A History of Creole Trinidad, 1956–2010 , by Raymond Ramcharitar

A History of Creole Trinidad takes us through the pages of Trinidad's political history from 1956 to 2010.These 54 years span a period beginning with the political ascendancy of Eric Williams and ending when the country seemingly rid itself of his legacy.Two political developments marked the end of the Williams era in 2010: the People's National Movement (pnm) dumped its leader and replaced him with one who was not of the Williams era, and the United National Congress (unc) likewise dumped its leader, replacing him with a woman (also not of the Williams era) who would become the first female prime minister of the country.Raymond Ramcharitar treats the idea of creole as "a hybrid mixture, not European, not African, not Indigenous" that initially comprised "a large, free, Mixed-race group" (p.3).Notoriously absent from this picture of creole Trinidadians are the East Indian indentureds and their descendants, who today comprise the largest ethnic group in the country (35.4 percent), while the Africandescended come in a close second (34.2 percent).Along with the "Mixed-race group," the 2011 census puts the "mixed" population at 22.8 percent of the whole (p.5).But none of these groups is homogeneous in religious, political, and class terms.For along with caste divisions, Indians comprise Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, Blacks are Afrocentric, Christian, and Nation of Islam members, and all groups represent all social classes.These facts provoke several questions.What exactly is meant by the term "mixed race," which invites the contrasting idea of "pure race"?What constitutes racial purity?And why are Indians left out of the "creole" mix?Are Indians-their "double consciousness" (p.184) notwithstanding-not also subject to creolization?These questions lie at the heart of the contested creole space.For while creolization invokes both the biological and the social, biology speaks to the mixing of two or more bloodlines, the way mestizos and mulattos represent a New World coupling of White Europeans with Indigenous inhabitants and enslaved Africans.While the initial "mixing" colors all subsequent biological products in ever-expanding degrees, the notion of discrete biological "races" continues to be regarded as real by most social commentators.Social "mixing," alternatively, involves cultural, religious, and linguistic exchanges that over the years yield entirely new social, or creole, types.The mixing or blending is not always peaceful or seamless, for the creole space is a fraught space; one of resistance, triumph, surrender, and compromise.The process is unconscious-it sneaks up on a society and a people and feeds what Ramcharitar calls "the creole imaginary" (p.183).

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.