Abstract
The Caribbean is liminal on two fronts: the first is geographically, as a chain of islands suspended between North and South America. The second is spatially and metaphorically, in the Western perception and treatment of the region as a temporary space. The history of the Atlantic slave trade records instances of newly enslaved Africans being taken to the Caribbean for “seasoning,” where they were ‘domesticated’ before being transported to the US. The use of the Caribbean as a stopover persisted in European writings between the 16th and 20th century; for example, in colonial reports and journals, and in fictions such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Theodore Taylor’s The Cay, the Caribbean is used as an exoticized, utopic space of magic and/or savagery whereby American and European protagonists experience temporary shipwreck and engage in consequent exploration before returning home. This paper discusses how Caribbean tourism of the 20th and 21st centuries has ridden on the coattails of such narratives that position the Caribbean as a liminal space. Contrasting the euro-centric writings with those of Caribbean authors such as Jamaica Kincaid, Derek Walcott, Paule Marshall, and Michelle Cliff, I discuss the exploitative nature of the Caribbean’s depiction as transitory space used for the development and enjoyment of the West, for exploratory adventure and exoticized questing. These perceptions and characterizations do not conceive of—or rather purposefully ignores—the region as a historical and present migrant destination and, more importantly, as a home.
Presenters
Crystal PayneStudent, PhD Student, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Critical Issues in Tourism and Leisure Studies
KEYWORDS
CARIBBEAN, TOURISM, MIGRATION
