Creole on the Trinidadian Ground: Revisiting the Concept
Keywords:
Creole, creolization, Trinidad, ethnicity, language, East Indian, AfricaAbstract
This paper examines the multiplicity of the definitions of “Creole” applied by social researchers, linguists, and anthropologists since it was coined in 16th century in the colonies founded by the Portuguese and the Spanish. On the basis of the data gathered during the ethnographic fieldwork in three Secondary Schools in the East-West Corridor of Trinidad, we revisit the definitions of Creole and suggest that only further ethnographic research might provide us with the understanding of the contemporary concept of Creole (or creole, various spellings have been used). In this article we argue that the concept of Creole has different connotations in Trinidad when it refers to language and when it is used to describe ethnicity. In the first case it implies inclusion and unity among Trinidadians, whereas in the latter meaning, it has dubious connotations and it might refer to “us”, the Trinidadians, proud of the diversity (thus again implying inclusion), or, on the other hand, excluding Trinidadian East Indians or Indo-Trinidadians (therefore indicating exclusion).
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