History has produced a myriad of cultural overlays in the Caribbean and the adjacent region of South America, a legacy of centuries of intrusion by rival European empires and the consequent sporadic exchange between the European invaders of the various local territories and peoples they claimed to control. The result is a mixture of peoples, languages, religions, and all other aspects of human culture, reflected in enrichment of the respective European and African languages involved, as well as in creation of new hybrid languages. It is in this context that one can speak of "Caribbean" literature and art from Suriname and the Netherlands.
"Dutch Caribbean literature--that is literature written by Caribbean authors in Dutch--is written in Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and the Netherlands. So far, this literature has been reviewed from separate, national points of view. It is true that the countries differ. For centuries, Suriname was an agricultural and plantation economy; the Antilles flourished through trade. Suriname became independent in 1975, while the islands chose to remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This article seeks to transcend borders and opposites to approach this four century-old literature as the expression of a common Caribbean culture, a unity." --The Author
