Commodification of Caribbean Culture in Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place
K. L. Johnson II
25 September 2014
Commodification of Caribbean Culture in Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place
“If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V.C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him – why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument?” (3)
Jamaica Kincaid begins her novel “A Small Place” with this quote, full of factual information and questions underlined with a sarcastic tone. Surely Kincaid’s questions concerning the V. C. Bird International Airport are not without a bewildered gaze; why did he want an airport named after him instead of something representative of the island of Antigua, something that is permanently embedded in the culture of the island? As an American citizen who would be a tourist to Antigua, I would not be the tourist who would inquire about this airport naming; not until I read “A Small Place,” that is. With this introductory statement, I began to ponder why I would not ask this question, and then it hit me: I simply would not care. Why not? Because I am from America and my visit to Antigua (or any other Caribbean island) would simply be for a getaway from the daily hassles of my American life. I never concern myself with the commodification of Caribbean nations and culture in terms of imperialist tourism, but more importantly, Kincaid’s novel points out my participation in this commodification and helps in redirecting my gaze from a tourist to a native lens. I vividly remember my first trip to the Bahamas (specifically Nassau) on my first cruise during Spring Break 2012. We boarded the Carnival Sensation and were immediately transported to a world that wholly juxtaposed our collegiate campus life. Bright lights, unlimited food, casinos, pools, and a liquor store which rivaled any
25 September 2014
Commodification of Caribbean Culture in Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place
“If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V.C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him – why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument?” (3)
Jamaica Kincaid begins her novel “A Small Place” with this quote, full of factual information and questions underlined with a sarcastic tone. Surely Kincaid’s questions concerning the V. C. Bird International Airport are not without a bewildered gaze; why did he want an airport named after him instead of something representative of the island of Antigua, something that is permanently embedded in the culture of the island? As an American citizen who would be a tourist to Antigua, I would not be the tourist who would inquire about this airport naming; not until I read “A Small Place,” that is. With this introductory statement, I began to ponder why I would not ask this question, and then it hit me: I simply would not care. Why not? Because I am from America and my visit to Antigua (or any other Caribbean island) would simply be for a getaway from the daily hassles of my American life. I never concern myself with the commodification of Caribbean nations and culture in terms of imperialist tourism, but more importantly, Kincaid’s novel points out my participation in this commodification and helps in redirecting my gaze from a tourist to a native lens. I vividly remember my first trip to the Bahamas (specifically Nassau) on my first cruise during Spring Break 2012. We boarded the Carnival Sensation and were immediately transported to a world that wholly juxtaposed our collegiate campus life. Bright lights, unlimited food, casinos, pools, and a liquor store which rivaled any
Cited: Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1988. Print.