The Caribbean has traditionally been understood as a region that did not develop a significant 'native' literary culture until the postcolonial period. Indeed, most literary histories of the Caribbean begin with the texts associated with the independence movements of the early twentieth century. However, as recent research has shown, although the printing press did not arrive in the Caribbean until 1718, the roots of Caribbean literary history predate its arrival.
This collection contributes to this research by filling a significant gap in literary and historical knowledge with the first collection of essays specifically focused on the literatures of the early Caribbean before 1850. Contributors include Nicole N. Aljoe, Brycchan Carey, Thomas W. Krise, Keith Sandiford, Sue Thomas, Kelly Wisecup, Jo Anne Harris, Richard Frohock, Candace Ward, Tim Watson, and Cassander L. Smith.
Full table of contents
Chapter 1. 'Introduction' by Nicole N. Aljoe, Brycchan Carey, and Thomas W. Krise
Chapter 2. 'Memory, Rememory, and the Moral Constitution of Caribbean Literary History' by Keith Sandiford
Chapter 3. 'Early Caribbean Evangelical Life Narrative' by Sue Thomas
Chapter 4. 'The Promise of the Tropics: Wealth, Illness, and African Bodies in Early Anglo-Caribbean Medical Writing' by Kelly Wisecup
Chapter 5. 'Order, Disorder, and Reorder: The Paradox of Creole Representations in Caribbeana (1741)' by Jo Anne Harris
Chapter 6. 'Testimonies of the Enslaved in the Caribbean Literary History' by Nicole N. Aljoe
Chapter 7. 'Beyond Bonny and Read: Blackbeard's Bride and Other Women in Caribbean Piracy Narratives' by Richard Frohock
Chapter 8. 'Early Creole Novels in English Before 1850: Hamel, the Obeah Man and Warner Arundell: The Adventures of a Creole' by Candace Ward and Tim Watson
Chapter 9. 'Colonial Vices and Metropolitan Corrections: Satire and Slavery in the Early Caribbean' by Brycchan Carey
Chapter 10. 'Finding the Modern in Early Caribbean Literature' by Cassander L. Smith