Camille Buxton

November 22, 2009

Building on the Ruins: The Remnants of Colonization and Signs of Modernization

            Ruins thematically recur in Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy (1990) representing the reduction of an indigenous culture first by colonization and later by modernization, which is the act of building upon or changing indigenous cultures to more closely represent Western Europe and North America (Bookrags). Kincaid uses the concept of ruins—cultural remnants—to symbolize the destructive aspects of colonization while suggesting that this disintegration does not indicate that the original culture has been completely eradicated. Instead, the presence of indigenous cultural remnants indicates that the original was not erased during the process of colonization but reduced and built upon until it is converted into a way of life that resembles Western culture. In Lucy, Western culture is constructed upon the remnants of indigenous cultures and manifests itself in three ways: the relationship between capitalist wealth and indigenous ruins; the use of European language, literature or religion in non-European settings; and the need for transnational migration from the Third World to the West (particularly North America).

The relationship between capitalist wealth and indigenous ruins

            Throughout the novel, Kincaid addresses the relationship between capitalist wealth and ruins by examining the disconnect between Mariah and her friends’ feelings about preserving natural habitats while leading lives full of the outward signs of wealth based on the destruction of those environments. Lucy notes with some amusement that Mariah and her cohorts seem to be obsessed with preserving nature while not connecting “their comforts” with “the decline of the world that lay before them” (72). During a vacation, Mariah’s friends host and attend events to preserve marshlands in the area; however, on the train traveling to the Great Lakes, Lucy remarks that Mariah wanted her to see “those freshly plowed fields she loved so much” (33). Kincaid draws a connection between Mariah’s love of the plowed field’s look, which is a sign of modernization, and Mariah’s inability to connect that plowed field with her lifestyle. Mariah lives in an apartment in Manhattan, is not employed outside the home, and has servants to care for her children and maintain that home—benefits she is able to enjoy because she and her husband are wealthy. When Lucy observes Lewis speaking with the stockbroker on the telephone, she immediately draws a connection between that call, the family’s wealth, and the fields because she knows that the family’s finances are linked in some way the product grown there or to a product like it grown elsewhere.

            In colonial literature, ruins are symbolic rather than physical edifices and represent how land is used by indigenous people pre-colonization. The relationship between capitalist wealth and indigenous ruins is more obscure in Robinson Crusoe (1973) than in Lucy as this novel takes place during the height of the colonial period. During the European colonization of North and South America, capitalism and modernization became closely linked concepts as the wealth of European empires relied heavily on the colonizers’ abilities to convert land into capital through farming or mining. Before modernization could occur, indigenous ruins had to be plowed under or reduced to make room for capitalist projects. Upon arriving in Brazil, Robinson finds himself in a “Wilderness” populated with “Savages” and purchases “Uncur’d” land to farm (27). The terms “Wilderness” and “Uncur’d” convey the colonizers’ general impressions of the land as unless until they perform some tasks to improve, or Westernize, it. The colonizers give little consideration to the land’s previous use, or any other use, save the cultivation of cash crops. Once he becomes stranded on the island, Robinson begins another modernization project by building fences, farming, cultivating grapes, and domesticating animals. Given the abundance of food and animals on the island, there is little doubt that Robinson could have lived comfortably without Westernized improvements as the indigenous people might have through hunting, fishing, and gathering food. However, the need to improve the island quickly overtakes any idea to the contrary.

            Defoe establishes a relationship between capitalist wealth and indigenous ruins in Moll Flanders (1994) by describing land as requiring improvement. Moll’s mother-in-law describes farmers working to “Clear and Cure” the land; the term “Clear” implies that the land is cluttered whereas the term “Cure” implies the need for restoration (68). From the colonizer’s perspective in this novel, land under indigenous people existed in a state of ruin because it was either not cultivated or under-cultivated. Much like Robinson, Moll finds that in order to make a profit in the Carolina colony, fields must be plowed and cash crops like tobacco planted to pursue a course of modernization.

            A large portion of the colonial mindset and resulting culture entails improvement of natural resources for capitalist pursuits, and that colonization is a form of creation. Throughout Lucy, the presence of farmlands and plowed fields indicate that this improvement takes place on a large scale. In Moll Flanders, Defoe describes North America as “Woods and Wilderness,” a term stated as though nothing was present on the land before colonizers improved it by growing cash crops (236). From the colonizers’ point of view, the land is worthless unless a profit can be made from its use. Moll and Robinson perceive the land as wasteland before their arrival and farming as saving the land from going to waste.   

The submergence of ruins in European language, literature, and religion in non-European settings

            It is not unusual or even surprising to note that Lucy speaks English although she is neither English nor American. There is no acknowledgement of the language she might have spoken if she had not been the descendent of African slaves in the Caribbean; just an acceptance of her use of English as the form of communication. As a result of colonialism, four basic European languages including English, Spanish, French, and Dutch are recognized as Caribbean linguae francae despite not being native to the region (Braithwaite 309). There are some indications of indigenous languages remaining, which Kincaid refers to in “A Small Place” (1995). Kincaid describes English law governing Antigua including a prohibition against using bad language, which was enforced in England by police officers armed with dictionaries of “bad” West Indian words (93). Although Kincaid does not specify what those words are, the use of dictionaries indicates that the words are hybrids—possibly combinations of European and West African dialects. Kamau Braithwaite suggests that these languages have been submerged, meaning that they exist underneath and within the imposed European languages exerting an influence on the way they are spoken (309). The need to maintain a familiar dialect as well as the need to adapt to the dialect of the conqueror produces hybrid languages. The layering of languages suggests that African and possibly Amerindian languages are not entirely eradicated in the Caribbean, but that the indigenous languages are the ruins modernized to produce current Caribbean English, Spanish, French, and Dutch and the rhythms with which those languages are spoken.

Robinson makes several attempts in his interactions with Friday to eradicate any signs of indigenous culture by imposing English norms on the Amerindian. The first sign of Robinson’s attempt to impose English culture is his naming of Friday. Once Robinson saves Friday, he admits to having “made him to know his Name should be Friday” (149). The language used by Robinson “his Name should be Friday,” is a form of colonization as creation; Robinson places himself in the position of benevolent dictator who reserves rights over his subjects including the right to name. There is no acknowledgement of Friday’s culture by asking his name, just a renaming with an English term that is not typically used as a given name. Robinson also teaches Friday to converse in English, although he never makes any attempt to learn the most rudimentary terms from Friday’s language, which indicates an additional imposition of the conqueror’s culture. English becomes the language of the conqueror because it is Robinson’s native language and he essentially conquers Friday, teaching him terminology necessary to serve his new master.

            Kincaid describes the influence of European literature and art on Caribbean culture through the use of this material in schools. Lucy recounts having to memorize William Wordsworth’s “I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud” as a ten year old, but makes no mention of memorizing any poetry by West Indian authors on regional subjects. Although it is not directly mentioned, regional flowers represent the ruin that Lucy’s image of the daffodil is constructed upon until she sees the actual flower. When she sees actual daffodils, Lucy pulls away from them placing a space between her body and the physical manifestation of the poem because for her the flowers recount scenes of “conquered and conquests” not beauty (30). Braithwaite notes that the West Indian educational system carries “contours of an English heritage” because the role of education in the Caribbean was to promote European culture rather than a regional one (310). As a result, the colonial education can be accused of forcing students to learn material that was irrelevant to them as non-Europeans (310).

            Another aspect of exported European culture is the spreading of Christianity through proselytizing to Amerindians. Robinson attempts to teach Friday some basic tenets of Christianity—most likely teachings of the Church of England—which is a combination of language and literature because Robinson uses the Bible as a reference. He begins his instruction “in the Knowledge of the true God,” but cannot convince Friday to completely abandon his ideas of how a god and a devil should coexist (156). Although Friday concedes that Robinson’s god must be greater than his, Friday is not totally convinced that the Christian god is omnipotent because he does not defeat the devil. In this exchange, Friday’s belief in his god is not removed, but is maintained as part of his foundation in Christianity. The significance of this debate lies in Friday’s inability to accept Christianity only on faith, but to apply reason to the argument. He acknowledges that Robinson’s god must be great, but expresses doubts and is able to draw a reference between the two deities.

The transnational migration and ruins of indigenous culture

            Colonialism, motivated by capitalism, established European cultural norms in the Caribbean by building on the ruins of indigenous cultures. Initially, the driving force behind colonialism was the need to fill the coffers of European monarchs whether through the establishment of trade, exploration or acquisition of resources. The execution of colonialism in the Caribbean occurred in waves during which Europeans were exported from their homelands to settle in the region. These European immigrants brought every aspect of their culture to the New World, and those who were able maintained ties in both Europe and the Americas. If a modern definition is applied, this workforce exportation is an example of transnational migration in which the migrant worker maintains relationships and cultural norms associated with the home country while adapting to some customs of the new country.

            In the modern world, transnational migration occurs in the opposite direction from colonialism as the current workforce moves from the Third World to Europe or America. Lucy is an example of this phenomenon. She describes herself as “a young woman from the fringes of the world” with the “mantle of a servant” wrapped around her shoulders (95), sent to the U.S. as a transnational migrant to work and provide for her family in Antigua. Unlike true transnational migrants, Lucy rejects maintaining ties to her home. However, despite this attempt at disconnection, Lucy is somewhat attached to Antiguan culture, which presents itself in the way she speaks, dresses and the food she eats.

            At the beginning of the novel, Lucy remarks that Mariah and Lewis’s maid dislikes her because she has an accent. Lucy cannot help but represent the island as her intonation denotes that she is not American. She does not attempt to adopt an American accent, but maintains a way of speaking that more closely resembles her origins than her future residential prospects.

            Although Lucy would like to sever all ties to her home and family, she also wants to surround herself with items that remind her of home. When Lucy first arrives in America, she looks out of a window, sees the sun shining, and believes that “the air is warm” (5). This prompts her to don a dress better suited for a sunny day in Antigua, which she soon realizes. This dress is a symbol of Lucy’s ties to Antigua; it becomes a cultural ruin when she finds that she cannot wear it in the U.S. on any sunny day as sun in the U.S. is not always indicative of warmth. Lucy does not attempt to assimilate into American culture immediately by changing her style of clothing, but is forced into doing so by necessity. However, as Kincaid does not delve too deeply into Lucy’s style of attire, it is difficult to state conclusively that she maintained her culture by continuing to wear all of her Antiguan apparel.

            Lucy can also recall the foods that were special to her such as her family’s preference for boiled fish. She eats Mariah’s meals, but memories of the food that her mother and grandmother prepared remain. When Lucy eats American food, she compares it to Caribbean food because those cultural dishes are the ruins on which she constructs her like or dislike of this new cuisine.

            As Europeans were exporting labor to the Americas, those transnational migrants brought aspects of their cultures with them that had lasting influence on the region. Kincaid addresses the exportation of Europeans and their culture to the New World in “A Small Place” stating that “everywhere they went they turned into England; and everybody they met they turned English” (92). Robinson’s transnational migration to the Americas is indicative of this forced cultural adaptation. Robinson, like other colonizers, makes every effort to recreate England in the Americas with the majority of these incidents occurring on the island. When Robinson shipwrecks, he designs a small kingdom that reflects European culture including a castle, his self-appointed sovereignty and subjects. Friday becomes Robinson’s subject with little regard to his origins or affiliations. Robinson immediately begins a program of modernization includes converting Friday into an English subject. This act builds on Friday’s cultural norms, the first indication of which is Friday’s compliance in his role as a subject to Robinson. Friday’s placing of Robinson’s foot on his head is a remnant of his own cultural norms—perhaps one in which the subject gives the ruler a sign of obeisance. Robinson interprets this as an indication of Friday’s awareness of Robinson’s superiority. Because of the prevailing presence of two unequal parties in their interactions, Robinson cannot recognize that Friday’s cultural norms expose themselves when Friday shows him signs of respect.  

Conclusion

Aimé Césaire suggests that the associations drawn between the terms “colonialism” and “civilization” are a misrepresentation as they are not interchangeable (11). Colonialism, with its preconceived notions of superiority, did not bring civilizations into contact (Césaire 11-12), but provided the means of driving groups apart. An example of this division is the awkward relationship between Robinson and Friday. Robinson’s repeated use of terms such as “Creature” (154) in reference to Friday leads to the conclusion that theirs is a relationship based on a master-slave binary with Robinson the Colonizer modernizing Friday the Savage. The relationship between Robinson and Friday remains an example of conqueror and conquered as Robinson cannot abandon his role as colonizer.

Mariah and Lucy’s relationship is similar to Robinson and Friday’s as it also replicates a master-slave binary. The two women’s differences are so vast that they initially prove a gulf that cannot be crossed. Lucy recognizes that she and Mariah have little in common because of their roles, whereas Mariah perceives their relationship as one existing between equals. Mariah views Lucy as angry and ungrateful, and Lucy sees Mariah as decadent and shallow. Over time, they are able to build on the ruins of their respective cultures to find commonalities rather than focus on differences.

Nicholas Thomas writes that “colonialism has always…been a cultural process” (2), which is evident after an examination of the texts Lucy, Robinson Crusoe, and “A Small Place.” Each of these texts in some way addresses the role of colonialism on culture. In exporting culture and controlling the most basic forms of communication in the colonies, Europeans were only able to submerge the indigenous cultures they encountered, although not eradicate them. Although Europeans had little intention of melding differing cultures into a unified one, this was the end result.

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