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Chapter 6. Transnational Communities and the New Pop Fiction
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148 q Chapter 6 TransnationalCommunities andtheNewPopFiction Popularfictionhasalwaysbeenastapleofthe Caribbeanentertainmentdiet.Aswehaveseen,however,mostofthepopular fictionofonehundredyearsagowasrelegatedtosmalldailyorweeklydoses, publishedinthecolumnsofa “serious”newspaper,ortotheoddvolume publishedeitherinLondonorlocally,andpaidforoutoftheauthor’spocket. Today’spopularfiction,bycontrast,isaburgeoningindustry,spurredonby desktoppublishingandtheinnovationsoftheInternet.Globalizationhas meanttheexpansionoflocalpopularfictiontointernationalmarketstoserve thewiderCaribbeanimmigrantpopulationsofEuropeandNorthAmerica. TheseCaribbeandiasporareadershavebecomethemostcriticalfactorinthe creationofmodernCaribbeanliterature,“popular”ornot.1 Itistheirexperiences ,theirdesiresforamemoryof“home,”thatshapemostofthesestories. ManyifnotmostauthorsthemselvesareimmigrantstoNorthAmericaor Europe,andreflect,toagreaterorlesserdegree,theirnewcommunity.Itis theirmoremalleablesenseofculturalidentityasbothAmericans(mostly) andWestIndiansthathasopenedupthepossibilitiesofgenreandexpanded thecapacityforwhatconstitutesCaribbeanfiction. Still,theAmericanizationofthe Caribbeanposesadilemmaforwriters andreaders.Forsome Caribbeanwriters,thelureoftheAmericanmarket evokescontradictorydesires:theywishnottobepigeonholedasblackwriters, yettheycraveaccesstothelucrativeAfricanAmericanreadingmarket,which TRANSNATIONAL COMMUNITIES AND THE NEW POP FICTION 149 buys primarily black-authored books. For immigrant readers, Caribbean popularfictiondoessimilardoubleduty.ItreinforcestheirCaribbeanidentity byallowingthemtoparticipateinanimaginarycommunityofCaribbean readers,alllinkedtoanunderstandingof“home.”Yetitdoesthistask whileacknowledgingthereaders’statusasNorthAmericans.Popularfiction createsamorecosmopolitandiasporaidentitythroughtheCaribbeanizingof formsmostassociatedwithAmericanpopularculture:the“summerreading” romancenovel,forexample,orsciencefiction,orthetelevisionsoapopera. TheseproductsofanAmericanleisuresensibilityreflectachangingmodel ofmiddle-classidentityfortheCaribbean.ThepopularimagesofCaribbean characterstheygeneratearenotsimplyrecognizablelocalarchetypes—ah yes:theplanter,theRastafarian,themarketwoman—butalsoreconstituted archetypes:theRastafarianplaywrightwholivesinbothLondonandNew York;theMidnightRobbertransformedintoafuturisticfemalerebel;the “liberal”planterwhofallsinlovewithhisslave.Astheseexamplesindicate, thenewpopularfictionoftendepends,literally,onreaders’familiaritywith anold “type”of Caribbeancharacter,whichitthensubvertsorotherwise transforms.2 Theauthorsoftoday’spopularfictionareadiverselot:theyrangeacross genres,unitedonlybyacommon Caribbeanidentification: Colin Channer ’surbanrelationshipnovels; NaloHopkinson’ssciencefiction;Anthony Winkler’s rural comedies; and Valerie Belgrave’s romances. In this chapter Iexaminethe “new”fictionthroughtwobasicpremises:thattherise ofAfricanAmericanpopularfictionhasbeenthecentralagentintherise ofrecentCaribbeanpopularfiction;andthatlocalpopularfiction—thatis, fictionwrittenorpublishedwithinthe Caribbean—itselffunctionsaspart ofadiasporicexchangethatconsolidates Caribbeanidentityabroad. New Caribbeanfictionisbeingshapedbytwoparallelyetparadoxicalforces:the (African)Americanizationof CaribbeanimmigrantsintheUnitedStates,3 andtheinsistentre-Caribbeanizationofthosesameimmigrantsthroughthe globalcirculationoflocalpopularfictionandlocaltypologies. Globalizing Local Fiction Local Caribbean fiction and internationally circulated Caribbean fiction havelongbeenconfinedtoseparatecriticalspaces.Localfictionhasbeen relegatedtothecategoryofunseriouspublicfare,aswehaveseen.Itisleisure readingandemphaticallynotfor “outside”consumption.Incontrasttoits localrelative,internationallycirculatedCaribbeanfictionwas,untilrecently, insistently highbrow, presupposing an erudite non-Caribbean audience as [3.236.240.48] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:29 GMT) 150 CARIBBEAN MIDDLEBROW muchasanerudite Caribbeanone.Whencriticsturnedtotheirattention topopularcultureinliterature,theirtakewasinevitablysociological,not aesthetic. Criticalreferencesonpopularculturetendedtobetakenfrom internationallycirculatednovelsthatarguedeitherthat Caribbeanpopular culturefunctionedasaformofpoliticalresistanceorthatitwassubjectto co-optationbyelites. Forexample...