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Reading: Kincaid, J. (1989). A small place. New York: Plume. (pp. 41-81)

Study guide: Focus on (1) the event that damaged the Antiguan library, (2) the Antiguan motto, (3) an event routinely broadcast on Antiguan television, (4) the nation from which Antigua gained independence, (5) Kincaid's description of Antigua's beauty

In part two of her book, A Small Place (pp. 41-81), Jamaica Kincaid examines the decayed state of her Antiguan library, a metaphor for her homeland's political system. She also notes the irony of Antigua having a "minister of culture." After all, "in places where there is a Minister of Culture it means there is no culture" (p. 49). Taken together, the sad shape of Antigua's library and culture (epitomized by the British export of Cricket) illustrate the poverty of spirit affecting postcolonial lands such as hers.

In a major turn, Kincaid addresses the meaning of "A Small Place." She notes that inhabitants of a small place are incapable of interpreting events within larger narrates of history; they are locked in the moment: "No action in the present is an action planned with a view of its effect on the future" (p. 54). Frequently, the larger narratives of history are shaped by powers external to native inhabitants. Thus, for example, Antiguans cannot relate the poverty of their circumstances and subsequent wealth of their political leaders to the clean streets and cheerful people of Switzerland where so much of their stolen wealth is kept.

Kincaid concludes with a review of the primary thesis that guides this book: the beauty of Antigua - its beaches, sunsets, and people - is a stage set for a play not written by Antiguans. It provides the props for dramas written in Europe, beginning with Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the island in 1493. The drama creates dichotomies between slave owners (defined starkly as rubbish) and slaves (defined starkly as noble). Ultimately, the beauty of Antigua is unreal, but in a more important sense than the limits of human perception to see the world as it is. Beauty in Kincaid's sense is an outsider's view of ordinary life turned into theatre, of ordinary people turned into objects. To Jamaica Kincaid, such beauty is truly ugly.

Activity

Consider Kincaid's description of beauty on Antigua. Identify two or three communication artifacts (postcards, pamphlets, photographs, advertisements) that enact the kind of beauty she sees. For your Show and Tell activity, explore the ways in which this sort of tourist beauty is constructed.

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