Interview with Marion Bethel

• What does the Caribbean mean to you?
  Caribbeanness arcs towards a space, feeling, spirit & imagination that are anchored in the story of the trans-Atlantic slave trade & the plantation economy or the attempt at the plantation system. this for me then would include spaces in the Americas like Brazil, Limon in Costa Rica, Cartagena in Colombia.  Caribbeanness then becomes & is essentially Americanness & primarily distinguished by its islandness either literally or metaphorically.  I say attempt at the plantation because in the Bahamas specifically the plantation never reached the level of ” social & economic efficiency” as played out in places like Jamaica, Hispaniola, Barbados, Brazil etc.  this was largely due to the archipelagic nature of the Bahamas coupled with the coral and limestone basis of the soil. this did not lend itself to large-scale, fertile plantations.In addition, the bahamas’ proximity to the united states has hugely affected & continues to affect its sense of Caribbeanness.  we have often identified more with the American south than the Caribbean. this is in part due to the migration of loyalists from the southern USA & enslaved Africans or creolised Africans. & so in regard to diet for example Bahamians are more familiar with a southern diet of grits, let’s say, than other kinds of Caribbean foods.location as places of recreation for tourists from the USA & places where the wealthy can increase their capital or avoid taxes is decidedly an idea that we react or respond to in our expression of caribbeanness.  in my work specifically i challenge the notion of transforming our former “plantation” economy into a tourist & banking estates.
• What if anything is the significance of location – what role does location play in your understanding and experience of the Caribbean?
  Location as places of recreation for tourists from the USA & places where the wealthy can increase their capital or avoid taxes is decidedly an idea that we react or respond to in our expression of caribbeanness.  in my work specifically i challenge the notion of transforming our former “plantation” economy into a tourist & banking estates.
• Can you relate a story from your past that seems to describe your experience of “Caribbeanness”?
  Caribbean artists have a definite role in helping to shape the idea of Caribbeanness or better yet the Caribbean imagination.  We continue to expand our understanding of Caribbeanness as we work in our various genres from our different locations in the Caribbean & the Diaspora.With regard to Haiti, I see myself as an artist drawing on the Haitian story in both the Bahamas & the wider Caribbean both in my poetry & fiction.  I see my art as trying to bridge the gaps in understanding of Haitian & Bahamian history.  In my work I attempt to show the huge contribution of Haitian peoples to the development of Bahamian society & culture in the area of commerce, agriculture & art.At this very moment a group of artists in the Bahamas are staging a cultural event to highlight the historical contribution of Haiti to the Bahamas & the Caribbean. It seems to me that if the history of Haiti is understood & appreciated, this will go a long way to our commitment to the rebuilding of Haiti.