SUNDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER, 2016 – UWI TODAY
5
“Enhancing discussion
without the barrier of language,
particularly in such a multi-lingual region as the Caribbean
– to promote deeper integration, collaboration and exchange
between academics”. This, according to Dr Savrina Chinien
is the aim of the international conference entitled, The
Caribbean, Melting Pot of the Americas: FromUpheaval and
‘Origins’ to the Historical Future and its Representations.
Melting Pot as it is abbreviated to, is a joint initiative
of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics
(MLL) atThe UWI, St. Augustine, and BordeauxMontaigne
University in France. The proceedings are scheduled to
take place in French, English and Spanish with real time
translations, fromThursday 13 – Saturday 15 October. The
venue is the Centre for Language Learning (CLL) on campus
– which is equipped to enable simultaneous interpretations
into the languages not being used by each presenter. This
makes the conference inclusive of the diverse voices in the
heterogenous Caribbean space.
Dr Chinien, Lecturer at the Department of Modern
Languages and Linguistics at The UWI and an Associate
Member of Bordeaux Montaigne University, is one of the
co-organisers, along with Professor Jean-Michel Devesa of
Bordeaux Montaigne University. Dr Chinien highlighted
that this uniquely inclusive approach of interpretation is
a big undertaking. She added that, “Our department is
collaborating more with foreign universities as this is very
important in enabling the Caribbean to be both regionally
and internationally represented”.
The conference organisers have already secured a
contract with the Agence Universitaire Francophone (AUF)
to publish a peer-reviewed book based on conference
papers presented, with publication set for September
2017. In Dr Chinien’s words, the conference seeks, on
the one hand, to assess previous attempts by the scientific
community to speak and think the Caribbean, as well as
formulate new hypotheses in three areas. These are: (1) in
the analysis of the processes through which inequitable
and extremely violent relationships between people and
classes, perpetuated by slavery, have ‘informed’ Caribbean
societies; (2) in questioning the use of a ‘borrowed’ language
for communication and creation; (3) the re-assessment of
categories and notions through which criticism tends to
comment and ‘territorialise’ Caribbean literary productions
or writers and artists - from economic and social Caribbean
formations.
Socio-political and economic issues pertinent to the
Caribbean region will also be examined. For example,
scholars from Martinique will be discussing the notion
of ‘integration’ within the Caribbean, and against the
historical backdropMartinique as an overseas departement
of France. A non-exhaustive list of topics planned for
examination include: culture and identity; the linguistic
aspect (including the Creole languages); questions of
domination/emancipation of populations; the struggle
of social classes and the ‘battle of the sexes’; cinema; the
effects of globalisation; the economic aspect; strategies
for evolving towards a consolidated regional ‘integration’;
intra-Caribbean politics; the opening up of the Caribbean
to the world.
Two well-known guest speakers who will give addresses
are writers, Earl Lovelace and Patrick Chamoiseau. From
Trinidad and Martinique respectively, both these men are
acclaimed authors who are studied at the undergraduate
level at St Augustine. As artist-scholars, they are known
for embracing creoleness in their writing, and therefore
represent the concept of integration on that level.
The worthy effort of putting this conference on is
however, not without its challenges. Dr Chinien indicates
that the main challenge is funding. Bordeaux University has
contributed to the expenses associated with interpretation.
Support has also been forthcoming from the Head of
the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics,
Dr Nicole Roberts as well as the Dean of the Faculty
of Humanities and Education, Dr Heather Cateau, and
the newly appointed Campus Principal, Professor Brian
Copeland, all of whom have allocated resources, but there
are still some short falls. The organisers have reached out
to external stakeholders to raise further support for this
initiative to think and speak the Caribbean. They continue
to welcome favourable responses by private companies and
other organisations that wish to lend financial support.
On a daily level, the idea of bridging language barriers
in academia is perpetuated by the MLL department
that boasts of one course of French and Spanish cross-
disciplinary study taught by Dr Nicole Roberts and Dr
Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw. There is also a new course
named Francophone Caribbean Cinema, designed by Dr
Savrina Chinien that will soon be offered to students from
diverse disciplines. The latter was taught last semester to
undergraduates in the BA French programme. Dr Chinien
says that “cross-disciplinary initiatives should be encouraged
to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the
wealth of cultural diversity, identities and artistic expressions
that exist uncelebrated within the Caribbean region”.
The conference is free of charge and the general public
is welcome to attend.
For further information, please
consult the conference webpage
/
conferences/16/icc/
B Y D A R A W I L K I N S O N B O B B
Lovelace and Chamoiseau headline
THE MELTING POT
EVENT
Earl Lovelace
Patrick Chamoiseau
PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA/
CHRISTIAN CÔTÉ
