Creole Noise: Early Caribbean Dialect Literature and Performance

Creole Noise is a history of Creole, or dialect, literature, and performance in the English-speaking Caribbean from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. It emphasizes multiracial origins, transnational influences, and musical performance alongside often violent historical events, revising the common view that literary dialect was a modern, twentieth-century phenomenon. It explores the lives and literary texts of early progenitors, including pro-slavery white creoles and the first black author of literary dialect.

Format: Hardback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 03 February 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Creole Noise is a captivating exploration of Creole, or dialect, literature, and performance in the English-speaking Caribbean, spanning from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. By highlighting the multiracial origins, transnational influences, and musical performances alongside often violent historical events of the nineteenth century, such as slavery, emancipation, the Morant Bay Rebellion, the era of blackface minstrelsy, indentureship, and immigration, the book challenges the prevailing notion that literary dialect in the Caribbean emerged as a relatively modern phenomenon in the twentieth century, primarily associated with regional anti-colonial or black-affirming nationalist projects. It delves into the lives and literary works of several early progenitors, including pro-slavery white creoles and the first black author of literary dialect in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The book features a diverse range of fascinating historical characters, such as Henry Garland Murray, a black Jamaican journalist and lecturer; Michael McTurk, a white magistrate from British Guiana who wrote one of the earliest books of dialect literature under the pseudonym Quow; and Sam Manning, a blackface comedian and calypsonian who collaborated with Marcus Garvey's ex-wife, Amy Ashwood Garvey, to write a popular dialect play that toured across the United States. Through its meticulous reconstruction of an earlier period of dialect literature, often marginalized or dismissed as racist mimicry or merely political, Creole Noise establishes a connection between dialect writing and the broader continuum of artistic production in the Caribbean.

This book offers a valuable contribution to the study of Creole culture, language, and history, shedding light on the complex and multifaceted nature of this region's literary and cultural heritage. Its interdisciplinary approach, combining history, literature, and music, provides a fresh perspective on the development of Creole languages and their role in shaping Caribbean identity. Creole Noise is a must-read for anyone interested in the rich tapestry of Caribbean culture and history.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 240 x 162 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192856838