Caribbean Visions in Folktales

Caribbean Visions in Folktales
Author: Clement B. G. London
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2002-02-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1477163018

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The Caribbean Story Finder

The Caribbean Story Finder
Author: Sharon Barcan Elswit
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2017-09-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1476630011

The Caribbean islands have a vibrant oral folklore. In Jamaica, the clever spider Anansi, who outsmarts stronger animals, is a symbol of triumph by the weak over the powerful. The fables of the foolish Juan Bobo, who tries to bring milk home in a burlap bag, illustrate facets of traditional Puerto Rican life. Conflict over status, identity and power is a recurring theme--in a story from Trinidad, a young bull, raised by his mother in secret, challenges his tyrannical father who has killed all the other males in the herd. One in a series of folklore reference guides by the author, this volume shares summaries of 438 tales--some in danger of disappearing--retold in English and Creole from West African, European, and slave indigenous cultures in 24 countries and territories. Tales are grouped in themed sections with a detailed subject index and extensive links to online sources.

Story, Story, Story: From Smooth to Cool

Story, Story, Story: From Smooth to Cool
Author: Clement London
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2003-08-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1477178031

This book of stories is prepared as object lessons for middle level readers and young adults. In times like these: fraught with impediments that often cloud the ability to exercise genuine, logical decisions, young people need strong leadership guides that would facilitate their search for participating in their world. Often, the guile from persons who present themselves as paragons of virtue is packaged in not-so-obvious garb that encourages deception. These three stories dramatize the fact that different guises may similarly deceive. Therefore, from the various story characters, one may discern the influences wrought and how such may eventually affect the behaviors of others. From the story about the Tortoise, one may learn how intentions that may initially may appear honest or well-intentioned, may eventually turn sour, because of subsequent abuse of power or the taking of the human spirit for granted. In the story about Mr. Gabilan and Papa Mongoose, one should observe the dynamics of responsibility, and of the extent to which that may lead. The guile pursued should help the reader to note how one may unintentionally perform an act of doing something foolish. Finally, Donkey Strategy may demonstrate such crucial emotion as faith, determination, and hope, as well as the effort to overcome difficulties through persistence and honest grounding which develops to one becoming cool.

Math Matters

Math Matters
Author: Clement B. G. London
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2005-11-01
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1413426522

A History of Literature in the Caribbean

A History of Literature in the Caribbean
Author: A. James Arnold
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 599
Release: 1994-09-06
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 902728475X

This history for the first time charts the literature of the entire Caribbean, the islands as well as continental littoral, as one cultural region. It breaks new ground in establishing a common grid for reading literatures that have been kept separate by their linguistic frontiers. Readers will have access to the best current scholarship on the evolution of popular and literate cultures in the various regions since their earliest emergence. The History of Literature in the Caribbean brings together the most distinguished team of literary Caribbeanists ever assembled, cutting across ideological commitments and critical methods. Differences in point of view between individual contributors are left intact here as the sign of the colonial inheritance of the region. Introductions and conclusions to the various sections of the History written by the respective subeditors, set them in proper perspective. The unique synoptic aspect of the History lies in its comprehensiveness and its range, which are unequaled. Contributors: A. James Arnold, Julio Rodriguez-Luis, H. Lopez Morales, Maria Elena Rodriguez Castro, Silvio Torres Saillant, Seymour Menton, Ian I. Smart, Efrain Barradas, Raquel Chang-Rodriguez, Carlos Alonso, Ivan A. Schulman, W.L. Siemens, William Luis, Gustavo Pellon, Emilio Bejel, Sandra M. Cypess, Peter Earle, Adriana Mndez Rodenas, J. Michael Dash, Ulrich Fleischmann, Maximilien Laroche, Rgis Antoine, Lon-Franois Hoffmann, Randolph Hezekiah, Bridget Jones, F.I. Case, Marie-Denise Shelton, Beverly Ormerod, J. Michael Dash, Jack Corzani, Anthea Morrison, Juris Silenieks, Frantz Fanon, Vere Knight.

Communities in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Short Stories

Communities in Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean Short Stories
Author: Lucy Evans
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2014
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1781381186

This book examines the representation of community in contemporary Anglophone Caribbean short stories, focusing on the most recent wave of Anglophone Caribbean short story writers following the genre's revival in the mid-1980s. The first extended study of Caribbean short stories, it presents the phenomenon of interconnected stories as a significant feature of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Anglophone Caribbean literary cultures. Lucy Evans contends that the short story collection and cycle, literary forms regarded by genre theorists as necessarily concerned with representations of community, are particularly appropriate and enabling as a vehicle through which to conceptualise Caribbean communities. The book covers short story collections and cycles by Olive Senior, Earl Lovelace, Kwame Dawes, Alecia Mckenzie, Lawrence Scott, Mark McWatt, Robert Antoni and Dionne Brand, and argues that the form of interconnected stories is a crucial part of these writers' imagining of communities, which may be fractured, plural and fraught with tensions, but which nevertheless hold together. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of community, bringing literary representations of community into dialogue with models of community developed in the field of Caribbean anthropology. The works analysed are set in Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana, and in several cases the setting extends to the Caribbean diaspora in Europe and North America. Looking in turn at rural, urban, national and global communities, the book draws attention to changing conceptions of community around the turn of the millennium.

Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows

Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows
Author: Albert James Arnold
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780813916460

The 1992 Quincentennial of the encounter between the New World and the Old resulted in a veritable culture war- an extreme polarization of hardened ideological positions on different ideas of America. Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows brings a fresh perspective to the confusing question of American identity. It clears the minefields laid by the generals commanding the opposing camps, while demonstrating that both sides have been primarily interested in protecting and defending an idea of "Americanness" that cannot resist scrutiny. Some of the leading international scholars in anthropology, comparative literature, and history of the Americas show convincingly in this book that contacts between and among peoples and ethnic groups have, since early colonial times, produced new- and typically American- cultural forms throughout the hemisphere. Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows will appeal to the general reader and will attract a wide readership in folklore and cultural anthropology as well as in Caribbean and Latin American studies, comparative literature, and history.

Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico / Cuentos folklóricos de las montañas de Puerto Rico

Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico / Cuentos folklóricos de las montañas de Puerto Rico
Author: Rafael Ocasio
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2021-05-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1978823010

This exciting new anthology gathers together Puerto Rican folktales that were passed down orally for generations before finally being transcribed beginning in 1914 by the team of famous anthropologist Franz Boas. These charming tales give readers a window into the imaginations and aspirations of Puerto Rico’s peasants, the Jíbaro. Some stories provide a distinctive Caribbean twist on classic tales including “Snow White” and “Cinderella.” Others fictionalize the lives of local historical figures, such as infamous pirate Roberto Cofresí, rendered here as a Robin Hood figure who subverts the colonial social order. The collection also introduces such beloved local characters as Cucarachita Martina, the kind cockroach who falls in love with Ratoncito Pérez, her devoted mouse husband who brings her delicious food. Including a fresh English translation of each folktale as well as the original Spanish version, the collection also contains an introduction from literary historian Rafael Ocasio that highlights the historical importance of these tales and the Jíbaro cultural values they impart. These vibrant, funny, and poignant stories will give readers unique insights into Puerto Rico’s rich cultural heritage. Esta nueva y emocionante antología reúne cuentos populares puertorriqueños que fueron transmitidos oralmente durante generaciones antes de ser finalmente transcritos comenzando en 1914 por el equipo del famoso antropólogo Franz Boas. Estos encantadores cuentos ofrecen a los lectores un vistazo a la imaginación y las aspiraciones de los jíbaros, los campesinos de Puerto Rico. Algunas historias brindan un distintivo toque caribeño a cuentos clásicos como "Blanca Nieves" y "Cenicienta". Otros ficcionalizan la vida de personajes históricos locales, como el famoso pirata Roberto Cofresí, representado como una figura al estilo de Robin Hood, quien subvierte el orden social colonial. La colección también presenta personajes locales tan queridos como Cucarachita Martina, la amable cucaracha que se enamora de Ratoncito Pérez, su devoto esposo ratón que le trae deliciosa comida. Incluyendo una nueva traducción al inglés de estos cuentos populares, así como las versiones originales en español, la colección también contiene una introducción del historiador literario Rafael Ocasio, quien destaca la importancia histórica de estos cuentos y los valores culturales del jíbaro que éstos imparten en los relatos. Estas historias vibrantes, divertidas y conmovedoras brindarán a los lectores una visión única de la rica herencia cultural de Puerto Rico. Introducción en español (https://d3tto5i5w9ogdd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/03154419/Ocasio_Cuentos_Intro_Espan%CC%83ol.pdf)

Caribbean Visions

Caribbean Visions
Author: Samella S. Lewis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 236
Release: 1995
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Contains works of 56 painters and sculptors with essays on the culture of some of the islands.

Black Dionysus

Black Dionysus
Author: Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2010-03-22
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780786451593

Many playwrights, authors, poets and historians have used images, metaphors and references to and from Greek tragedy, myth and epic to describe the African experience in the New World. The complex relationship between ancient Greek tragedy and modern African American theatre is primarily rooted in America, where the connection between ancient Greece and ancient Africa is explored and debated the most. The different ways in which Greek tragedy has been used by playwrights, directors and others to represent and define African American history and identity are explored in this work. Two models are offered for an Afro-Greek connection: Black Orpheus, in which the Greek connection is metaphorical, expressing the African in terms of the European; and Black Athena, in which ancient Greek culture is "reclaimed" as part of an Afrocentric tradition. African American adaptations of Greek tragedy on the continuum of these two models are then discussed, and plays by Peter Sellars, Adrienne Kennedy, Lee Breuer, Rita Dove, Jim Magnuson, Ernest Ferlita, Steve Carter, Silas Jones, Rhodessa Jones and Derek Walcott are analyzed. The concepts of colorblind and nontraditional casting and how such practices can shape the reception and meaning of Greek tragedy in modern American productions are also covered.