International Research Journal of Education and Technology

The Caribbean archipelago is a disparate region with many distinct linguistic and cultural differences but with a common historical experience of colonialism and slavery. Borne of this complexity from the distinct languages and cultural expressions, the people, desiring a common identity strove to create a homogeneous linguistic and cultural unity in spite of their variegated colonial and historical past. From a postcolonial theoretical perspective, this study attempts to project towards a synthesis drawing from the Creole cultural model advanced by Kamau Brathwaite, and supported by other writers and critics. Michelle Cliff, Louise Bennett, Raja Roa, to mention a few, deployed this concept in the use of dialect in their poetry. Furthermore, there are commonly held beliefs and expressions in music, social parlance, folklore, myths, rituals and the creative arts that command a common Caribbean identity and unity. These are geared towards forging an insistent need for the creation of a Creolised Caribbean society. Evolving from this cultural configuration of a common Caribbean consciousness, a shared memory with certain historical peculiarities in slavery, indenture and plantation experiences, the Caribbean man is assigned a distinctive role in the evolution of a monolithic Caribbean cultural identity.

Keywords: Archipelago, Colonialism and Slavery, Linguistic and Cultural Unity, Postcolonial, Creole Cultural model, Cultural Configuration, Caribbean consciousness, Monolithic.