Defining the national in the transnational: Cultural identity in the Afro‐Caribbean Diaspora

Abstract

On the basis of a case study of the small Caribbean nation‐state of St. Kitts‐Nevis, this article discusses the problems of defining a national culture in a former colonial area. It is argued that African‐Caribbean culture emerged, to a great extent, in the margins of the colonial regime. During the last century and a half this margin has become extended to involve relations with emigrants who are dispersed over the globe. The cultural traditions which most clearly demarcate and unify the nationals in the new independent entity therefore are expressed and defined largely in a transnational context which cannot easily be called upon to support a national entity.