- Jamaican Hands Across the Atlantic
Jamaican Hands Across the Atlantic explores, by means of interviews, important characteristics of Jamaican society within the context of migration and transnationalism. Fundamental to this is the Jamaican family and the complexities and extensiveness of kinship networks. The continuities of the past in the present structure of the family demonstrate, among other features, the enduring presence of migration in the life of Jamaicans of all social backgrounds. The nature of the family is critical to understanding the transnational linkages that have evolved. The family and the migration experiences in Jamaica before leaving and in the destinations of Britain, the U.S., and Canada, as transnational [End Page 326] families and with multiple identities, provide the context for the exploration of the themes which are the focus of other chapters of the book. These are communities on the land, gender roles and relationships, work, social mobility, learning and faith, and living with family complexities.
Family memories were predominantly of one generation only and, depending on whether the father was present or not, were often only of one side of the family. Social class was closely associated with the extent to which family histories were known and memories passed on intergenerationally. Little or nothing of the family history was known among the lower class families, more among peasant farmers and more still among the middle-class interviewees. Family members tended especially to know details concerning the racial composition of the family. The book contradicts notions of the absentee father as the dominant family situation; nevertheless, the complexity of family structures is confirmed by interviewee accounts of the varied relationships of children brought up in their households and their own experience of surrogate parents, of numerous cousins living within the same community, and of step-siblings and half-siblings living with different parents and all living within the same household. Many of these complexities in family relationships, as well as the bonds established, persisted throughout people's lives and, themselves, became represented in the transnational networks that developed.
The authors demonstrate that the tradition of travelling between Britain and Jamaica had its roots in the period of slavery and just after, when people from Britain moved to Jamaica to work within the context of the plantation or administration and later returned to Britain, taking with them their mulatto children or black servants. Despite the apparent normalcy that evolved with respect to migration, many of the interviewees recounted vivid memories of the migration experience and expressed the pain of loss experienced in parting with the places and the people that constituted home. Mothers and grandmothers, who nurtured and provided security and stability to the persons' lives, were chief among those characters for whom there was an acute sense of loss. Associated with this was the additional childhood pain of being brought up by substitute parents.
The interviews examine all the themes, which the book expresses in narrative form. Oral history is effectively the only method of accessing information about ordinary people's personal experiences and family relations. The primary data of earlier important studies were apparently never archived. Family land transactions and decisions about such land were conducted orally and typically not documented. Even documented demographic details are incomplete because they omit the large number of children and grandchildren born outside couple relationships. Likewise, the main documentary source on the details of migration [End Page 327] and the migration experience and the dream of return was all available only through direct reference to the individual and household members themselves. Personal stories include perspectives on the lives of those who migrated and those who remained at home. Further, the authors point out that memory and myth are important to history itself. The individual narratives are effectively drawn upon to demonstrate the main topics of the book. The thread that is woven throughout these topics reflects the connectivity of family, community, and traditions not just within Jamaica, but transnationally, extending to those members in the U.S., Canada, and Britain. This work places justifiable emphasis...