Module 1
Caribbean Society today
 Our society today is unique in terms of the racial and
ethnic composition which makes up our society. For
example, when comparing Caribbean ( and especially
Trinbagonian) society with the racial and ethnic and
composition of Africa, India, the middle East, or
China, we see that our country and the region is made
up of many more races, mixed races, religions, etc. Of
course this is because of the region’s history.
Creolisation and Hybridisation Past
paper questions
 2016 q 6. “Caribbean societies are undergoing
processes of cultural change. These processes have
been variously viewed as acculturation,
transculturation, or creolization.” Fernando Ortiz, 2013
Discuss the relationship between any TWO of these
processes and the extent to which you agree with any
of them. 30 marks
Creolisation and Hybridisation
 (i) process of cultural change in the Caribbean:
 Acculturation – The imposition of a dominant group’s
ways of life on another group so that the latter becomes
assimilated into the life of the dominant group. For
example the encomienda system.
 Admixture - mixture
 Plural society – A theory put forward by a Caribbean poet
and academic M.G. Smith to explain Caribbean society. He
describes a plural society as a society where two or more
racial or ethnic groups live but where there is limited
mixing of cultures or intermarriage. He also identified
politcs as an area where these groups can come into
conflict (Thompson, et al 2017).
Creolisation and Hybridisation
 Creole – Orignially derived from the Spanish word ‘criollo’
which translated to little child, and used to describe
Spanish children born in the West Indies. It was also used
by the French to describe any white person born in the
colonies. It was then extended to any person of white
European parents born and living in the Caribbean.
According to E. K. Brathwaite – any person or form of
culture native to or originating in the Caribbean as a result
of interaction between groups and races.
 Creolisation – a theory put forward by Edward Kamau
Brathwaite ( a poet and scholar from Barbados) in 1971,
used to explain the ethnic, racial and cultural variations in
the region (Thompson, et al 2017).
Creolisation
 Brathwaite argued that the actions of the whites that
forced slaves (and indigenous groups) to conform and
aspire to(Eurocentric) views of themselves and society
as a whole, would lead to the Africans (and Africanoriginated persons) to mix their culture with that
learnt from the Europeans and the European norms
and values.
 This, he said, would form the basis of creolization of
Caribbean society.
(Thompson, et al 2017)
Creolisation
 Brathwaite believed that the process of acculturation that
led to creolization among the blacks started when the
enslaved names were changed to European names and they
were taught the European’s language.
 They were also ‘conditioned’ or socialized to see the
European’s culture as superior (this persists as an attitude
among Caribbean people today).
 He believed that this led the blacks to seeing it as superior
or ‘socially uplifting’ to emulate the traditions and culture
of their masters, and engaging in African traditions were
seen as negative to social and economic progress
(Thompson, et al 2017).
Creolisation
 Essential to Brathwaite’s theory is his belief that all cultural
forms within society are mixed to differing degrees which creates
something new and unique.
 Thompson, et al (2017) argues that enculturation is used here
in Brathwaite’s theory to describe the way in which the creolized
culture is passed on from one generation to another.
 Enculturation – the process of domination of a cultural group
by another so that aspects of the dominant culture are adopted
but they do not become assimilated (Mohammed, 2007).
 Thompson et al also argues that in Brathwaite’s theory,
acculturation continues as a means of enriching creole culture
through non-Caribbean influences.
Creolisation
 Brathwaite believed that creolization is an ongoing
process and that there is the possibility that a ‘new
parochial wholeness, a difficult but possible Creole
authenticity’ could result.
 Thompson, et al 2017.
 Parochial - limited in range or scope
Hybridisation
 Hybridisation –the fusion of two or more groups of
people or cultural practices to produce a new entity
with elements of each parent influences (e.g. ‘mixed’
ethnic groupings). (Mohammed 2007)
 Douglarisation – the combination of African and
East Indian races
Terms to note
(ii) Racial admixture and colour in the formation of Caribbean
society and culture, for example, terms like:
 Mulatto – person of European and African parents. He/she was
half black and half white.
 Sambo – the child of a mulatto and an African.
 Quadroon – child of a mulatto and a white
 Octaroon – child of a quadroon and white
 Mestizo – a person born to Amerindian and Spanish parents.
Spanish schollars use this term to descibe all persons of mixed
race in the region (e.g. Afro-Amerindian mestizo, etc)
(Mohammed, 2007)
 Dougla – a person born to parents of African and East Indian
races.
 Garifuna -
Examples of cultural hybridization in the region
 (Thompson, 2017)
Culture
Culture can take several forms, including:
 Material culture – tangible aspects of a culture e.g.
the food, festivals.
 Non-material culture – intangible aspects of a
culture such as beliefs.
Culture
 Cultural erasure – cultural practices that are dying or have died out.
(Mohammed 2007). It is believed that a culture in its entirety cannot be
erased because of hybridisation which occurs naturally, leaving
elements of culture (Thompson, et al 2017).
E.g. washing on a scrubbing board.
 Cultural retention – practices that have survived even when most
other forms and symbols of a culture are no longer evident.
(Mohammed 2007). The preservation of aspects of culture (the aspects
does not need to be in it complete original form). (Thompson, 2017).
 E.g. – barbeque practice used by Tainos.
 Cultural renewal – The return to or rediscovery of aspects that have
been forgotten or supressed (Thompson, et al 2017).
 E.g resurgence in interest in African legacy, such as the attire, which
even takes on new elements also.
Past paper question on culture
 2015 q 6. “Cultural practices are never erased: they are
transformed.” Using examples from the Caribbean,
discuss the extent to which you agree with this
statement. 30 marks