Collective Memory, Identity and the Legacies of Slavery and Indenture

The Caribbean history provides a rich study of the different forms of labour systems that have historically marked the politics of the coloniser and the colonised. It further provides the basis for an essential study for discourses on colonialism and capitalism. This interdisciplinary volume bridges the gap between historiography and the present-day diasporic communities, which emerged from the slave trade and indenture. Through case studies from the Caribbean context, the volume demonstrates how the region’s historical labour mobility remains central to performances and negotiations of collective memory and identity. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This volume bridges the gap between historiography and the present-day diasporic communities, which emerged from the slave trade and indenture. Through case studies from the Caribbean context, it demonstrates how the region’s historical labour mobility remains central to performances and negotiations of collective memory and identity. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Foreword 8 Introduction 12 Part I: The Legacies of Indenture and Migration 30 Chapter 1: The Legacy of Indian Indentureship in the Caribbean 1838-1920 32 Chapter 2: Creative Industries: Our Legacies, Our Future 58 Chapter 3: Shadowy Figures: Literary Representation of the Chinese in French-Caribbean Fiction 84 Part II: Identity Negotiations Through Music and Cuisine 102 Chapter 4: When the Music Soundin ‘Sweet’: Musical Instrument Construction, Performance Practice, and the Changing Aesthetics of Indian Trinidadian Tassa Drumming 104 Chapter 5: Baithakgáná Semantics 126 Chapter 6: Creolization and the Evolution of Indo-Trinidadian Cuisine 142 Part III: Collective Memories of Slavery and Indenture 164 Chapter 7: Sitalpersad, a British Indian Interpreter in Colonial Suriname 166 Chapter 8: Five Generations of a Surinamese Family 1873-2010: A Legacy 188 Chapter 9: Emancipation and Arrival: How Emancipation Day and Indian Arrival Day have Shaped Ethnic Identities in Twenty-first Century Trinidad and Tobago 216 Contributors 238 List of Illustrations and Table 242 Index 244 Manohar,Publishers;,Indian,Indentureship;,Caribbean,Music;,Creolization,Baithakgana;,Ethicnic,Identities;,labour,systems;,Sitalpersa Manohar Publishers,Indian Indentureship,Caribbean Music,Creolization Baithakgana,Ethicnic Identities,labour systems,Sitalpersa