CARIBBEAN STUDIES

CARIBBEAN IDENTITY
CARIBBEAN IDENTITY
 1. WHAT IS IDENTITY?
 2. FACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT
FORM IDENTITY
 3. “A SINGLE CARIBBEAN IDENTITY?
 4. THE CARIBBEAN DIASPORA AND
DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS
 1.WHAT IS IDENTITY?

 IT IS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE IDENTITY SINCE IT IS

COMPRISED OF A NUMBER OF THINGS E.G.
HISTORY, RELIGION, ETHNICITY

 IT IS A COMPLEX AND CONTROVERSIAL CONCEPT

 DEFINITION: THE INDIVIDUAL

CHARACTERISTICS, STYLE OR MANNER THAT IS
FUNDAMENTAL TO A PERSON OR THING AND BY
WHICH THAT PERSON IS RECOGNISED.
 WHAT IS IDENTITY?

 IDENTITY IS NOT FIXED

 IDENTITY IS FLUID
 IT IS INFLUENCED BY PERSONAL CHOICE,
AND BY SOCIETY.
 IDENTITY CONSISTS OF ATTRIBUTES
WHICH ARE SHARED e.g. RACE,
ETHNICITY, GENDER
 IT ALSO CONSISTS OF HOW A PERSON
SEES THE WORLD
 WHAT IS IDENTITY?

 INDIVIDAUL IDENTITY THEREFORE

CONSISTS OF TWO DIMENSIONS: 1) A
COLLECTIVE DIMENSION WHICH IS
AFFECTED BY OTHERS, HISTORY AND
SOCIETY; 2) A PERSONAL DIMENSION.
FACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT
FORM IDENTITY
A) EDUCATION. IDENTITY BASED ON LEVELS OF
EDUCATION AND MEMBERSHIP OF PARTICULAR
INSTITUTIONS.
B) RELIGION. MEMBERSHIP IN A PARTICULAR BELIEF
STRUCTURE
C) RACE. THE RACIAL CHARACTERISTCIS OF
INDIVIDUALS. A VERY POWERFUL IDENTYFYING POINT.
D) POLITICS. POLITICAL ALLEGIANCE IS USED BY MANY
CARIBBEAN PEOPLE TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES
2. FACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT
FORM IDENTITY
e) HISTORY. PEOPLE BASE IDENTITY ON SHARED PAST
EXPERIENCES e.g. SLAVERY, INDENTURESHIP,
COLONIALISM. PEOPLE UNITE AND ARE IDENTIFIED
BY THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE FORCES THAT SHAPE
THEIR PAST.
f) GENDER. MANY CARIBBEAN PEOPLE IDENTIFY
THEMSELVES BASED ON THEIR SEX/GENDER.
g) SEXUAL ORIENTATION. THIS GROUP INCLUDES
HETEROSEXUALS, GAYS, LESBIANS ETC. THIS
CATERGORY IS GROWING IN IMPORTANCE.
 FACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT
FORM IDENTITY
h) GEOGRAPHY. PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEMSELVES BASED ON
THE TERRITORY IN WHICH THEY WERE BORN OR RESIDE.
EVEN WITHIN INDIVIDUAL TERRITORIES SMALL DIVISIONS
OF GEOGRAPHICAL IDENTITY EXISTS BASED ON URBAN OR
RURAL LOCATION.
i) LINGUISTICS. THE CARIBBEAN POPULATION CONSISTS OF
PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. THIS HAS
RESULTED IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, PIDGINS AND
CREOLES. THESE LANGUAGES UNITE PEOPLE BASED ON
THEIR APPRECAITION OF A COMMON LINGUISTIC
HERITAGE.
FACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS THAT FORM
IDENTITY

J. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. PEOPLE IDENTITY

THEMSELVES IN ASSOCIATIONS OR
GROUPINGS BASED ON THE ECONOMIC
PURSUITS e.g. TRADE UNIONS.
3. A SINGLE CARIBBEAN IDENTITY?
 IS THERE A SINGLE CARIBBEAN
IDENTITY?
 “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE
‘CARIBBEAN IDENTITY’. DO YOU
AGREE/DISAGREE?
 GIVE A REASONS FOR YOUR ANSWER
SINGLE CARIBBEAN IDENTITY
 THE DIFFERENCES THAT EXIST IN THE REGION
SHOW NO INCLINATION TOWARDS
HOMOGENISING THE REGION’S PEOPLE.
 NORMAN GIRVAN HAS INDICATED THAT
MANY CULTURAL IDENTITIES CO-EXIST
WITHIN A SOCIETY AND WITHIN A REGION.
 M.G SMITH AND OTHERS RECOGNIZE THAT
CARIBBEAN IDENTITY IS MULTI-ROOTED
4. THE CARIBBEAN DIASPORA AND
DOUBLE CONSCIUOSNESS
 DIASPORA: DISPERSE; THE ACT OF
DISPERSING; THE SPREAD OF PARTICULAR
GROUPS OF PEOPLE FROM THEIR LAND OR
PLACE OF BIRTH IN TO OTHER REGIONS
OUTSIDE OF THIS POINT OF ORIGIN.
 DIASPORA ALSO REFERS TO THE
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THIS
MOVEMENT OCCURRED. THE MOVEMENT
MAY BE FORCED OR VOLUNTARY
MOVEMENT FROM THE PLACE OF ORIGIN.
THE CARIBBEAN DIASPORA AND
DOUBLE CONSCIUOSNESS
 IN MOST DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES THERE IS A
SENSE OF ‘UNCOMFORTABLENESS’ IN THE NEW
SURROUNDINGS.
 NEWLY ARRIVED GROUPS USUALLY FEEL LIKE
STRANGERS IN THE NEW LAND IN WHICH THEY
HAVE SETTLED. THIS MAY LAST FOR A LONG
TIME OR BE REPLACED BY ACCEPTANCE OF THE
NEW LAND AS HOME.
 WILLIAM Du Bois CALLS THIS FEELING “DOUBLE
CONSCIOUSNESS”.
DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS
 DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS: THE FEELINGS
EXPERIENCED BY THE DIASPORIC PERSON OR
COMMUNITY WHO IN THE NEW HOMELAND IS TORN
BY TWO SETS OF IDENTITIES.
 ON THE ONE HAND LIFE HAS BEGUN ANEW IN THE
NEW PLACE THAT NOW REPRESENTS HOME. ON THE
OTHER HAND HOME IS THE ORIGINAL HOMELAND.
THERE IS A YEARNING TO RETURN TO THE
HOMELAND. THERE IS A PULL BACK TO ‘MOTHER’
INDIA, AFRICA, EUROPE, CHINA ETC.
DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS
 EXILE OVERSEAS PRODUCES DOUBLE
CONSCIOUSNESS.
 DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS CREATES A SENSE
OF DUAL IDENTITY.
 DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES MUST CHOOSE TO
ACCEPT THEIR EXILE AND MAKE THE MOST OF
THEIR CURRENT SITUATION OR MAKE
EFFORTS TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND.