|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Pride and Denial: The Autobiography of Archibald Monteith and the Legacy of Slavery in Jamaica
| Article
# : |
20112 |
|
|
Section : |
CULTURE
|
| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1992 |
4,105 Words |
| Author
: |
Angelo Costanzo
Angelo Costanzo is professor of English at Shippensburg
University. He specializes in slave narrative biography. A
related article, "Living Under Mongibello," appeared in the
May 1990 issue of The World & I. |
Jamaica is an exciting place: The island's exotic and verdant Caribbean landscape and lively multicultural and multiracial society provide the visitor with an idyllic experience and memory. Not surprisingly, the country's economic health is strongly tied to tourism, particularly from the United States and Europe. Consequently, Jamaica's projected image is carefully shaped and guarded. Today, in accordance with the psychology that forms the creation of public-relations image, everyone wants to believe in the idealized vision--the Jamaicans for purposes of luring tourists and the tourists because they want to experience a dream vacation in a strange and romantic land.
However, despite the television commercials and newspaper advertisements that hint of a Jamaica of Edenic beauty, hedonistic pleasures, and old plantation comforts, the real Jamaica is a complex, even frustrated, society that is haunted by its own history and that strives for possessions beyond the reach of the majority of its population.
Heads In The New World: Hearts In The Old
Most tourists t Jamaica stay at luxurious, all-inclusive hotels situated in resort locations that ring the island, especially on the northern and western coasts. These enclaves provide an American or European standard of living, with only a sampling of Jamaican "traditional" life carefully introduced. Everything is provided: There is no money to exchange, no risky "native" food or drink to worry about, and no tipping; moreover, a myriad of planned activities and entertainment is available on the premises. There is rarely any need for the guest to venture beyond the hotel into the real world of Jamaican life, where dangers and unpleasantness possibly lurk.
Also located along the coast are expensive villas, either tourist rentals or the actual residences of wealthy Jamaicans. These well-protected and heavily staffed homes duplicate (in an ideal and romantic manner) the great houses of the plantation era, yet are complete with satellite dishes, swimming pools, tennis courts, and all the other conveniences of the twentieth century.
These carefully created compounds of tourist fantasy are maintained by smiling black servants: numerous ordinary Jamaicans laboring long, hard hours to please the tourists. While at work, these porters, waiters, housekeepers, pool attendants, and gardeners are exposed to the kind of life that they believe exists in the overseas countries, a life style that
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
