CARIBBEAN CULTURE & HISTORY
The Caribbean culture has several characteristics that have been acquired throughout history. Firstly, the Caribbean is characterized for being a land where variety of both landscapes and cultures are present. In regards with the last point, variety of cultures emerged from the arrival of several colonists who brought and imposed their culture to the first inhabitants. Some of these colonists were the British, the Dutch, and the Spaniards, among others. On top of that, slaves coming from Africa also contributed to the Caribbean’s cultural diversity. Additionally, appreciation of identity is another feature that most of the Caribbean countries share. The Haitian independence in 1830 encouraged the rest of Caribbean countries to fight for their own culture, beliefs and traditions. This can be seen in the way they have expressed their ideas, inquiries, and concerns in terms of politics, religion and social issues; for instance, music, literature and art have been a means of expression.
LITERATURE ANALYSIS
The Caribbean culture has several characteristics that have been acquired throughout history. Firstly, the Caribbean is characterized for being a land where variety of both landscapes and cultures are present. In regards with the last point, variety of cultures emerged from the arrival of several colonists who brought and imposed their culture to the first inhabitants. Some of these colonists were the British, the Dutch, and the Spaniards, among others. On top of that, slaves coming from Africa also contributed to the Caribbean’s cultural diversity. Additionally, appreciation of identity is another feature that most of the Caribbean countries share. The Haitian independence in 1830 encouraged the rest of Caribbean countries to fight for their own culture, beliefs and traditions. This can be seen in the way they have expressed their ideas, inquiries, and concerns in terms of politics, religion and social issues; for instance, music, literature and art have been a means of expression.
LITERATURE ANALYSIS
Samuel Dickson Selvon is the author of the short story “When Greek meets Greek”. He was born in Trinidad & Tobago. During Selvon’s life he moved to different countries around the world, such as England and Canada. Furthermore, Samuel started working as reporter for the Trinidad guardian and from that moment and the experience he gained, he began writing stories. Additionally, Selvon’s most celebrated piece is “The lonely Londoners”, story which focuses on the topic of immigration of people from the West Indies to England. Selvon also tackles issues as class and social boundaries present in London.
The Caribbean literature represented in “When Greek meets Greek” by Samuel Dickson Selvon shows some characteristics of Caribbean topics. To illustrate more, next there is a brief summary of the story. The story talks about Ram, who was looking for a place to live. When he found a place, he realized that he needed to act as an Indian since the landlord only accepted Indian people in his residence; in this place there was another man whose name was Chan and he was an Indian. As time passed by, Ram felt the necessity to get rid of Mr. Chan. Nonetheless, Ram’s plan did not turned out as he wished since the landlord found out that Ram was lying. So, he needed to find another place. At the end of the story Ram learned that Mr. Chan was not Indian; he was actually a Jamaican. In this short story, discrimination can be seen through the rejection towards other nationalities and different physical appareances. On top of that, this issue leads to other themes such as adaptation of personality, local costums and behavior in order to survive. In addition, this short story makes the reader reflect upon the consequences of prejudice. In this story, prejudice by the part of the English landlord towards the false indian and Ram lead them to reject their own culture, traditions, principles and in sum, their identity. |
ghett'a life
In the Jamaican movie Ghett'a Life, Caribbean culture can be represented
as the protagonist has to fight against the odds as well of the people who
formed this part of the world; they had to fight against injustices committed
by the colonists against first inhabitants and slaves. To have further
information about the movie, next there is a brief summary of it.
The movie Ghett'a Life talks about Derrick who wants to become a professional boxer, but he has difficulties to make his dream true as Kingston, where the story takes place was divided into two political parties which had their own territory. He needs to train in a gym from the other political party. Firstly, one of the main problems that Derrick had to face was the fact that his father, who was a Jamaican politician, was against Derrick’s desires to become a professional boxer and to train in the gym from the other territory. Another problem that Derrick needed to overcome was the division in the two territories; it was forbidden to get into the other party’s territory. Finally, Derrick’s battle against the odds had a positive outcome which was to unify both territories.
Director’s point of view:
“Ghett’a life” is an “against-the-odds” action drama film. It portraits the social problems in inner-cities of Kingston. In addition, the film shows how hard life is for Jamaicans from one side of Kingston to the other side. Besides, the political segregation of Jamaica and the influences of gangster leaders within the town are presented in the film as the main issue in Jamaica. Anyway, dreams are stronger than every odd in life and the most important thought is to believe in what you want to do.
“I would rather say it is a human drama of the imaginary borders that are created around people, due to institutions such as government, religion, and ethnicity, that is framed in a story of boxing in Kingston” said the director, Christopher Browne.
The movie Ghett'a Life talks about Derrick who wants to become a professional boxer, but he has difficulties to make his dream true as Kingston, where the story takes place was divided into two political parties which had their own territory. He needs to train in a gym from the other political party. Firstly, one of the main problems that Derrick had to face was the fact that his father, who was a Jamaican politician, was against Derrick’s desires to become a professional boxer and to train in the gym from the other territory. Another problem that Derrick needed to overcome was the division in the two territories; it was forbidden to get into the other party’s territory. Finally, Derrick’s battle against the odds had a positive outcome which was to unify both territories.
Director’s point of view:
“Ghett’a life” is an “against-the-odds” action drama film. It portraits the social problems in inner-cities of Kingston. In addition, the film shows how hard life is for Jamaicans from one side of Kingston to the other side. Besides, the political segregation of Jamaica and the influences of gangster leaders within the town are presented in the film as the main issue in Jamaica. Anyway, dreams are stronger than every odd in life and the most important thought is to believe in what you want to do.
“I would rather say it is a human drama of the imaginary borders that are created around people, due to institutions such as government, religion, and ethnicity, that is framed in a story of boxing in Kingston” said the director, Christopher Browne.