The Post-columbus Syndrome: Identities, Cultural Nationalism, And Commemorations In The Caribbean
by Fabienne Viala /
2014 / English / PDF
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Reflecting on the relationship between memory, power, and national identity, The Post-Columbus Syndrome examines the complex reactions of the people of the Caribbean to the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the New World. Feeling threatened by new forms of exploitation, they responded by narrating their heritage and commemorating their hybrid identity in scenarios meant to protect a sense of national belonging. Fabienne Viala analyzes the ways in which Columbus became a reservoir of metaphors to confront anxieties of the present with myths of the past, with the goal of facilitating inter-Caribbean federation and solidarity.
