Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place was a great book. The first chapter really grabbed me and, I felt, expressed a lot of feelings I have, a lot better than I could have. I did not think the book was militant but rather honest. Yes, perhaps Kincaid is bitter, but I feel like she and the oppressed people she mentions in her book (Antiguans) have the right to be. There are many quotes in the reading that stood out.
Very early in the book Kincaid expresses her feelings on what it is to be a tourist."A tourist is an ugly human being." (A Small Place p. 14) She goes on to explain that every person is a tourist to another place; that people long to get away from there own reality and the people that can afford to do so take pleasure in investigating the cultures of others. She also talks about the "piggish" nature of the English who colonized Antigua. She says that "the English are supposed to be civilized"(Kincaid, p30), but there behavior is like that of an animal. I was shocked to read this passage at first. I'm not used to hearing people use such strong language about the colonizers of Britain. I agree with her though. How absurd is it for someone to come into a place (that they know nothing about) and treat the people who live there like they are the foreigners.
"In places where there is a minister of culture there is no culture", "In a small place, people cultivate small events. The small event is isolated, blown up, turned over and over, and then absorbed into the everyday, so that at any moment it can and will roll off the inhabitants of the small place's tongues." (Kincaid, p.52) I think this quote speaks to the culture that has been created after colonization. People of Antigua feel the need to come together. These events become a part of their culture because they need to find reasons to celebrate their lives that are controlled so heavily by another government.
I really enjoyed this book and the note that it ends on. Kincaid speaks of how people are just people. It would be great if we were all allowed to live as such.
I entirely agree with Kincaid's views on tourism. It is a rather sick concept, when you truly think about it. I was especially disgusted when she said that the beaches of Antigua were meant for the Antiguans. However, now those beaches are becoming private property of the resorts, and the only people not allowed to set foot on them are the Antiguans. How messed up is that??
ReplyDeleteI think something I try to do to counteract this negative view of tourists, when I am in fact a tourist, is to try and blend and be as natural as possible. However, I am now concerned that this may be even MORE offensive to the natives. It's an endless circle, don't you think?
Great blog post, Loni! See you in Class!
I agree that I have also never heard British people being called piggish. As Americans, they often seem like the fancier version of us, in a way. There are all sorts of nasty words we have heard colonizers call natives. The phrase “You think I'm an ignorant savage” from the Disney movie Pocahontas comes to mind. I definitely felt Kincaid's bitterness which I think is a great perspective to hear because if I were in her shoes, I'd feel exactly the same way. Whereas in “Welcome to Our Hilbrow” I felt there was a positive overtone even with the suicides and AIDs deaths, it was refreshing to hear a realistic bitter tone. That might sound odd, but I agree that reading Kincaid was insightful and well written, very relateable and it makes you think.
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