Teaching Anglophone Caribbean Literature: Options for Teaching

This volume in the Options for Teaching series recognizes that the most challenging aspect of introducing students to anglophone Caribbean literature--the sheer variety of intellectual and artistic traditions in Western and non-Western cultures that relate to it--also offers the greatest opportunities to teachers. Courses on anglophone literature in the Caribbean can consider the region's specific histories and contexts even as they explore common issues: the legacies of slavery, colonialism, and colonial education; nationalism; exile and migration; identity and hybridity; class and racial conflict; gender and sexuality; religion and ritual. While considering how the availability of materials shapes syllabi, this volume recommends print, digital, and visual resources for teaching.

The essays examine a host of topics, including the following:

the development of multiethnic populations in the Caribbean and the role of various creole languages in the literature
oral art forms, such as dub poetry and reggae music
the influence of anglophone literature in the Caribbean on literary movements outside it, such as the Harlem Renaissance and black British writing
Carnival
religious rituals and beliefs
specific genres such as slave narratives and autobiography
film and drama
the economics of rum

Many essays list resources for further reading, and the volume concludes with a section of additional teaching resources.