The remnants of colonialism in contemporary Aruban literature
door Quito Nicolaas
Literature in general provides texts and images that tell us something of the past and the present. In the case of Aruba, this is a past that has its origin in a society that was stratified, where a colonized mind existed, though in which a native language and a literary life was emerging.
Fort Zoutman, Aruba; photo by Aart G. Broek
The literary texts that emerged from such a society sketch a profile of Aruban ways of thinking and behavior. Often it is these texts which give us some insight into a period about which few historical documents have been preserved. From 1845-1948 Aruba belonged to the colony called ‘Curaçao and dependencies.’ In those days the community had no representative body and lived within a fairly passive environment in which a colonial spirit prevailed. During that period of time there was little space for public exchange of views, due to lack of newspapers and other publications that could help stimulate such a process. Most Dutch Caribbean writing from the years 1597-1900 consisted mainly of travelogues focused on Paramaribo and Willemstad.
Continue to read the article here / Lees het hele artikel hier: The Remnants Of Colonialism In Contemporary Aruban Literature
ontleend aan: Faraclas, Nicholas, Ronald Severing, Christa Weijer, Elisabeth Echteld & Wim Rutgers (Eds.) (2014). Creole connections: transgressing neocolonial boundaries in the languages, literatures and cultures of the ABC-Islands and the rest of the Dutch Caribbean. Curaçao/Puerto Rico: FPI & UoC/UPR., pp. 255-260.
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