Creole Patriots Research Articles

London in 1810: Spanish American Independence at 27 Grafton Street

The year 1810 marked a watershed moment in the history of Spanish America. During these months, several independent juntas, provisional governments created during the French occupation of Spain, were established across the continent from Mexico to Argentina and Chile. Even more significantly, future leaders of this continental-wide rebellion not only met each other for the first time but also forged a single, cohesive mindset for the future of Central and South America. And this remarkable gathering took place thousands of miles away on the opposite side of the Atlantic – right in the centre of London. In this essay, I explore the connection between England in 1810 and the project of nation building spearheaded by Creole patriots, bringing to light both the rewarding and problematic issues of transnational collaboration, which included the emergence of independent nation states at the cost of Britain’s informal economic ‘empire’ in the region.

Sovereignty, freedom, and the problem of blackness in Jamaica

ABSTRACT Within the pursuit of black freedom, this article is concerned with the everyday experiences of the black poor in 21st Century Jamaica. I refer to both this experience and its potential politics as organic blackness. I locate this notion in relation to the coloniality of power in the postcolonial state and to creole nationalism which brought Jamaica to independence. I argue that colonial power norms worked alongside creole nationalism to produce limited sovereignty, particularly concerning the conditions of the black majority on the island. In thinking about what ‘black freedom’ could look like from an ‘organic blackness’ perspective, I question what is demanded by those who live blackness as a lack of resources, space, and power. My interrogation is mainly concerned with the intersection of blackness with poverty and how thinking about sovereignty from below or as ‘people’s sovereignty’ versus ‘state sovereignty’ would construct black spaces as sites of upliftment.

A Treatise on Creole Nationalism

This paper ponders on creole nationalism as a form of ideology espoused by foreign individuals who eventually settle in local communities in another country. Despite the new communitys acceptance of them to some extent, locals bear situations forcing creoles to deal with obstacles like achievement of independence and vernacularization of language. In a sense, creole nationalism promotes glocalization and cultural hybridity as ways to achieve emancipatory enlightenment through understanding the nation as an imagined community and analyzing national literature in the context of the peoples struggles in the local communities - all signs of how indigenous sensibilities shape national consciousness. Indeed, because of colonial powers historical baggage, the effects of expanding control and dominance in a foreign land are far more obnoxious to the local sensibilities than can ever be envisaged. Result of this paper reveals that creole nationalism can lead to dangerous designs of decadence if they are not thoroughly thought out. Hence, local leaders must emphasize the value of cooperation and communication in this regard in order to create harmonious relationships between all parties. Creoles may know where they stand so as to avoid interfering in local affairs if they are aware of their positions and boundaries.

Transatlantic Women Travelers, 1688–1843, ed. Misty Krueger

<i>Transatlantic Women Travelers, 1688–1843</i>, ed. Misty Krueger

Race, Nation, and Diaspora in the Southern Caribbean: Unsettling the Ethnic Conflict Model

AbstractIn much of the southern Caribbean (i.e., Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana), ethno‐political tensions between numerically commensurable populations of South Asian and African diasporic populations have structured narratives of postcolonial conflict between an “African” and an “Indian” political party, setting the limits of national narratives. This article challenges this narrative on a number of points, drawing on oral histories and ethnographic research. I look at how the assumption of homogenous African and Indian groupings ignores important differences of class and political ideology that disrupt racial essentialism and create what I have called “altered solidarities.” I argue that dominant postcolonial frameworks of creole nationalism, state multiculturalism, and securitization in the Anglophone Caribbean have been unable to recognize these alternate solidarities in the region. [race, nationalism, diaspora, Caribbean, ethnic conflict]

Empire of Eloquence: The Classical Rhetorical Tradition in Colonial Latin America and the Iberian World

Empire of Eloquence: The Classical Rhetorical Tradition in Colonial Latin America and the Iberian World

Revisiting geographies of nationalism and national identity in Bangladesh

On 15 August 1947, the subcontinent of undivided India was partitioned into India and Pakistan (West and East Pakistan) using the two-nation theory. However, approximately 24 years after, Bangladesh was carved out of East Pakistan. The key purpose of this study is to revisit the geographies of nationalism and national identity in Bangladesh, which emerged at the cost of colossal sacrifice during its 1971 Liberation War against Pakistani forces when its people derived gargantuan inspiration from ‘creole nationalism’ stemming from their language and culture. There is a severe dearth of literature by geographers on nationalism in Bangladesh. Hence, this study deploys a collage of both rich and grey literature from interdisciplinary subjects, including geography. Following the independence of Bangladesh, Bengali nationalism and Bengali identity were enshrined in the Constitution. Nevertheless, both nationalism and national identity based on ‘creole nationalism’ were shifted within four years of the Liberation War and were transformed into Bangladeshi nationalism and Bangladeshi national identity. This new nationalism was a product of the renewed form of ‘two-nation theory’, separating Bangladeshis from other Bengalis, especially those living in the state of West Bengal, India. Besides, Bangladeshi nationalism emphasized ‘Muslim identity’ of Bengali Muslim instead of Bengali identity. Although the current Awami League government has reinstated Bengali nationalism into the Constitution, the false dichotomy between Bengali and Bangladeshi constructed by the ruling elites continues in current Bangladesh. Bengali language and culture are an integral part of independent Bangladesh. Simultaneously, Muslim identity and the identity of the indigenous population remains intrinsic in the current context of the country. This study argues that geographies of inclusiveness remain paramount in addressing nationalism and national identity in Bangladesh.

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within. By Jonathan K. Gosnell. France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization. Edited by A. J. B. Johnston, James D. Le Sueur, and Tyler Stovall. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. Pp. xvi+348. $60.00.

<i>Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within</i>. By Jonathan K. Gosnell. France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization. Edited by A. J. B. Johnston, James D. Le Sueur, and Tyler Stovall. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. Pp. xvi+348. $60.00.

Jonathan K. Gosnell. Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within. U of Nebraska P, 2018.

Jonathan K. Gosnell. Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within. U of Nebraska P, 2018.

Belarusian Nationalism in the 2010s: a Case of Anti-Colonialism? Origins, Features and Outcomes of Ongoing ‘Soft Belarusianisation’

Abstract The past decade has seen the emergence of a new type of nationalism in Belarus, a process labelled as ‘soft Belarusianisation’. This trend differs from earlier, mostly top-down (elite-led) episodes of nation-building – the Belarusisation of the 1920s, the nationalists’ movement that followed perestroika, and the ‘Creole nationalism’ incarnated by A. Lukashenko since the mid-1990s. Instead, soft Belarusianisation seems to be a bottom-up process stemming mostly from civil society. It would be wrong to consider it as a traditional revivalist or genuinely grassroots phenomenon however. Yet it appears as an anti-colonialist process, one meant to avoid further assimilation of Belarusians within the Russian whole. Whereas signs of a timid national awakening appeared back in the early 2010s, two sets of factors contributed to shaping and accelerating soft Belarusianisation in recent years. First were exogenous drivers, notably Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Among the endogenous drivers is the Belarusian authorities’ benevolence towards soft Belarusianisation. Although they can exploit the rally-around-the-flag potential that the process entails for mobilising society in support of independence, the fact that soft Belarusianisation is perceived as anti-Russian in Russia proper creates a challenging situation for them. Should Belarusian nationalism overstep a red line, the likely consequences would be to put Belarusian sovereignty and national identity under a greater threat than it already is now.

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

L’instrumentalisation des sites archéologiques incas. Questions d’éthique

À l’occasion de l’Indépendance du Pérou, les champions de la nation d’origine créole ont érigé l’Indien étatique inca en ancêtre présentable, éliminant ainsi l’historicité amérindienne de la population. Les restes archéologiques viennent appuyer alors une idéologie indigéniste qui ignore l’Indien sociologique, considéré comme ontologiquement inférieur. Aujourd’hui ces vestiges incas contribuent à construire le roman national : le culte solaire inca est ainsi réinventé sur le site de Sacsayhuaman. Dans quelle mesure les travaux des archéologues peuvent-ils servir d’argument à des idéologies partisanes? Les présidents des Républiques péruvienne et bolivienne ont été intronisés comme souverains préhispaniques, le premier sur le site inca de Machu Picchu, le second à la porte du Soleil de Tiwanaku. Dans quelle mesure les vestiges d’une civilisation peuvent-ils être instrumentalisés par la politique? Désormais les sites incas sont investis par des mystiques venus des États-Unis et d’Europe sous la conduite de néo-chamanes locaux. Ils sont en effet réputés contenir de l’ « énergie » positive. Celle-ci est exploitée par des agences de tourisme mystique. Dans quelle mesure le patrimoine de la nation, entretenu par les services publics, peut-il faire l’objet de profits privés, d’idéologies parfois sectaires et de dommages irréparables? Dans la culture des communautés andines traditionnelles, les ruines préhispaniques avaient une fonction classificatoire et symbolique. Celle-ci disparaît quand le lieu du mythe est remplacé par des sites historiques. Comment respecter la perception indigène des vestiges archéologiques? Tels sont les questions éthiques que cet article entend poser à partir de cas précis et concrets de sites archéologiques sur lesquels l’auteur a mené des enquêtes.

David A. Brading: The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492-1866

David A. Brading: The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492-1866&#x0D; Anmeldes af Svend Lindhardtsen

To ‘Look Smart’ and Run Fast: Jamaican Track Athletes and the Advertisement of Creole Nationalism at the 1948 Olympic Games

At the 1948 London Olympic Games, the colony of Jamaica made its Olympic debut. In a postwar moment that presaged the possibility of greater self-governance for colonized places, participation in the foremost international athletic festival provided an opportunity for the island to promote and perform a national identity. On and off the track, Jamaica’s track stars communicated creole nationalism, the island’s nationalist ideology that balanced Jamaican pride with British propriety. The multiracial and mixed-gender cohort of track athletes was understood as safely and successfully symbolizing the island’s nationalist aspirations because they adhered to colonially-imposed hierarchies of race, color, class, and gender. Their careful presentation demonstrated Jamaican character and capacity, while also reinforcing a commitment to the cultural values of Britain. The praise for Jamaica’s Olympians in the Jamaican, British, and American presses indicates their effectiveness. However, because Jamaica’s athletes expertly abided by traditional racial, color, class, and gender arrangements, they reinforced the relevance of these distinctions, inscribing them into the island’s nationalist project. Jamaica’s inaugural Olympic experience thus illuminates how the politics of identity structured the possibilities and limitations of the eventual Jamaican nation.

Franco-America in the Making: the Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Reviewed by: Franco-America in the Making: the Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell Manon Pagé (bio) Jonathan K. Gosnell. Franco-America in the Making: the Creole Nation Within. U of Nebraska P, 2018. 366 pages. Gosnell's book offers a detailed description and analysis of how Americans of French descent continue to express and perform their heritage in today's America. His study focuses on how Frenchness is communicated and shown in communities that have undergone two centuries of Americanization, especially in Louisiana, but also in New England. The in-depth investigation of "Francos" from this latter region who are overall absent from most academic works makes the originality of this book. Indeed four of the six chapters of this study focus on the different expressions of Frenchness in New Hampshire, [End Page 844] Rhode Island and Massachusetts, while the first one works as an overview of Franco-Americanness today and the last one is dedicated to today's French and Creole culture in Louisiana. Although the author declares his intentions of directing his attention toward contemporary forms of Frenchness in American society, the reader will find many more or less brief passages giving historical background to better understand these cultural phenomena. However, Gosnell does not situate himself in the trend of cultural history but rather in the field of anthropology. This is the reason why he focused on various cultural objects and places such as commemorative monuments, women clubs, newspapers, radio stations, celebrations, music etc. He also punctually conveys works from other anthropologists like Nick Spitzer, ethnographers like Michael P. Smith or cultural theorists like Homi Bhabha, among others. The analysis inscribes itself in the scope of post-colonial studies and Gosnell doesn't hesitate to bring forward literary theory, and more specifically the concept of littérature-monde in order to explain the different issues and tensions in the Francophone world. Finally, the author refers to numerous contemporary films and books that represent French culture within American society, such as the 2002 documentary Gumboh! là! là!, the HBO series Treme, or Jack Kerouac's mostly unknown book Sur le chemin, written before his famous On the Road, and primarily in French. In a few words, this book stands out due to its broad interdisciplinarity, the density of documentation given as well as the detailed analysis of these objects by the author. The reader of Franco-America in the Making will learn a lot about the situation of "Francos," who were also called "white niggers" in New England, and why it is so difficult for them to carry on a culture that is rejected in the society they live in. Gosnell also emphasizes their efforts through showing the various organizations created in the United States to preserve French traditions and language, especially since the 1960s, but also why most of them are failing while others still struggle to survive. Through the analysis of Creole and Cajun culture in Louisiana, the author manages to explain how being French in America is inherently linked to the notion of hybridity or, as he calls it, the concept of "middle ground." Indeed, if French settlers had more peaceful relationships with Native Indians, it is because they were willing to exchange with them and blend in to their culture rather than favor separation. This behavior is still present today and that is the reason why, according to the author, French culture is rather invisible in the United States. Lastly, the reader will travel a lot between Louisiana, New England and Quebec since the author pays specific attention to places. He believes that places such as commemorative monuments, small towns like Lowell, Massachusetts and celebrations like Mardi Gras are privileged lenses of analysis because this is where "cultures collide" and where the hybridity of Franco-Americans is best revealed. As mentioned before, this book is dense and the passion of the author for his topic sometimes makes it hard to follow. Although the chapters are divided into various sections, the headings do not always help the reading, [End Page 845] either because they are too vague or because what follows doesn't really corresponds to what is announced. For example, in the second...

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within by Jonathan K. Gosnell

Gregorio Sancianco, Colonial Tribute, and Social Identities: On the Cusp of Filipino Nationalist Consciousness

Gregorio Sancianco, the author of El Progreso de Filipinas (1881), is an ephemeral figure in Philippine history. Although somewhat known for his defense of the native against charges of indolence, Sancianco advanced a penetrating critique of colonial tribute that generally has been ignored but to which this article draws attention. Sancianco argued that tribute did not only negate the principle of assimilation, but it also divided the native population and provoked social antagonisms. The tribute’s abolition in 1884 rendered Sancianco’s historical position as transitional, straddling the creole nationalism of the 1860s and the ilustrados’ colonial nationalism of the 1880s. Sancianco’s critique of tribute anticipated nationalist consciousness. KEYWORDS: TRIBUTE • IDENTITY • SPANISH COLONIALISM • RACISM • NATIONALISM

The Bibliotheca Mexicana Controversy and Creole Patriotism in Early Modern Mexico

The Bibliotheca Mexicana Controversy and Creole Patriotism in Early Modern Mexico

Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico by Amber Brian

Reviewed by: Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico by Amber Brian Travis Jeffres Brian, Amber. Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2016. 196 pp. In the last two decades, several highly significant Nahuatl-language texts produced during the seventeenth century have been brought to light and now appear in English translation, representing major contributions to our understanding of prehispanic and colonial Mexico (Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder's Codex Chimalpahin volumes 1-2, and Camilla Townsend's Here in This Year: Seventeenth-Century Nahuatl Annals of the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley are fine examples). As this ongoing scholarship increases our understanding of native intellectual projects and makes them more accessible, new questions arise. How, for instance, did indigenous knowledge circulate within colonial society, and in what ways did it shape the broader intellectual landscape? Amber Brian tackles these questions in Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico. In the process, she contributes substantially to our understanding of colonial epistemologies and the distribution of knowledge in New Spain. Grounding her study is the seventeenth-century transfer of mestizo intellectual don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl's collection of native manuscripts to the creole letrado don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora. Brian breaks sharply with historians interpreting the exchange as a "one-way appropriation" of native knowledge by creole patriots seeking to articulate a distinctive Mexican identity (10). She advocates instead for the dynamic, complex nature of knowledge transfer, identifying interpersonal relationships and exchanges as cornerstones of "a more nuanced and vibrant image of colonial intellectual life" in New Spain (10). Ultimately Brian argues that knowledge in colonial Mexico was constructed collaboratively across social and intellectual spheres. It was deployed, furthermore, by individuals occupying [End Page 253] distinctive social positions and according to the discursive structures prevailing at "particular epistemic moment[s]" (38). Social and epistemological contexts are important leitmotifs informing the author's discussion of knowledge production and exchange. Alva Ixtlilxochitl had privileged access to native informants as well as an impressive collection of alphabetic and pictorial manuscripts at his disposal when writing his histories. That he chose to disseminate knowledge derived from those sources in Spanish according to European discursive norms need not be interpreted as evidence of his identification with Spaniards, as some scholars have averred. Rather Brian suggests it is indicative of how he "used his bicultural vantage point to make the stories derived from native sources relevant to the Hispano-Catholic context in which he lived and worked" (80). Thus Brian enjoins us to understand Alva Ixtlilxochitl in reference to his specific social context—as an intermediary straddling the indigenous and Spanish cultural worlds—and to interpret his work "within the terms of its own epistemological moment" (39). Throughout, Brian defies facile categorizations and seeks to dismantle binaries. She considers the model Ángel Rama proposed in The Lettered City (La ciudad letrada, 1984), for example, to be a "dichotomous theory" (7). According to Brian, Rama's interpretation of a colonial society marked by antagonism between educated (white) elites and a non-literate (native/casta) populace ignores indigenous intellectuals as well as cultural intermediaries like Alva Ixtlilxochitl. Brian proposes instead that "the lettered city is founded on … exchange and dialogue" and is the reflection of "various sorts of relationships and collaborations rather than a dichotomy" (8). Likewise, she assigns little if any significance to Alva Ixtlilxochitl's biological categorization as mestizo. "Recognizing the importance of the particular over the categorical," she identifies his specific social positioning between the Nahua and Spanish spheres "as the defining feature of his mestizo histories" (80). This book should be commended for its excellent scholarship, particularly its superb primary source analysis. Two examples are worth noting. In chapter three, Brian invokes her deep knowledge of the works of Renaissance humanists to illuminate how Alva Ixtlilxochitl couched indigenous knowledge firmly in European discursive forms but also twisted them "against the grain of the empire to create a discourse of critique" (105). In chapter one, Brian identifies a passage in Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Historia de la nación chichimeca that...