Order, Disorder, and Reorder: The Paradox of Creole Representations in Caribbeana (1741)

Abstract

Throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, British West Indian colonies were as important to the expanding British Empire as those on the North American mainland. However, writing authored in the West Indies has been conspicuously absent from most anthologies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British and American literature. Thus, it may be argued that Caribbeana (1741), a collection of entries first printed by Samuel Keimer in the Barbados Gazette (1732–38), pioneers as the first English language anthology of West Indian poetry, essays, and letters – literary artifacts both written and published in the West Indies. In addition, the Barbados Gazette is historically important as Barbados’ first newspaper and the first bi-weekly newspaper in the Americas.