Jamaican literature
Encyclopedia
Jamaican literature is internationally renowned. The island has been the home or birthplace of many important authors. One of the most important aspects of Jamaican literature is the local patois
, a variation of English. The official language spoken in Jamaica is English.
, from which many of the slaves originated. Some Europe
an tales were also brought to the island by immigrants, particularly those from the United Kingdom
. In folktales, the local speech style is particularly necessary. It infuses humor into the stories, and is an integral part of the retelling.
Perhaps the most popular character in Jamaican tales, Anancy (also spelled Anansi, 'Nancy Spida, and Brer Nansi) is an African spider-god who makes an appearance in tales throughout the Caribbean region. He is a trickster god, and often goes against other animal-god characters, like Tiger and Donkey, in his stories. These stories are thought to be ways the slaves told about outsmarting their owners as well.
is credited for fostering the creation of Jamaican literature, and his Becka's Buckra Baby as the beginning of modern Caribbean literature.
Jamaican Claude McKay
is credited with inspiring France
's Negritude
(“Blackness”) movement, as well as being a founding father of the Harlem Renaissance
. Having established himself as a poet in Jamaica, he moved to the U.S. in his 20s and proceeded to travel to France, but never returned to his birthplace.
McKay is not the only Jamaican poet, Una Marson
was well known for her poetry and her activism as a feminist, and Louise Bennett-Coverly is another Jamaican poet known for her unique voice. Similarly, St. Lucian
Nobel prize
winner, Derek Walcott
, studied at the University in Jamaica. Other writers who have recently gained acclaim in Jamaica are Hazel Dorothy Campbell and the late Mikey Smith
.
The island's local dialect has become an important element to their literature and other arts. The speech style is particularly notable in poetry or in prose's dialogue.
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
, a variation of English. The official language spoken in Jamaica is English.
Folk beginnings
The tradition of storytelling in Jamaica is a long one, beginning with folktales told by the slaves during the colonial period. Jamaica's folk stories are most closely associated with those of the Ashanti tribe in AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, from which many of the slaves originated. Some Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an tales were also brought to the island by immigrants, particularly those from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In folktales, the local speech style is particularly necessary. It infuses humor into the stories, and is an integral part of the retelling.
Perhaps the most popular character in Jamaican tales, Anancy (also spelled Anansi, 'Nancy Spida, and Brer Nansi) is an African spider-god who makes an appearance in tales throughout the Caribbean region. He is a trickster god, and often goes against other animal-god characters, like Tiger and Donkey, in his stories. These stories are thought to be ways the slaves told about outsmarting their owners as well.
Literature
Jamaican Thomas MacDermotThomas MacDermot
Thomas MacDermot was a Jamaican poet, novelist, and editor, editing the Jamaica Times for over twenty years. Thomas MacDermot worked to promote Jamaican literature through all of his writing, starting a weekly short story contest in the Jamaica Times in 1899, and starting the All Jamaica Library...
is credited for fostering the creation of Jamaican literature, and his Becka's Buckra Baby as the beginning of modern Caribbean literature.
Jamaican Claude McKay
Claude McKay
Claude McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and wrote three novels: Home to Harlem , a best-seller which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature, Banjo , and Banana Bottom...
is credited with inspiring France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Negritude
Négritude
Négritude is a literary and ideological movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politiciansin France in the 1930s by a group that included the future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and the Guianan Léon Damas.The Négritude...
(“Blackness”) movement, as well as being a founding father of the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
. Having established himself as a poet in Jamaica, he moved to the U.S. in his 20s and proceeded to travel to France, but never returned to his birthplace.
McKay is not the only Jamaican poet, Una Marson
Una Marson
Una Maud Victoria Marson was a Jamaican feminist, activist and writer, producing poems, plays and programmes for the BBC. Marson traveled to London in 1932 and worked for the BBC during World War II.- Early years 1905-1932 :...
was well known for her poetry and her activism as a feminist, and Louise Bennett-Coverly is another Jamaican poet known for her unique voice. Similarly, St. Lucian
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner, Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott
Derek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...
, studied at the University in Jamaica. Other writers who have recently gained acclaim in Jamaica are Hazel Dorothy Campbell and the late Mikey Smith
Mikey Smith
Michael Smith, usually referred to as Mikey Smith , was a Jamaican dub poet. Along with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and Mutabaruka, he was one of the most well-known dub poets. In 1978, Michael Smith represented Jamaica at the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba. His album Mi Cyaan Believe...
.
The island's local dialect has become an important element to their literature and other arts. The speech style is particularly notable in poetry or in prose's dialogue.
External links
- Becka’s Buckra Baby from the Digital Library of the CaribbeanDigital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners.-Partners:...
(1904) - One Brown Girl and - a Jamaica Story from the Digital Library of the CaribbeanDigital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners.-Partners:...
(1909) - Also in the All Jamaica Library, but not written by Thomas MacDermot, Maroon Medicine, by E. A. Dodd (listed as E. Snod) from the Digital Library of the CaribbeanDigital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners.-Partners:...