Lit & Politics in Caribbean

Through the study of the literature and the political history of the Caribbean, the course aims to introduce students to a region comprised of a diverse conglomerate of nations that share several important parallels (colonial legacies; ethnic and sociocultural heterogeneity; racialized national identities; US interventionism; heavy dependence on tourism, among others). The pan-Caribbean scope of the course will provide students an in-depth view of the shared issues in the region, while the analysis of literary texts-from Antigua, Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad-will allow the students to recognize the idiosyncratic characteristics of Caribbean nations. Students will explore the rich and often-overlooked literary production of the Caribbean, drawing lines of comparison and contrast among writers from several of the islands, and identifying the common literary elements and devices shared by them. The course seeks to promote a reflection on how Caribbean intellectuals explore and deal with issues of self-determination and the construction of identities.