Markers of identity in Martinique

Being French, black, Creole

Bibliographic Data

ID2147191
AuthorsOlivia Sheringham (0000-0002-1524-3553, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume39
Issue2
Pages243-262
Publication date2016-01-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2016.1105992
OpenAlexW2218459285
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

Martinican identity involves the negotiation of multiple markers of difference. These often conflicting identities have been powerfully played out as a form of cultural politics: the Négritude movement, which emphasised African roots, the Creolité movement, which proclaimed Martinique's identity as a unique mix of multiple cultures, and the ever-present pull of the French assimilationist state. This paper seeks to bridge the gap between these intellectual and political discourses and the lived experiences of people living on the island. It draws on examples of what are labelled intellectual, environmental, social, and Creole markers, and explores the ways in which identity is inscribed on Martinique's physical, social, and cultural landscape. Using the prism of markers as an analytical tool to think through the ways in which identity has been asserted, prescribed, and analysed in Martinique, it examines the interplay between diverging manifestations of identity: intellectualized from above and lived, practised, and contested from below

Aesthetics · Creole language · Creolization · Ethnology · Genealogy · Identity (music · Linguistics · Martinique · Political science · Politics · Sociology · West indies · Anthropology · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Gender Studies · History · Law