The European Influence...

1. The European Influence... on the West Indian people By Anna Liggett & Nickie Lundberg

2. One might think that after their hardships, the West Indian people would try to get rid of the European styles that they had learned through slavery and would want to create a style completely of their own. However, there is still a heavy European influence on the Caribbean islands. Even hundred of years after the people have been free, they still have signs of the European influence in their writing, music, and their art. The oppression the West Indians were faced with prevented them from being able to create a new identity that they could feel comfortable with and that could be all their own. In this painting, "Femme Assis" by Gerard Paul, the seated woman is playing the piano which was originally a European pastime.

3. Krik? Krak! • In many of the stories in Krik? Krak!, there is mention of the European influence on the lives of the West Indian people. In “A Wall of Fire Rising”, little Guy recites a speech for his role of Boukman in his school play. However, the author alerts the reader that the speech was written by a European, letting the reader know that the historical Boukman might not agree with the words written for him. “It was obvious that this was a speech written by a European man, who gave to the slave revolutionary Boukman the kind of European phrasing that might have sent the real Boukman turning in his grave” (56). The author made sure to distinguish between what a European writer would have written and what Boukman himself would have said. When Guy killed himself by jumping out of the hot air balloon, he felt trapped in his current life. In a sense, Guy felt he was born a slave. He never had the life he wanted when he was a child and hoped one day to escape the oppression. He wanted more in his life, and the hot air balloon was a symbol of what he would never have. • In the story, “In Between the Pool and the Gardenias”, Marie pretends that the expensive items owned by the couple she works for are all hers. “The terrace with that sight of the private pool and the holiday ships cruising in the distance. The large television system and all those French love songs and the rara records. The bright paintings with the white winged horses and snakes as long and wide as lakes” (96). This is yet another example of how European ways influenced West Indian people long after slavery and the colonization of the West Indian countries.

4. Men Women Vs. • Many of the West Indian Men in the works we have read have changed themselves in order to follow the European traditions. One story where a man was interested in collecting items that were obviously European was Some people are meant to live alone. “He played some records for me, a Beethoven concerto…” (3). • “'Did you paint those?' • 'Those? Dear me, no ... That one's a Cezanne, the other a Gauguin. Reproductions, of course . .. German .. . but aren't they exquisite?‘” (2). In this story, Uncle Arthur spends a lot of his time collecting European items. This story shows us how important the European influence was on the people of the Caribbean. Uncle Arthur was brought up to appreciate European items and educated under European standards. • Another example of a man conforming to European society is in Red Dirt Don’t Wash, when Adrian bought a pair of shoes to impress Miranda, even though it did not fit his personality. These were all ways for the characters to try to fit in. The women in West Indian stories and poems are equally influenced by the European ways. They furniture and other European items often collect for their houses, and take a special interest in anything European that other people have. For instance in Columba….

5. In Michelle Cliff’s Aunt Charlotte was “a woman of property”(2). “Her small house was a cliché of colonialism, graced with calendars advertising the coronation of ER II, the marriage of Princess Margaret Rose, the visit of Alice, Princess Royal. Bamboo and wicker furniture was sparsely scattered across dark mahogany floors—settee there, end table here-giving the place the air of a hotel lobby” (2). These were items that Aunt Charlotte was used to because of the previous oppression from the Europeans. Columba

6. Columba • Another instance in Columba where there is European influence on the characters is when Columba’s name is shortened to Colin. “To Charlotte he became “Colin” because she insisted on Anglicization” (Cliff 3) Charlotte felt the need to make Columba’s name more English because she wanted to live and follow the European guidelines that she knew.

7. Kinky Hair Blues • In this poem by Una Marson, the Caribbean woman is comparing herself to that of a European woman and even though she decides she likes herself the way she is with her kinky hair, she still changes her hair to resemble that of a white woman because that is more acceptable. This poem was written a long time after Europe had freed the slaves in Jamaica and the woman still changed their genetic trait to fit the European style many years later. “Hate dat ironed hair “And dat bleaching skin. Hate dat ironed hair And dat bleaching skin. But I’ll be all alone If I don’t fall in.”

8. In this painting, everything but the color of this person’s skin shows that they have been influenced by European style. He/she is wearing European style clothes and has straightened his/her hair, just like the woman in the poem Kinky Hair Blues who straightened her hair to fit in with society. Once the European styles were introduced into the islands, they never left.

9. Artwork • This unknown Caribbean painting shows three people relaxing, playing music and having a good time. The instruments shown in the painting happen to be European and American. When these people feel like expressing themselves, they are influenced by other cultures. This painting supports the idea the Caribbean people are influenced by European culture in their everyday activities.

10. The paintings we chose as our background items were chosen to represent the influence that European clothing, music, and culture in general has in many of the paintings of Caribbean artists. We noticed that in many of the paintings selected, an West Indian person is pictured in a setting that would be more often seen with European people in them or in a non-Caribbean place. These paintings all have a certain non-Caribbean aspect to them, which we found interesting.

11. Works Cited Cliff, Michelle. Columba <http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/chia/Caribbean/columba.pd> Collymore, Frank. Some People are Meant to Live Alone <http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/chia/Caribbean/somepeople.htm> Danticat, Edwidge. Krik? Krak! New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1996. The Electric Gallery: The Hatian Art Wing. <http://www.egallery.com/haiti.html> The Gallery of West Indian Art. November 18, 2002. <http://www.galleryofwestindianart.com> Marson, Una. Kinky Hair Blues <http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/chia/Caribbean/handouts/marson_khblues.htm> Don’t worry- it’s coming!