Literary criticism of the book "A Description of Millennium Hall" by Sarah Scott. Focuses on the roles of slavery and imperialism in the novel. Details on the charitable transfer of wealth gained and the narrator's identity as a creole planter and slaveowner in Jamaica are also discussed.
The history of Haiti began with the historic defeat of French imperialism and the establishment of the first Black republic in world history but has degenerated into tragic maldevelopment under U.S. imperialism, including two periods of military occupation. Haitian literature, especially in novels written by women, reflects the racist and sexist oppression of the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean.
Condé and Schwarz-Bart searched to explore the themes of alienation as Martinicans living in a European French society and the search for an identity that typifies the quintessential Caribbean patriarchal culture. The evolution in consciousness of the female and how she sees herself as part of the diasporic dilemma confronting Caribbean society is marked by the almost limited early works by women authors. As women found their voices and led the way for other women, a natural empowerment ensued with new loyalties as generations transcended the effects of colonialism, indentureship, and slavery.
"F. S. J. Ledgister observed that in writing about British racism in the nineteenth--century Caribbean, 'Williams presents establishment figures such as Carlyle and Trollope as demonic, but he fails to mention comparable figures on the other side. Williams's objective in assaulting Carlyle in British Historians and the West Indies is clearly political rather than historiographical'." (Selwyn Cudjoe, 11/12/2006 review of Colin Palmer's book on Eric Williams)