The Colonial Caribbean in the Seventeenth Century - Einzelansicht

The seventeenth century saw the onset of England's colonization of the Caribbean. Capturing the contemporary imagination, the region became the object of numerous writings. Descriptions of "exotic" nature, "foreign" peoples, and new articles of consumption introduced tropes that still exert considerable influence today, while tropical agriculture attracted ample attention in its own right. A violent laboratory for the emergence of new commodities, racial identities, and labour disciplining, the monocultural sugarcane plantation was to have profound implications for Caribbean history and the future development of capitalist economies at large. Likewise, the lifestyle of the planters, whose upper echelons became England’s nouveaux riches, received much comment ranging from admiration to derision.

This class will approach the Caribbean in the 1600s through the lens of the literature produced in those turbulent times. By reading island descriptions, satire, and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko (arguably the first novel written in English), we will trace white contemporaries’ views — and incomprehension — of the history unfolding around them. Discussion topics include bonded labour, race, gender, attitudes towards tropical nature, and consumption. Attempts will be made to clarify the world-historical significance of the seventeenth-century Caribbean, in particular its relevance for tourism and racialized labour relations today.

Please purchase:

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko (Norton Critical Editions). Ed. Joanna Lipking. New York and London: W.W. Norton, 1997.

Ligon, Richard. A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados. Ed. Karen Ordahl Kupperman. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2011.

Additional readings will be provided via Moodle.

Over the course of the seminar, students will write a learning journal consisting of reading responses and reflections on class discussions (3 credits). To gain 6 credits, students will additionally submit a term paper.
Regular attendance and active participation are vital to creating a fruitful learning atmosphere. So, please sign up for this class only if you intend to actually come to our sessions.