Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place
Knowing who the audience is in a passage or text is highly helpful to understand the main idea or argument the author is presenting. This can indeed change the viewpoint of the reader drastically because the tone and other elements would change in the passage or text. At the start of Kincaid’s "A Small Place," the apparent audience were tourists, but by the end of the passage, the audience changed to the English colonist, therefore, throughout the passage, the blame for why Antigua has changed dramatically is because of the English colonist, not the 20th century tourist; while Byerman’s article “Anger in A Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid’s Cultural Critique of Antigua” states the blame for the change is due to both the tourists and English colonists.
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Tourists are not the ones to be blamed for the destruction of Antigua, but others may disagree. In the article, "Anger in A Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid's Cultural Critique of Antigua" by Keith E. Byerman, on page three, it states, "part of the difficulty for Kincaid is the inability to identify a true motherland, an Antiguan culture that is separable from that of the colonizers and the "tourists"." Byerman groups the English colonizers and tourists together as if they jointly destroyed the Antiguan culture and the country itself, but Kincaid expresses that the English colonizers committed all the wrongdoings while there are no sentences stating tourists commit sinful acts. Kincaid says, "Antigua no longer exists… because [of] the bad minded people who used to rule over it, the English [colonizers]" (23), which proves that the English colonizers are the ones who destroyed Antigua, not the tourists. The tourists did not destroy Antigua, the English did. Due to the English colonizers, the old Antigua was converted to where there became a mixture of Antiguan culture and English culture at first, but slowly became more of an English culture to where “Antigua no longer exists” (Kincaid, 23). There is nothing in the pages of "A Small Place" where the tourists are at fault because Kincaid mainly writes about the acts of the English.
Jamaica Kincaid throughout "A Small Place" names many incidents of how the Antiguan culture diminished while the English colonials' culture increased.
The culture consisted of former slaves with black heritage and indigenous Indians where both people had set traditions with vivid cultures. Kincaid additionally talks about places where the English have control over the Antiguans and where the English culture is infused: Barclays Bank, The Mill Reef Club, the schools, etc. In the "Anger in A Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid's Cultural Critique of Antigua" article, on page two, it says, "the extended attack on… tourism [by Kincaid] as a kind of neocolonialism is straightforward in its polemics" (Byerman). To understand the stance Byerman made, one definition is needed to be known: neocolonialism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, neocolonialism is "the use of economic, political, culture, or other pressures to control or influence another country; esp. the retention of such influence over a developing country by a formal colonial power". Tourists, according to Kincaid, are not close to being neocolonialists because they are not using economic, political, cultural ideas or any other pressures to control/influence Antiguans, they are only visiting the country to explore the current culture and country. Instead of the tourists, the English are the ones who are controlling the Antiguans with their culture, politics, and economics. The culture the English brought was their language, schools, etc. The politics changed in Antigua because the Antiguans had start respecting the Queen of England, and lastly, the economics the English used were adapted in Antigua due to the banks, trade of natural goods, etc. The tourists did not change the culture because if they did, then Kincaid would not have written, "the Antigua that I knew, the Antigua which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist, would see now" (23). The quote shows that only the tourist consumes the culture
of the Antiguans and Kincaid are only warning the tourists that the Antigua they are experiencing is not the Antigua they knew and was true to them and their history, but only the English colonialized Antigua and she later writes about how this is true.
As Kincaid writes more, the audience of the passage changes from speaking to the tourists about the old Antigua, to having harsh words towards the English colonizers. At the beginning of "A Small Place," Kincaid wrote, "the Antigua that I knew, the Antigua which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist, would see now" (23) which gives the reader an idea that the audience is a tourist because Kincaid blatantly says, "you, a tourist" (23). In contrast, at the end of "A Small Place," Kincaid writes, "even if I really came from people who were living like monkeys in trees, it was better to be that than what happened to me, what I became after I met you" (37). The English colonists were highly racist because they compared the Antiguans to monkeys, meaning they were uneducated, poor, and animal like which is why the English came to colonize Antigua. Kincaid believes life was better before English colonialism because the Antiguans had their culture and their identity as Antiguans, and when the English came, the Antiguans changed to be more like the English which was a change Kincaid and other Antiguans detested tremendously.
The "you" changed from a tourist to an English colonist. At this point of the passage, it becomes more personal and controversial about how Antigua has changed for the worst.
In "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, the audience were tourists, but by the end of the text, the audience changed to English colonist. Therefore, throughout the passage, the blame for why Antigua has changed drastically is only the English colonist, not the tourists. Meaning, colonialism eradicated Antiguans, not neocolonialism because the Kincaid was blaming those of the past, the English colonists, not those who are coming to visit the country. In contradiction to Byerman’s claim, the audience was the tourist at first, which gives a feeling of including everyone because everyone can be a tourist, but since Jamaica Kincaid changed the audience to English colonialists, it presents a more direct and smaller audience which delivers a different message because the reader then views the English colonists negatively.
Tourists are not the ones to be blamed for the destruction of Antigua, but others may disagree. In the article, "Anger in A Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid's Cultural Critique of Antigua" by Keith E. Byerman, on page three, it states, "part of the difficulty for Kincaid is the inability to identify a true motherland, an Antiguan culture that is separable from that of the colonizers and the "tourists"." Byerman groups the English colonizers and tourists together as if they jointly destroyed the Antiguan culture and the country itself, but Kincaid expresses that the English colonizers committed all the wrongdoings while there are no sentences stating tourists commit sinful acts. Kincaid says, "Antigua no longer exists… because [of] the bad minded people who used to rule over it, the English [colonizers]" (23), which proves that the English colonizers are the ones who destroyed Antigua, not the tourists. The tourists did not destroy Antigua, the English did. Due to the English colonizers, the old Antigua was converted to where there became a mixture of Antiguan culture and English culture at first, but slowly became more of an English culture to where “Antigua no longer exists” (Kincaid, 23). There is nothing in the pages of "A Small Place" where the tourists are at fault because Kincaid mainly writes about the acts of the English.
Jamaica Kincaid throughout "A Small Place" names many incidents of how the Antiguan culture diminished while the English colonials' culture increased.
The culture consisted of former slaves with black heritage and indigenous Indians where both people had set traditions with vivid cultures. Kincaid additionally talks about places where the English have control over the Antiguans and where the English culture is infused: Barclays Bank, The Mill Reef Club, the schools, etc. In the "Anger in A Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid's Cultural Critique of Antigua" article, on page two, it says, "the extended attack on… tourism [by Kincaid] as a kind of neocolonialism is straightforward in its polemics" (Byerman). To understand the stance Byerman made, one definition is needed to be known: neocolonialism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, neocolonialism is "the use of economic, political, culture, or other pressures to control or influence another country; esp. the retention of such influence over a developing country by a formal colonial power". Tourists, according to Kincaid, are not close to being neocolonialists because they are not using economic, political, cultural ideas or any other pressures to control/influence Antiguans, they are only visiting the country to explore the current culture and country. Instead of the tourists, the English are the ones who are controlling the Antiguans with their culture, politics, and economics. The culture the English brought was their language, schools, etc. The politics changed in Antigua because the Antiguans had start respecting the Queen of England, and lastly, the economics the English used were adapted in Antigua due to the banks, trade of natural goods, etc. The tourists did not change the culture because if they did, then Kincaid would not have written, "the Antigua that I knew, the Antigua which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist, would see now" (23). The quote shows that only the tourist consumes the culture
of the Antiguans and Kincaid are only warning the tourists that the Antigua they are experiencing is not the Antigua they knew and was true to them and their history, but only the English colonialized Antigua and she later writes about how this is true.
As Kincaid writes more, the audience of the passage changes from speaking to the tourists about the old Antigua, to having harsh words towards the English colonizers. At the beginning of "A Small Place," Kincaid wrote, "the Antigua that I knew, the Antigua which I grew up, is not the Antigua you, a tourist, would see now" (23) which gives the reader an idea that the audience is a tourist because Kincaid blatantly says, "you, a tourist" (23). In contrast, at the end of "A Small Place," Kincaid writes, "even if I really came from people who were living like monkeys in trees, it was better to be that than what happened to me, what I became after I met you" (37). The English colonists were highly racist because they compared the Antiguans to monkeys, meaning they were uneducated, poor, and animal like which is why the English came to colonize Antigua. Kincaid believes life was better before English colonialism because the Antiguans had their culture and their identity as Antiguans, and when the English came, the Antiguans changed to be more like the English which was a change Kincaid and other Antiguans detested tremendously.
The "you" changed from a tourist to an English colonist. At this point of the passage, it becomes more personal and controversial about how Antigua has changed for the worst.
In "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, the audience were tourists, but by the end of the text, the audience changed to English colonist. Therefore, throughout the passage, the blame for why Antigua has changed drastically is only the English colonist, not the tourists. Meaning, colonialism eradicated Antiguans, not neocolonialism because the Kincaid was blaming those of the past, the English colonists, not those who are coming to visit the country. In contradiction to Byerman’s claim, the audience was the tourist at first, which gives a feeling of including everyone because everyone can be a tourist, but since Jamaica Kincaid changed the audience to English colonialists, it presents a more direct and smaller audience which delivers a different message because the reader then views the English colonists negatively.