An easy to understand presentation that explains creolisation, describes cultural, racial and religious hybridisation, and the theories put forward by Edward Kamau Brathwaite to explain European domination strategies

1. *CARIBBEAN STUDIES*
HYBRIDISA
TION

2. Hybridisation
AFTER 1492:
The work of the interlopers became important because they
brought with them other European forms of culture, as well as politics
and this led to the further expansion of cultural diversity in the
Caribbean. When there is cultural diversity there will be mixing and
interaction which is called hybridisation. Sometimes hybridisation
and creolisation are used interchangeably.
Hybridisation is the taking of two unique, original cultures and
mixing it to obtain a new culture. This suggests that there‟ll be
elements of both cultures visible in the product.
In this modified version you would have groups giving up their cultural
uniqueness and would begin to integrate into a more creole society.
This giving up of cultural elements suggests that cultural erasure
would occur.
EX: long ago East Indian women always wore an orhni on their heads
when leaving their homes but that doesn’t happen anymore (cultural
erasure)

3. Creolisation Explained
 Because of so many groups in the Caribbean, creolisation
/hybridisation was inevitable. Edward Kamau Brathwaite is a
Caribbean scholar and one of his fundamental works dealt
with the creolisation of the Jamaican society. He proposes that
Jamaican society went through several stages of the evolution
process.
 He suggests that African people had to unlearn their African
identity, accept new names, speak a new language and begin
to accept their positions as slaves ( this is a process similar to
cultural erasure).
 These processes of enculturation and acculturation would
have resulted in the creation of a new mindset within African
people. However they were still at the end of the social
spectrum; so he is suggesting that the process of creolisation
was to make slavery more effectively managed.
 As a result all the identity factors of creole society become
identity factors of European domination.
 All things given to African people as a part of acculturation

4.  The presence of new races introduced racial
hybridisation. The term “Douglarisation” is used not
only to describe the Afro-Indo mix but is more of a
generalisation to describe all the mixes. As a result
of douglarisation, new races are introduced in the
Caribbean.
 In the Caribbean it has resulted into a new colour
spectrum of whiteness. It can be seen here that
Caribbean people place an importance on the
degree of whiteness.
 Each colour introduced had their own names.

5. Racial and Ethnic Hybridization
o Amerindian, African, and Indian women (to a lesser extent),
were forced to cohabit with and have children for the
European conquistadors, slave masters and overseers.
Sexual unions between persons of different races, resulting in
children of mixed race, is called Miscegenation.
These mixed races were named as follows:
a) Afro-Amerindian : Dougla
b) Afro-European: Mulattoe
c) Euro-Amerinidian : Mestizo
The mulattoes introduced a new strata in the
social hierarchy i.e. they created a niche in the
Plantation Social Pyramid.

6. o From the very beginning of the Conquest, the Spaniards
regarded the aboriginal inhabitants as subhuman (less
than human). This notion of racial superiority was
extended to encompass the enslaved
and, later, indentured populations who were of a different
race. Racial and ethnic hybridization, then, underscored
and emphasized the prevailing ideologies in the
society, equating skin colour with social constructions of
superiority/inferiority.

7. o Eventually, these lighter-skinned children were
somehow „better‟ than their maternal ancestors, they
were dealt with more leniently, all because they had
biological/physical traits publicizing their European
connection. As a result of this, a Pigmentocracy
evolved, in which persons of fairer complexion
wielded more prestige and power in the society than
others.
o The Polyglot peoples of the Caribbean showcase
the rich racial and ethnic diversity of the
region, resulting in hybridization.

8. Cultural Hybridization
This term is defined as the development of
new cultural forms out of existing ones through a
period of contact and interaction. It also includes
cultural traditions, language and different mass
communications from a society and mixing it into
another society creating a new culture from its
current one.

9. Religion
o A social institution which embodies the valued ideas
and beliefs that society has about our relationship to
a divine or sacred entity and the afterlife. When
religions of the world met in the Caribbean
region, they underwent considerable hybridization or
syncretism into creolized forms.
Social institutions are the most cherished ideas in
society such as : education, religion, what it is to be
healthy etc.
A social institution is an ideology which may differ from
one culture to the next.

10. Hybrid religions include:
 The Amerindian/Christian mix- this resulted in the creation of:
 Garafuna (present in the Jamaican and Belizean society)
 The African/Christian mix- this resulted in the creation of:
 Santeria (present in Cuba and Brazil)
 Myal (present in Jamaica)
 Voodoo (present in Haiti)
 Shouter Baptist (present in Trinidad)
 Shango Baptist (present in Grenada)
 Orisha Baptist (present in Grenada)
 Rastafarianism (present in the Jamaican society)
o Hybridization and Religion is about how Christianity has changed and
adapted to different cultures in society. In other words, when the
enslaved people came to the Caribbean, the Europeans tried to enforce
their culture and religion onto them and instead of them enforcing
Christianity on themselves, the enslaved individuals then adapted
Christianity to their religious beliefs.

11. Language
In most Caribbean Countries, it is fair to say that
the „creole‟ exists as a Continuum. However, the African
languages that the enslaved population used were not
usually written languages, so that the „creole‟ forms which
mixed, emerged and evolved would differ greatly from the
European 'master' language. These hybrid forms were
usually referred to as „Creole‟ (for the English/ African
mix) or „Patois‟ (for the French/ African mix).
The basilect includes the raw form or the least
socially prestige (Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica), mesolect
refers to the languages used by most creole persons
(Trinidad), while acrolect is the Standard English (Highly
Prestigious – Barbados).

12. Creole is defined as:
• A language- every country has a version of creole
• Used for Europeans who have been born outside of
Europe
• A racial slur directed towards African people
• A genre of food- example pelau or callaloo

13. Processes of Cultural Hybridization
o Cultural Erasure – this refers to practices that have
died out or are dying out. Thus, a culture can survive
based on the artefacts it has left behind.
o Cultural Retention – this refers to practices that
have survived even when most other forms and
symbols of culture are no longer evident.
o Cultural Renewal – this occurs when a group goes
through a conscious rejuvenation process and
returns to some elements of its culture, which it
believes have been ignored or suppressed.

14. Cultural Change
o Enculturation – This is a process of socialization
whereby a person becomes part of another‟s culture. A person
can become enculturated through processes of „acculturation‟
and „assimilation‟, which have been policies tried by the
various Eurpoean colonizers in the Caribbean.
o Assimilation – The process of integration whereby
immigrants or other minority groups are „absorbed‟ into a generally
larger community. This presumes a loss of all characteristics which
make the „newcomers‟ different. A region where assimilation is
occurring is sometimes referred to as a melting pot. The various
types of assimilation include : language, customs, ideas and
values, name change, religious affiliation.
To achieve this there were different assimilation strategies. These
were: non assertive assimilation, assertive assimilation and

15. Assimilation Strategies
 Non-Assertive:
1) Emphasising what the dominant and non-dominant groups
have in common. Acting positively.
2) Sensoring remarks that might offend the dominant group;
avoiding controversy
 Assertive:
1) Carefully preparing for meeting dominant group members
2) Manipulating stereotypes
3) Bargaining
 Aggressive:
1) Disassociating from one‟s own group
2) Copying dominant group‟s behaviour
3) Avoiding interaction with other co-cultural groups i.e.
ridiculing oneself

16. o Transculturation – This describes the process whereby
a culture changes drastically, actually overcoming itself and
translating into something new. Cuba, before and after the
revolution, exemplifies this process.
o Interculturation – This refers to the mixing of cultures
that goes on between groups who share a space. The groups do not
necessarily give up their own culture, but participate in various ways
in each other‟s lives.

17. Important!
 There‟s no Caribbean culture apart from a hybridised
end product! - This is due to the Caribbean’s
historical evolution

18. References
o Mohammed, J. (2007). ‘Caribbean Studies For
CAPE Examinations: An Interdisciplinary Approach’ .
Macmillan Caribbean.
o Stockhammer, P. W. (2012). ‘Conceptualizing
Cultural Hybridization: A Transdisciplinary Approach’
. Heidelberg: Springer.
o Mohan, D.
o Et al