Identity an Intro - Caribbean Identity

            The Caribbean, in itself houses more cultures than there are islands. How is this even possible? Thanks to Haiti and Dominican Republic where the island is divided in two with Haitian culture on one side (speaking Creole) and the Dominican Republic on the other (speaking Spanish). In an anthology written by the Puerto Rican, Ana Lydia Vega called “Encancarranublado”, it’s explicitly shown how absolutely diverse the Caribbean is. Its about 3 men in search for a better tomorrow, in the states, that did not have the funds, visa or permission to get there. When they are in the boat, the differences between them were incredible. They were described to look almost exactly the same (as is the case between Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) but the way they expressed themselves, the mannerisms, the accent was not the same. Look for these islands on a map. Look how incredibly close they are. Now look for Antigua and match that with Puerto Rico both in distance and what ever fact you may know about the two. They might as well be in two different parts of the world culture wise. However, how rich the Caribbean is in cultures, so are the cultures and people in the Caribbean. For this reason looks, language, and ecology are not the most important roots of Caribbean Identity. Home, expression and history are much more important markers and more relatable when it comes to identifying oneself.

            Peter Roberts states, “the notion of identity in human society is based on two fundamental factors- the perception of sameness/difference and the instinctiveness of man to be a social being.” When it comes to Caribbean roots our sameness resides mostly on our history. Even though we might not have been a colony or territory for the same country at the same time for long, we were all colonies at one time (maybe even still are). Our natives were not treated with respect, they were oppressed and our native culture, language, customs and such manipulated to whichever country was in official power. These facts make our culture that much more diverse and by relation the identity as a Caribbean native. The history can anger you, like it did Jamaica Kincaid or Fidel Castro; it can make you proud, like a group in Puerto Rico wanting to renew ties with Spain or maybe it can make you reliant in the country to the point of no progression or independence called “the colonized syndrome”. Our history because of how rich it is in every aspect is what identifies us as Caribbean, more so than ecology.

            When it comes to language, as was shown by Ana Lydia Vega in her book, the Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican, spoke the same language but they still encountered a sort of barrier when it came to communicating. The Puerto Rican in a way “translated” what the Dominican said, to the Cuban and they were all speaking Spanish. This difference is one that identifies the Caribbean. It shows the rich culture it has because of the different countries that were in power but the way it is expressed is what makes it theirs. Antigua speaks English because it was a British colony and the way they speak it is not the same as in the United Kingdom. As part of the Caribbean culture, the language evolves and it incorporates the native tongue before the colonization began. For example, Puerto Rico still uses some “taino” words such as “hamaca” (hammock), “almohada” (pillow) and it even still has the native names of certain places around the island. That evolution in language is what makes it Caribbean; therefore it’s not just our language but the expression of it what identifies us as Caribbean.

  

          As already stated, Caribbean’s have different cultures mixed together, therefore, we can easily adapt with and in other parts of the world. This is because language is not a total barrier and the customs incorporated during the colonized period make it that much easier. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean we are at home. “Home is a variable, and may be a place of birth, place of residence or may be defined by the popular notion ‘home is where the heart is’”. In the Caribbean, home is the place of birth and the popular notion (“Home is where the heart is”).  The sense of patriotism is a universal one, but in the Caribbean it’s mixed in with our rich history. It’s where battles were fought, oppression defeated, where intellectuals were killed fir being to radical when really all they did was believe their native culture should be the main and only one in their respective island. Go back to that map. Compare any island size to one of the their colony, and also the materials present for each one at the time. It was never a fair fight, and most of the Caribbean is now independent. Oppression is still very much alive but it is no longer from an outside invading source. It is now (in some cases) a native problem, still brought on by the colonized syndrome and learned conduct by the main and first oppressor. Caribbean’s are also very familiar and that is where the notion can be identified. A Dominican can feel somewhat at home in Puerto Rico if surrounded by their family members and/or friends.

          In the end the history is the sameness in the Caribbean that unites the islands as one identity. “The constant association with and experience of sameness leads to a recognition of one’s own features as normal and those of others as "abnormal/strange/foreign”.  It is foreign for natives of the Caribbean to not have a rich history with rich cultures in diversity not only in customs but also in their blood relations. The Puerto Ricans have Spanish, African and Native “Taino” blood and heritage. The evolution, spin and ultimately the expression the Caribbean natives give to the language imposed by the colonizer is what makes the language theirs. Just like the perspective what home is, makes the identity of a Caribbean filled with sameness. The Caribbean is a group of small and big islands and archipelagos, it contains more diversity than much of the New World and it is unified by a history so rich that it’s basically unparalleled.