Periphery and Center: Hybridization and Postcolonial Migration Between the Caribbean and Colonial Metropolis

The turbulent and brutal history of settlement and colonial rule by European powers in the Caribbean has characterized the formation of intercultural communities consisting of Natives, African slaves, and immigrants from Europe, India, China and Sri Lanka. Hence the cultures of the Caribbean have always been at the crossroads of Asian, African, American and European traditions. The main area of the research project is the waves of cultural migration in the 20th century between the Caribbean and the metropolitan areas of colonial powers during the periods of modernism and postmodernism. It traces the categorical change in the cultural transfer from the Caribbean "periphery" to the colonial "centers."

Duration of Funding: 1998-2000
Förderung auch durch das Auswärtige Amt (2000, 2004 / Sammlung afro-jamaikanischer Musikaufnahmen)

Applicants:
Associate Prof. Wolfgang Bender (Ethnology)
Prof. Alfred Hornung (American Studies)
Prof. Wolfgang Riedel (English)
Prof. Hans-Theo Siepe (Romance Languages and Literatures)

Publications:
Bender, Wolfgang (2002): „Du Katze, warum belästigst du mich - Schellackplatten in Afrika seit Beginn des letzten Jahrhunderts." In: EPD-Entwicklungspolitik 15/2002. Kap. 6-8.

Ders. (2002): „Saving the Jamaican Musical Heritage: The Jamaican Folk Music Collection (JFMC)". In: Music Archiving in the World. Papers Presented at the Conference on the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Berlin. Hrsg. von Gabriele Berlin und Artur Simon. Berlin. S. 392-400.