In this guide you will learn:
What is the Caribbean?
The Caribbean is a geographical region in the Americas that encompasses both islands, archipelagos, and coastal areas from the continental masses of North, Central, and South America. It's constituted in 9 distinct subregions:
Prior to the 20th century, this region was not called the Caribbean. Depending on what colonial power you asked, the region was referred to as the Antilles, the West Indies, etc. (Gaztambide-Géigel 78-81).
The Caribbean is also a multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual region, with a rich and complex history. Even so, as Sidney Mintz explains, the Caribbean, even with its diverse history, culture, and colonial experience, can be studied as one social-cultural area (914).
Caribbean Studies, therefore, is a multidisciplinary field that studies this geographical area, its people, cultures, politics, religions, etc. and its place within global and transnational spheres. This is a field that is constantly evolving and has many journals where scholars discussed the past, present, and future of not only the region but the field itself. For example, check out the Special Issues about Caribbean Studies from Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism: