E-Books →Callaloo Nation Metaphors of Race and Religious Identity among South Asians in Trinidad

Free Download Aisha Khan, "Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identity among South Asians in Trinidad"
English | 2004 | pages: 281 | ISBN: 0822333880, 0822333767 | PDF | 0,9 mb
Mixing-whether referred to as mestizaje, callaloo, hybridity, creolization, or multiculturalism-is a foundational cultural trope in Caribbean and Latin American societies. Historically entwined with colonial, anticolonial, and democratic ideologies, ideas about mixing are powerful forces in the ways identities are interpreted and evaluated. As Aisha Khan shows in this ethnography, they reveal the tension that exists between identity as a source of equality and identity as an instrument through which social and cultural hierarchies are reinforced. Focusing on the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, Khan examines this paradox as it is expressed in key dimensions of Hindu and Muslim cultural history and social relationships in southern Trinidad. In vivid detail, she describes how disempowered communities create livable conditions for themselves while participating in a broader culture that both celebrates and denies difference.