This volume in the Options for Teaching series recognizes that the most challenging aspect of introducing students to anglophone Caribbean literature--the sheer variety of intellectual and artistic traditions in Western and non-Western cultures that relate to it--also offers the greatest opportunities to teachers. Courses on anglophone literature in the Caribbean can consider the region's specific histories and contexts even as they explore common issues: the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and colonial education; nationalism; exile and migration; identity and hybridity; class and racial conflict; gender and sexuality; religion and ritual. While considering how the availability of materials shapes syllabi, this volume recommends print, digital, and visual resources for teaching.
The essays examine a host of topics, including the following:
- the development of multiethnic populations in the Caribbean and the role of various creole languages in the literature
- oral art forms, such as dub poetry and reggae music
- the influence of anglophone literature in the Caribbean on literary movements outside it, such as the Harlem Renaissance and black British writing
- Carnival
- religious rituals and beliefs
- specific genres such as slave narratives and autobiography
- film and drama
- the economics of rum
Many essays list resources for further reading, and the volume concludes with a section of additional teaching resources.