e-ISSN: 1131-5598
RESEÑAS
As ongoing discussions attest, the impact of European colonisation of the Caribbean continues to leave its mark. Allison O. Ramsey and Jerome Teelucksingh’s edited volume brings together regional scholars to survey tangible and intangible aspects of this controversial legacy. In its eleven chapters, the work combines perspectives from historians, lawyers, sociologists, and cultural heritage experts. Ramsey and Teelucksingh’s Introduction opens by presenting debates relating to monuments and their role in history, culture, and memory. Bridget Brereton analyses the historical, religious, and cultural debates surrounding the Trinity Cross, once Trinidad & Tobago’s highest national honour, noting the controversy caused as an ostensible symbol of a multi-religious nation. Stanley H. Griffin delves into the impact of George Floyd’s 2020 murder on the Caribbean, examining how it catalysed discussions on race, national identity, and decolonisation through case studies of Lord Nelson’s statue in Barbados and the governor-general’s insignia in Jamaica. Sheron Johnson also highlights the replacement of the Nelson statue, exploring how esteem has been attributed to the intangible cultural heritage of Barbados’s capital Bridgetown. In Trinidad, Ashleigh John Morris delves into the history of the Five Islands archipelago, formerly the site of a depot used to process indentured labourers from India and their families on arrival in the colony. Allison O. Ramsey returns to Barbados, providing an overview of monuments and their role in public history, noting the lack of statues of women. Shaian Albert provides detailed case studies of the creation of three notable Trinidadian Hindu temples, and Margo Groenewoud examines the intersection of statues and identity in the colonial Netherlands Antilles between 1940-1960. In underscoring the dearth of statues and landmarks commemorating women in Trinidad & Tobago, Danalee Jahgoo outlines the specific case of the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies. In Barbados, Lynette Mills examines the contentious impact of Christopher Codrington, a slave-owner and benefactor whose name is still given to a theological college, as well as the library at All Souls, Oxford. And though most Caribbean nations became independent decades ago, Timothy Affonso draws attention to the legal ramifications of colonisation which, in some instances, still prevails. Finally, Renee A. Nelson sheds lights on how the ill-fated West Indies Federation influenced Jamaican conceptualisations of independence and nationhood. In summary, this is an extremely timely and important volume which offers valuable interdisciplinary contributions to key debates in the Caribbean context.