Sandiford, "The Cultural Politics of Sugar:Caribbean Slavery and Narratives of Colonialism" (Book Note)

 

Sandiford's theoretical framework is primarily influenced by Michel de Certeau, particularly his emphasis on heterology and idealized desire in colonial narratives. Additionally, he draws on Michel Foucault and Orlando Patterson to address the effects of slavery. The introductory reference to the "first phrase of my title" creates initial confusion, suggesting a connection to Richard Ligon's "History of Barbados" (1657; 1673). However, it becomes clear that the original title was "Sweete Negotiation," a phrase used by Ligon. Sandiford's recurrent trope centers around the term "negotiation," where he contends that it juxtaposes neg (signifying activity, trade, slavery, social disorder, and sugar production) against otium (representing ease or quiet). In analyzing each of the six texts, Sandiford focuses on the uneasy interaction between neg and otium

The use of "negotiation" effectively highlights the contradictions and tensions inherent in representations of the early colonial Caribbean. Ligon's use of the term appears to draw on an obsolete meaning of "negotiation" as "trade" or "business," aligning with his advocacy for expanding the sugar trade. However, Ligon introduces the notion of negotiation as "bargaining" or "dealing" in the context of ensuring the longevity of great estates. This aligns with Sandiford's analysis, where negotiation becomes a central trope.

 

Ligon not only provides Sandiford with a controlling trope but also establishes a baseline for an "optimistic frontier myth" and a "discursive space for the Creole desire of cultural legitimacy." This baseline serves as a measure against which the remaining texts in the study are evaluated. The inclusion of Charles de Rochefort, despite being a non-Anglophone figure, proves valuable in presenting alternatives to the English vision of empire. Rochefort's "unitary vision of culture sanctioned by monarch and state" contrasts sharply with the English approach to colonization. Sandiford's exploration of Grainger's "The Sugar Cane" includes a comprehensive overview of recent scholarship on this "West-India georgic." Grainger's work emerges as a key text for analyzing the West Indies in the late eighteenth century, grappling with the tensions between the "reactionary pull of georgic" and a burgeoning sense of a new Creole "imperium." Sandiford's treatment of Grainger exemplifies his writing style and the persistent use of the negotiation trope in his analysis.

The differing approaches of Rochefort and Grainger might be attributed to linguistic, cultural, or generic disparities between them, or more likely, the considerable gap of over a century between their works (1658 and 1764). This temporal difference raises several questions, signaling the need for further exploration by other scholars.

 

Janet Schaw's Journal, as explored by Sandiford, brings forth issues of class, gender, Scottish-English cultural tensions, and metropolitan condescension towards the colonies. Schaw, described as possessing a "uniquely feminine sensibility," relegates sugar, slaves, and creolization to values subordinate to other authors in the study. Sandiford effectively contrasts Schaw with the "reformist slave-master" Matthew Lewis, emphasizing Lewis's "revolutionary energies" and the romantic tendency to privatize and aestheticize experience.

 

Beckford's Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica also exhibits aesthetic concerns, where "the factual is persistently interrupted by a compulsive aestheticism." The study's theoretical depth is complemented by 26 pages of helpful notes and eight pages of a "select bibliography." Positioned as essential reading for scholars in various fields, "The Cultural Politics of Sugar" highlights the need for more comparative literary analysis of the Caribbean region. The century-long gap between the first two texts and the latter four underscores the importance of further study during a critical period in the English-speaking Caribbean when Britain becomes the principal slave trader, securing its dominance in the region, and witnessing the birth of the antislavery movement.