Conclusion: Toward an Archipelagic Memory

Abstract

Postcolonial nation-building in the Caribbean shaped the collective memory of the archipelagos into specific national scenarios for commemorating the true origins and the authentic roots of the people on each island. Times and plots varied in the Hispanic, French, and English Caribbean, and on each island, the people’s and the state’s versions of the meaning of collective memory often disagree. In this study, my goal has been to examine comparatively the cultural representations of those multiple national memory-blocks, at the regional, national, and local levels, in order to grasp the meaning of remembering and forgetting in the Caribbean today. I argue for a specifically Caribbean approach to memory, which I call and define as the Caribbean Post-Columbus syndrome. The commemorative engagement with the year 1992 has been the template with which I have evaluated the resonances and differences between Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, while telling the story of their past in times of threat. The 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the region coincided with times when the islands felt in danger of being dissolved by supranational and oppressive forces located outside the islands. This impacted on their need to heroize their heritages and challenged the narrative modes and scenarios with which they did it.