The Post-Columbus Syndrome: Identities, Cultural Nationalism, and Commemorations in the Caribbean (New Caribbean Studies)

## NEW CARIBBEAN STUDIES Edited by Kofi Campbell and Shalini Puri New Caribbean Studies is a unique series of monographs and essay collections focused on the still burgeoning field of Caribbean Studies, a field that is contributing to Caribbean self-understanding, global understanding of the region, and the reinvention of various disciplines and their methodologies well beyond the Caribbean. The series especially solicits humanities-informed and interdisciplinary scholarship that addresses any of the region's language traditions. The Islands Of The Caribbean Demonstrated A Complex And Heterogeneous Response The 500th Anniversary Of The Discovery Of The New World. Feeling Threatened By New Forms Of Exploitation At The Time, They Responded By Narrating Their Heritage And Commemorating Their Hybrid Identity In Scenarios Meant To Protect A Sense Of National Belonging. Columbus, As A Hero Of Both Spanish And Colonial History, Became A Reservoir Of Metaphors With Which Confront Anxieties Of The Present With Myths Of The Past. Commissions To Debate The Meaning Of Columbus's Arrival In The Region Were Launched Nationally On Some Islands, With Different And Uneven Consequences In The Commemorative Public Sphere In The Hispanic, English And French Caribbean. Jamaica Condemned Columbus As A Pirate; The Dominican Republic Commemorated Him As A Hispanic Godfather, But Haiti Toppled His Statue. In Cuba And In Puerto Rico, The Taíno Heritage Was At The Forefront Of The Commemorations, While In Guadeloupe And Martinique, Columbus Was Publically Trialled-- Machine Generated Contents Note: -- Introduction: The Post-columbus Syndrome: A Comparative Approach To Caribbean Memory In The Longue Dure;e Part I: Post-columbus Systems Of Memory: Recycling Heritage In The Caribbean 1. Transculturation As Commemoration: Fernando Ortiz, The Cuban Longue Dure;e, And The Role Of Columbus2. Edward Kamau Brathwaite And Transnational Anamnesis: Creolising Columbus In The English Caribbean Collective Memory 3. The Snake, The Shore, And Columbus: Edouard Glissant's Anamnesis Of The French Département D'outre-mer4. Anamnesis, Chaos, And Columbus: Antonio Beni;tez Rojo And The Caribbean 'feedback-machine' Part Ii: Anamnesis Caribensis: Columbus In 19925. Columbus, The Memorious: Commemorations Of The 500th Anniversary Of The Discovery Of The New World In Puerto Rico, Cuba, And The Dominican Republic 6. Christopher Columbus In The English Caribbean: Commemoration And Performance In Jamaica 7. Columbus In Martinique And Guadeloupe: Amnesia And Commemoration In The French Outremer 8. Columbus, The Scapegoat, And The Zombie: Performance And Tales Of The National Memory In Haiticonclusion: Towards An Archipelagic Memory. Fabienne Viala. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction—The Post-Columbus Syndrome: A Comparative Approach to Caribbean Memory in the Longue Durée ....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Transculturation as Commemoration: Fernando Ortiz, the Cuban longue durée, and the Role of Columbus....Pages 21-39 Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s Transnational Anamnesis: Creolizing Columbus in the English Caribbean Collective Memory....Pages 41-63 The Snake, the Shore, and Columbus: Edouard Glissant’s Anamnesis of the French Département d’Outre-Mer ....Pages 65-84 Anamnesis, Chaos, and Columbus: Antonio Benítez Rojo and the Caribbean Feedback-Machine ....Pages 85-106 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Columbus The Memorious: Commemorations of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the New World in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic....Pages 109-151 Christopher Columbus in the English Caribbean: Commemoration and Performance in Jamaica....Pages 153-174 Columbus in Guadeloupe and Martinique: Amnesia and Commemoration in the French Outremer....Pages 175-203 Columbus, the Scapegoat, and the Zombie: Performance and Tales of the National Memory in Haiti....Pages 205-227 Conclusion: Toward an Archipelagic Memory....Pages 229-233 Back Matter....Pages 235-282 Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction—The Post-Columbus Syndrome: A Comparative Approach to Caribbean Memory in the Longue Durée 12 Part I: Post-Columbus Systems of Memory: Recycling Heritage in the Caribbean 29 1 Transculturation as Commemoration: Fernando Ortiz, the Cuban longue durée, and the Role of Columbus 30 2 Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s Transnational Anamnesis: Creolizing Columbus in the English Caribbean Collective Memory 49 3 The Snake, the Shore, and Columbus: Edouard Glissant’s Anamnesis of the French Département d’Outre-Mer 72 4 Anamnesis, Chaos, and Columbus: Antonio Benítez Rojo and the Caribbean Feedback-Machine 92 Part II: Anamnesis Caribensis: Columbus in 1992 114 5 Columbus The Memorious: Commemorations of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the New World in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic 115 6 Christopher Columbus in the English Caribbean:Commemoration and Performance in Jamaica 158 7 Columbus in Guadeloupe and Martinique: Amnesia and Commemoration in the French Outremer 180 8 Columbus, the Scapegoat, and the Zombie: Performance and Tales of the National Memory in Haiti 209 Conclusion: Toward an Archipelagic Memory 232 Notes 237 References 267 Index 276 Reflecting on the relationship between memory, power, and national identity, this book examines the complex reactions of the people of the Caribbean to the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World. Viala analyzes the ways in which Columbus became a reservoir of metaphors to confront anxieties of the present with myths of the past. Reflecting on the relationship between memory, power, and national identity, The Post-Columbus Syndrome examines the complex reactions of the people of the Caribbean to the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World. Feeling threatened by new forms of exploitation, they responded by narrating their heritage and commemorating their hybrid identity in scenarios meant to protect a sense of national belonging. Fabienne Viala analyzes the ways in which Columbus became a reservoir of metaphors to confront anxieties of the present with myths of the past, with the goal of facilitating inter-Caribbean federation and solidarity