Examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean. Review: Identity and Erasure: Finding the Elusive Caribbean on JSTOR 2022-11-15

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Cultural erasure is the deliberate or systematic obliteration of a group's culture, often through forced assimilation or suppression of cultural practices and traditions. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including colonialism, imperialism, and globalization. In the Caribbean, cultural erasure has been a persistent issue throughout the region's history, with many cultures and traditions being marginalized or erased as a result of outside influences. Here are a few examples of cultural erasure in the Caribbean:

  1. European colonization and enslavement: The arrival of European colonizers in the Caribbean in the 16th century had a profound impact on the region's indigenous cultures. The colonizers brought with them their own cultures, religions, and languages, which often displaced the native cultures of the Caribbean. This process was often accompanied by violence and coercion, with indigenous people being forced to abandon their traditional ways of life and adopt the ways of the colonizers. The transatlantic slave trade also had a significant impact on the region's cultures, as millions of Africans were forcibly brought to the Caribbean to work on plantations, bringing their own cultures and traditions with them. However, these cultures were often suppressed and marginalized, with slave owners attempting to erase their African heritage and assimilate them into European culture.

  2. Language suppression: Many Caribbean countries have a history of linguistic suppression, with the dominant language often being imposed upon minority language groups. For example, in Haiti, French is the official language, but many people also speak Haitian Creole, which is derived from French and a variety of African languages. However, Creole has often been marginalized and discriminated against, with speakers of the language facing social and economic disadvantages. In other Caribbean countries, such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Spanish is the dominant language, but there are also significant populations of speakers of other languages, such as Haitian Creole and English. These minority language groups have often been pressured to assimilate and speak the dominant language, leading to the erosion of their native languages and cultures.

  3. Globalization and the tourism industry: The Caribbean is a popular tourist destination, and the tourism industry has had a significant impact on the region's cultures. Many Caribbean countries have developed a tourism-based economy, which has often led to the commodification and commercialization of traditional cultural practices and traditions. This has resulted in the erosion of authentic cultural experiences and the creation of a "tourist version" of Caribbean culture that is often sanitized and inauthentic. Additionally, the influx of tourists and foreign investors into the region has often led to the displacement of local communities and the destruction of natural and cultural resources.

In conclusion, the Caribbean has a rich and diverse cultural heritage that has been shaped by a variety of influences, including European colonization, the transatlantic slave trade, and globalization. However, this heritage has also been threatened by cultural erasure, which has resulted in the suppression and marginalization of many cultures and traditions in the region. It is important to recognize and address these issues in order to preserve the cultural diversity of the Caribbean and ensure that all cultures are valued and respected.

Cultural Retention, Renewal and Erasure Sample Essay Example

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

An example of cultural diffusion is the tradition of the German Christmas pickle becoming popular in the United States. This speaks directly to the idea of home and belonging as articulated by two unapologetic Afrocentrists, Ian Smart and Kimani Nehusi 2000. Which of these is an example of cultural diffusion? Of particular significance here is the fact that these Afrocentric commentators who rail against the erasure of Africans and the suppression of African identity, simultaneously engage in their own erasure of the East Indian, the Chinese and other ethnic groups in Trinidad Allahar 2004, 129-33. The popular image of the Caribbean is of a tourist paradise, where temporary visitors freely spend their dollars earned elsewhere. The paper argues that the writing poems and exploring the sea are similar to the process of exploring one's individual and national identity that cannot be easily attained because of the caribbean's history of colonization and slavery that leads to themes of exile, loss, and alienation. Other facets of life, where cultural retention could be displayed are in everyday day to day life activities.

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Cultural Retention in the Caribbean Essay Example

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

I would non depict as a procedure but more of a witting action or effort to non merely continue. Most of these imposts may hold been on the threshold of erasure. . The concluding section of this treatment is cultural reclamation. Seacole could thus be seen as a prototype of the modern-day Afro-Saxon. Even things such as medicine are affected. It influences their music, dances and cultural ceremonies such as the death and the naming ceremonies.


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Indigenous Erasure in Caribbean Histories of Colonization

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

. The Caribbean people are usually involved in carnivals that are characterized by dances music and frenzied dance styles. Further, as social groups strive to root themselves and to establish identity markers, such politics will see the erasure of some and the promotion of others. Clearly reflecting different social trajectories and individual strengths, the narratives of these four women nevertheless contain and speak to essential elements in the forging of a Caribbean identity. The hypothesis for this study is that Afro- caribbean lone parents are facing a worse employment situation. In recent times however, due to the increase of development and modernization, many traditional practices can be erased, retained or even renewed. In the assertion of an absolute African identity there is the absolute erasure of the East Indian and other ethnic groups that comprise the society.

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What is cultural erasure in the Caribbean?

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

. In addition, cultures tend to be preserved if they 3 pages, 1020 words In our family, there are several cultures and traditions that play a very important role in defining our family values and cultures. Folkways are norms related to everyday life—eating with silverware, getting up in the morning and going to work or school for example. Then there is the almost forgotten, erased, Caribbean: the Dutch-speaking Netherlands Antilles and Suriname. .

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Cultural Erasure

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

. The cultural practices of a group of people serve as their identifying factor giving them a sense of belonging and self-worthiness. Cultural Realism is an in-depth study of premodern Chinese strategic thought that has important implications for contemporary international relations theory. In Smart and Nehusi eds pp Nehusi, Kimani S. . .

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What Is Cultural Erasure In The Caribbean?

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

It is highly unlikely that these aspects of culture will be removed or forgotten anytime in the near future as they are a source of national identity and pride. In the present state, the Caribbean people are coming up with language policies so as to help harmonize the region. While departure could be non-voluntary or forced slavery , Paquet also focuses on voluntary departure, as in the Caribbean migrant to England or some other metropolitan centre. They derive words from west, east and central Africa. The music is usually accompanied by various instruments, hysterical dances and charts.


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Cultural Erasure Retention And Renewal [on2300zkq0l0]

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

The three studies reviewed here highlight dimensions of the colonial period in the Caribbean as well as the politics of decolonization and the politics of nation building in the modern age. These authors charge that while this erasure is undeniable in the cases of the Spanish- and French-speaking Caribbean, it is particularly evident with regard to the Dutch Caribbean. Finally, there are Smart and Nehusi 2000 , who invoke the idea of erasure and the attempt by African-ancestored people in the Caribbean, but especially in Trinidad, to resist erasure and reclaim their identity. . Cultural retention is an intrinsic self-propagating process through which the culture and social ways of life of a group of people is passed on from one generation to the next, evolving over the years to suite the prevailing living conditions of the people and to unite them against any adversaries that may threaten its existence.

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Cultural Retention, Renewal And Erasure, Sample of Essays

examples of cultural erasure in the caribbean

Cultural Renewal stems from the feeling that there is much value in the practices that have been neglected, and therefore a return to those practices will help to rekindle some interest in the dying culture. . Palmer eds 1989 The Modern Caribbean. Advertisements Cultural retention may occur as a result of a deliberate desire to keep traditions alive and help some groups to preserve their sense of identity. Also the belief that malted milks and chocolate beverages bases which are heavily advertised can give children energy and nourishment for top performance in sport and academic achievement instead of reliance on herbal supplements.

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