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Many people say Caribbean culture or even West Indian culture but what people don't ever say is that the Caribbean does not have a culture.
Ok, so if we narrowed it down to Anglo-Caribbean culture which includes all the English speaking countries than that will make some sense but Caribbean culture doesn't make any sense. There's nothing that unifies Barbadians with a Puerto Rican or a Abc islander to a Cuban.
I think just the Africa meets Spanish/European influenced people idea? I think the vast majority of islands have at least some history with African peoples. Notwithstanding the fact that a lot of expats from entirely different areas and tourism now dominate the area and have changed demographics and lifestyle a lot.
I guess it always has been and is still about being out and about and living off the sea though.
. There's nothing that unifies Barbadians with a Puerto Rican or a Abc islander to a Cuban.
Not exactly true, as someone who've hung out with Caribbean Latinos and Caribean Anglo people that party together. A lot of music, cuisine and lifestyle traits are shared between the islands. The difference comes language and style variations.
Even if you disagree, you can kindve split it in half between Caribbean Latina and Caribbean Anglo people, and in a lot of ways the seperation in language and culture context can be shared between the two groups on a seperate scale.
Just as there isn't a singular European culture, there isn't a singular Caribbean culture, even within the language blocs. Trinidad is culturally distinct from Jamaica, or Barbados, just as the DR is distinct from Puerto Rico and Cuba.
But there are cultural traits that cross language blocs as well, just as there are certain characteristics that Europeans have in common. Virtually every Caribbean culture represents a cultural interaction between the African and the European within a plantation context. Not to say that these interactions were uniform. One only need compare the DR with Haiti, or PR with Cuba to see that there were differences.
But this African European interaction forms a base, different in scope across different territories, embellished by residual Amerindian influences, and by more recent Asian (South and East) and Middle Eastern influences as well.
I mentioned in another thread that on a Saturday afternoon there is a lunch of stewed chicken, peas (beans) and rice, African root vegetables, plantain, rum and/or beer, base heavy music, and a hot game of dominoes. Guess which country?
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Originally Posted by caribny
I mentioned in another thread that on a Saturday afternoon there is a lunch of stewed chicken, peas (beans) and rice, African root vegetables, plantain, rum and/or beer, base heavy music, and a hot game of dominoes. Guess which country?
Guyana, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Maarten, St Kitts, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba.
About the only Caribbean countries it probably wouldn't be would be Curacao and Aruba, and I am not sure about that either.
I'd say virtually every Caribbean nation.
I've noticed when English speaking Caribbean people say "Caribbean culture" they only refer to their own culture. For example a Trinidadian may say "Caribbean culture" he/she only includes Anglophone Caribbean culture not Haitian, Cuban etc.
Many people say Caribbean culture or even West Indian culture but what people don't ever say is that the Caribbean does not have a culture.
Ok, so if we narrowed it down to Anglo-Caribbean culture which includes all the English speaking countries than that will make some sense but Caribbean culture doesn't make any sense. There's nothing that unifies Barbadians with a Puerto Rican or a Abc islander to a Cuban.
There isn't even one unified Anglo-Caribbean culture either. St Lucia and Dominica have much more in common with each other and with Guadeloupe and Martinique than they do with Jamaica or Guyana. Hell, they likely have more in common with Haiti than with Jamaica or Guyana. However, I wouldn't say ABC islanders are very different from Cubans, if anything I find them rather similar to Latin America.
On the other hand, while there's no one single Caribbean "culture" per se, there is still a great deal which unifies us in terms of lifestyle, food and music. I think we share many commonalities despite the linguistic and religious barriers, so it's a complex issue for sure.
From what I see in New York City I can say the french, Dutch and English West Indies mingle well with each other, but it looks like the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are on another planet.
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