Great Grandmother Was A Guinea Woman
Lorna Goodison states in her poem “Guinea Woman”, “Great Grandmother was a guinea woman”(Goodison). This statement can be interpreted in many ways as guinea has multiple connotations. For example, Guinea is a country in West Africa, but it is also an ancient coin and name for a witch or wise-woman. Creolization, as a term, also has multiple meanings. These meanings are based on different aspects of the mixing of cultures. This can be a mixing or change in religion, music, food, and skin color. The latter being the one most often adjoined with the term creolization or Creole. Lorna Goodison outlines features and the story of her great grandmother and grandmother as a way to show creolization. Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s piece Creolization in Jamaica
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This can be the combination of two religions, the resulting music and food from the meeting of two cultures, and many other cultural aspects. An aspect that does not get noticed as often as it should is the way creolized people behave, talk, and view themselves. Creolization is usually a long process brought about because of the meeting of two different cultures. In the case of the Caribbean, many of these peoples were forced to move to a new location and get used to the climate, food, and way of life. Often times slaves changed their walk of life in order to please their masters or to alleviate themselves from getting beaten. Brathwaite outlines the slaves motivation for change by giving an example, “For the docile there was also the persuasion of the whip and the fear of punishment; for the venal, there was the bribe of gift or compliment or the offer of a better position, and for the curious and self-seeking, the imitation of the master”(Brathwaite, p.203). Goodison outlines as well the changes in her own great grandmother, “They forbade great grandmother’s guinea woman presence. They washed away her scent of cinnamon and escallions controlled the child’s antelope walk…”(Goodison). The importance of these changes whether physical or cultural should not be overlooked when analyzing history and current cultures of the Caribbean
This can be the combination of two religions, the resulting music and food from the meeting of two cultures, and many other cultural aspects. An aspect that does not get noticed as often as it should is the way creolized people behave, talk, and view themselves. Creolization is usually a long process brought about because of the meeting of two different cultures. In the case of the Caribbean, many of these peoples were forced to move to a new location and get used to the climate, food, and way of life. Often times slaves changed their walk of life in order to please their masters or to alleviate themselves from getting beaten. Brathwaite outlines the slaves motivation for change by giving an example, “For the docile there was also the persuasion of the whip and the fear of punishment; for the venal, there was the bribe of gift or compliment or the offer of a better position, and for the curious and self-seeking, the imitation of the master”(Brathwaite, p.203). Goodison outlines as well the changes in her own great grandmother, “They forbade great grandmother’s guinea woman presence. They washed away her scent of cinnamon and escallions controlled the child’s antelope walk…”(Goodison). The importance of these changes whether physical or cultural should not be overlooked when analyzing history and current cultures of the Caribbean