthinkable History: The Haitian Revolution as a Non-Event.” In Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History . Beacon Press, 1996.
- Achebe, Chinua. “The African Writer and the English Language.” In Morning Yet on Creation Day: Essays . Anchor Press, 1975. ISBN: 9780385017039.
- Edwidge Danticat. Chapters 1–13 in The Farming of Bones . Soho Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781616953492.
- ———. Chapters 14–26 in The Farming of Bones . Soho Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781616953492.
- ———. Chapters 27–end in The Farming of Bones . Soho Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781616953492.
- Roberts, Peter Alan. “Creole English.” Chapter 3 in West Indians and their Language . Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780521696982.
- Makoni, Sinfree. Black Linguistics: Language, Society, and Politics in Africa and the Americas . Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 9780415261388.
- Public service announcement videos about linguistic profiling (not available for OCW)
- Lippi-Green, Rosina. “The Myth of Non-Accent,” “The Standard Language Myth,” “Language Subordination,” and “Teaching Children How to Discriminate.” In English With an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States . Routledge, 2012. ISBN: 9780415559102.
- Roberts, Peter A. “Societies in the Raw: From Diversity to Corruption” and “The Development of National Identities in Hispaniola, Cuba and Peurto Rico.” In Roots of Caribbean identity . Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780521727457.
- Roberts, Peter A. “English language and literacy” and “The legacy of colonial literacy in the West Indies.” Chapters 9 and 10 in From Oral to Literate Culture: Colonial Experience in the English West Indies. University of the West Indies Press, 2000. ISBN: 9789766400378.
- Devonish, Hubert. “Kingston, Jamaica: Arawak.” In Language and Liberation: Creole Language Politics in the Caribbean . Arawak Publications, 2007. ISBN: 9789768189264.
- Pilkey, Dave. Ricky Ricotta’s Giant Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus . Blue Sky Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780439236249.
- Mintz, Sidney, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot. “The Social History of Haitian Vodou.” In Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou . Edited by D. Cosentino. University of California Museum, 1995. ISBN: 9780930741471.
- Brown, Karen McCarthy. “Alourdes: A case study of moral leadership in Haitian Vodou.” In Saints and Virtues . University of California Press, 1987. ISBN: 9780520061637.
- Bender, Thomas, and Laurent Dubois, eds. “The 1804 Haitian Revolution.” In Revolution! The Atlantic World Reborn . Giles, 2011. ISBN: 9781904832942.
- Chomsky, Noam. “The Tragedy of Haiti.” In Year 501: The Conquest Continues . South End Press, 1999. ISBN: 9780896084452.
- Devonish, Hubert. “Kingston, Jamaica: Arawak. ” In Language and Liberation: Creole Language Politics in the Caribbean . Arawak Publications, 2007. ISBN: 9789768189264.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Spring) 3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2017
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.