Swaying in time and space: the Chinese Diaspora in the Caribbean and its literary perspectives

摘要

Despite that the Chinese in the Caribbean, unlike Africans or East Indians, is vaguely impressive in terms of racial and social impact; their stance and viewpoint are quite unique and insightful. Willi Chen and Jan Lowe Shinebourne, representing Chinese Caribbean Diaspora, are impressive enough with its strong literary impact. They both show the ambivalence acquired in the process of 'positioning', as well as the strong heritage of their ancestral mother land of China. Chen's work is characteristic with its neutral stance of Chinese characters, and Shinebourne makes her protagonists wander with intermingling sense of tradition and progression. This ambivalence, however, can become a positive sway between groups which may be different, conflictive, or even hostile to each other, and that sway can bring a righteous and truthful judgment to the matter. The Chinese Caribbean writings contribute with the dialectic philosophies included in and inherited from Chinese traditions.