What type of allusion do the material (a neon sign) and the words “Caribe” and “hostil” create?
Why do you think the artist Yiyo Tirado describes the Caribbean this way?
Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid, born in 1949 in St. John’s, Antigua, is a Caribbean writer known for her poignant portrayals of family dynamics and her native Antiguan landscape. Settling in New York City at 16, she adopted her pen name for writing anonymity. Joining The New Yorker in 1976, her essays delved into Caribbean culture. Her debut, “At the Bottom of the River” (1983), blended lyricism and indignation. Autobiographical novels like “Annie John” (1984) and “Lucy” (1990) explored mother-daughter relationships amid colonial shadows. Kincaid’s rage at Antigua’s exploitation surfaced in “A Small Place” (1988). “The Autobiography of My Mother” (1996) and “My Brother” (1997) reflected on familial bonds and loss. “Among Flowers” (2005) documented her Himalayan expedition. “See Now Then” (2013) dissected marital disintegration with biting introspection.
In “A Small Place,” Jamaica Kincaid immerses readers in the discomforting role of a tourist arriving in Antigua. She paints a scene of crumbling colonial buildings through vivid imagery, confronting the disparity between tourist privilege and local struggles. Kincaid’s narrative voice challenges the moral emptiness of tourism, highlighting the obliviousness of visitors to the realities faced by residents. The juxtaposition of Antigua’s allure to tourists with its inhospitality for locals underscores the inherent contradictions of the industry. As readers are confronted with the tourist’s fleeting escape and the island’s underlying issues, Kincaid incites reflection on the complexities of privilege, exploitation, and human indifference.
Using Benítez-Rojo’s terminology, how would you describe the “tourism machine” as presented in this ad and the connections you identified with other studied machines?
Presentation
Discussion in Trios (Pages 3-19)
.According to Kincaid, what are the tourists’ motivations for coming to Antigua, and how might this structure expectations and interactions while vacationing? (Pages 3-5; 15-16)
.How does Kincaid portray the (North American/ European/ White) tourist? (Pages 16-17)
.How does Kincaid portray Antigua and Antiguans? (Pages 7-9)
.Why does the native person hate the tourist? (Pages 18-19)
General Questions
.Why do you think she uses the second person (you)?
.What does Kincaid want her (western) reader to ultimately understand?
.Before turning to Roxane Gay, let’s consider the most iconic image for tourism, featuring Sintra Arunte-Bronte, an Indo-Trinidadian model, as the poster girl for Jamaica’s 1972 record-breaking ad campaign:
How do images and tropes of tourism in this video and the poster manifest the dynamics that both Kincaid and Gay explore?
“The Harder They Come”- Roxane Gay
Haitian descent, Roxane Gay is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of Ayiti, An Untamed State, the bestselling Bad Feminist, Difficult Women, and Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several forthcoming books and works on television and film projects.
Written Reflection
Discuss how Roxane Gay’s story evokes the distorted versions of Haiti (and Black women’s bodies) American tourists have at their resort vacations. Explain how Hispaniola is also seen as a place of sexual exploits. What is the relevance of the term “groomed” in the second paragraph of the story? How can the concept of “performance” help us to think through these questions?
The artist Joiri Minaya wants to establish a “link between slavery, colonization, and the tourism industry,” what links can you establish between those terms/practices and the works we studied today?