On Monday, April 30, 2012
Conferencias Caribenas 10 sponsored by the Instituto de Estudios del Caribe,
presented the series of presentations by graduate students titled “El Caribe
Plurilingüe”. Dr. Nicholas Faraclas of
the English Department of Humanities has been the mentor for the majority of
the research findings that were presented that day.
This three hour activity presented diverse
topics that were united by common threads of topics. During the first hour and
a half, the audience enjoyed presentations that discussed the resistance that
Caribbean people, especially women have faced throughout times. The works of Pier Angeli LeCompte, Aida
Vergne, Diana Ursulin, Petra Avilan and Hannia Lao as well as Damarys Crespo
and Lourdes Gonzalez discussed the different forms of resistance that
Afro-Caribbeans have created to be heard and seen within the oppressive system
of the colonizer and patriarchal model.
Their presentations titled “Women,
Resistance, and Transmission of Language and Culture”, “Resistance, Agency, and
the Reconceptualization of the Maroon and Marronage” and “The Role and Image of
Midwives in the Caribbean: Women’s Knowledge and Resistance” demonstrated how
important is to study the role of Afro-Caribbean to fully understand the
dynamics of our complex and evolving society.
These presentations brought to light the people that have been erased
from the historic memory throughout times and given them a voice so our
contemporary society can value and understand the legacy that exists in the
Caribbean world.
Language and discourse was another
unifying thread in this first section of “El Caribe Plurilingüe”. Graduate students Sally Delgado, Emilio
Ceruti, and Marisol Joseph Haynes discussed in their presentations the
diversity within language and the power discourse can have upon the Caribbean
society. Sally Delgado brought into
light the role pirates played in the creolization of the languages that are
spoken in the Caribbean. Pirates, stigmatized and stereotyped throughout
history are now seen as agents of transformation in the language process.
Emilio Ceruti presented the way health campaigns
are used more to oppress and imprison than to provide alternatives to avoid
suffering from the sexually transmitted diseases that affect contemporary
society. But within these campaigns,
those who have been affected by these conditions are stigmatized while creating
fear to those on the other end seeing the victims as victimizers.
Marisol Joseph Haynes ended this section
which I was able to attend. Her
presentation focused in Limonese Creole, a language she speaks and that many
people are unaware of its existence and its rich cultural heritage. As part of her research to complete her
Master’s degree, she analyzed how Limonese speakers code switch in everyday
conversations.
The activity “El Caribe Plurilingüe” was an
activity that graduate students of Literature and Languages of the Caribbean as
well as all of us that reside in his fascinating region should have the
opportunity of enjoying. These students
demonstrated their compromise with the Caribbean region presenting different
perspectives of the history and contemporary life. I congratulate to Dr. Nicholas Faraclas. He has shown throughout these years his compromise
with the Caribbean and the English Department in Humanities. His compromise has
given students the opportunity to experience the world of research and
contribute to Caribbean society.
In addition to the students previously
mentioned, I would also want to congratulate Jean Ourdy Pierre, Neusa
Rodriguez, Juan Salome and all those graduate students whose research projects
are part of this activity and have brought different perspectives in seeing
language, culture and history in the Caribbean in a different light.
If you are interested in watching the series of conferences presented that day, visit USTREAM
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