Connected by the shared experience of the “plantation system” (in the words of Martinican author Édouard Glissant), the relationship between the Caribbean and the American South has been studied from a historical perspective [1], and the literary influences and connections have been analyzed in the context of 19th and 20th century literature [2]. While some of these studies have expanded their temporal boundaries, they have been limited by linguistic barriers including the collective volumes of American Creoles: the Francophone Caribbean and the American South edited by Celia Britton or La Louisiane et les Antilles, une nouvelle région du monde edited by Alexandre Leupin and Dominique Aurélia. In the case of these examples, the discussions of some of the more modern literary and cultural connections between the Caribbean and the American South are limited to the context of a French speaking network.
Our goal with this panel is to expand on the existing ideas of the “circumCaribbean” by welcoming presentations analyzing the literary, artistic, and cultural connections between the American South and the Caribbean from the late 20th/21st centuries, regardless of linguistic boundaries. Some questions to consider: Since the late 20th century, how do authors from the Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Kreyol speaking Caribbean write about their relationships with their American neighbors? Alternatively, how do authors from the southern United States understand and represent the Caribbean in their literary works? How do American or Caribbean literatures continue to illustrate the famous motto that New Orleans is “the northmost city of the Caribbean”? How are the contemporary relationships between the Caribbean the American South studied in the classroom? What cross-cultural connections can we see emerging in works of literature by authors from the southern U.S. and the Caribbean? Presentations from cultural anthropology, ethnomusicology, arts, and history are also welcomed.
We welcome the submission of 300-word abstracts that address the questions listed here as well as any others that pertain to the topic of this pertain to the topic of this panel.
[1] Caribbean New Orleans: Empire, Race, and the Making of a Slave Society by Cécile ViVidal, From Saint-Domingue to New Orleans: Migration and Influences by Nathalie Dessens, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery by Rebecca J. Scott, and Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean by Alfred E. Lemmon, to name a few
[2] Calypso Magnolia: The Crosscurrents of Caribbean and Southern Literature by John Wharton Lowe, Just Below South: Intercultural Performance in the Caribbean and the U.S. South edited by Jessica Adams, Michael P. Bibler, and Cécile Accilien, Postslavery Literatures in the Americas: Family Portraits in Black and White by George B. Handley
Our goal with this panel is to expand on the existing ideas of the “circumCaribbean” by welcoming presentations analyzing the literary, artistic, and cultural connections between the American South and the Caribbean from the late 20th/21st centuries, regardless of linguistic boundaries. Some questions to consider: Since the late 20th century, how do authors from the Spanish, Dutch, English, French, Kreyol speaking Caribbean write about their relationships with their American neighbors? Alternatively, how do authors from the southern United States understand and represent the Caribbean in their literary works? How do American or Caribbean literatures continue to illustrate the famous motto that New Orleans is “the northmost city of the Caribbean”? How are the contemporary relationships between the Caribbean the American South studied in the classroom? What cross-cultural connections can we see emerging in works of literature by authors from the southern U.S. and the Caribbean? Presentations from cultural anthropology, ethnomusicology, arts, and history are also welcomed.
We welcome the submission of 300-word abstracts that address the questions listed here as well as any others that pertain to the topic of this pertain to the topic of this panel.
[1] Caribbean New Orleans: Empire, Race, and the Making of a Slave Society by Cécile ViVidal, From Saint-Domingue to New Orleans: Migration and Influences by Nathalie Dessens, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery by Rebecca J. Scott, and Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean by Alfred E. Lemmon, to name a few
[2] Calypso Magnolia: The Crosscurrents of Caribbean and Southern Literature by John Wharton Lowe, Just Below South: Intercultural Performance in the Caribbean and the U.S. South edited by Jessica Adams, Michael P. Bibler, and Cécile Accilien, Postslavery Literatures in the Americas: Family Portraits in Black and White by George B. Handley