All 9 entries tagged South America

Aruacs muskets Conquistador

like Aruacs/falling to the muskets of the Conquistador (3.XXXI.i).

A recurrent image throughout the text, a reminder of the original inhabitants of the island (Aruac Indians in the third century AD) and the themes of colonialism. Conquistador is Spanish for ‘conqueror’ (cf. Conquistadores, 1.VII.i), but is used specifically in reference to the sixteenth-century Spanish soldiers who defeated the Indians of Mexico, central America and Peru.

Amanda Hopkins : 05 Jun 2008 07:59 |  Tags: Aruac Aruacs Muskets Conquistador Colonialism Context Dispossession Peoples South America St Lucia |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Kings Fatel Rozack

Kings lost their minds […] Fatel Rozack (3.XXIX.iii).

Walcott is using various historical events here to make a timeline:

• 'Kings lost their minds': (too many to choose from; don't know which mad king to include!)

• 'Jesuit […] Veracruz': a Jesuit convent in Veracruz, Mexico, burned down in 1606

• 'Sephardic merchant […] Lima Curacao': reference to Jews escaping from the Spanish Inquisition (1470s–mid-16th century)

• 'Wilberforce': William Wilberforce (1759-1833), British Member of Parliament influential in abolishing slavery

• 'Darwin […] sea': Charles Darwin (1809 -1882), British naturalist. His early research on evolution published in the 1840s and 1850s.

• 'Madrasi […] Fatel Rozack' (1845): the first immigrant ship to the Caribbean (1845). It brought indentured Indian workers. 'Madrasi' refers both to the region of India where the workers were from and the colourful traditional cotton fabric for which the area is famous. The region is now known as Chennai.

Amanda Hopkins : 06 Jul 2007 14:27 |  Tags: Asia Caribbean Colonialism Context Europe History Kings Fatel Rozack South America |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

ziggurat

ziggurat (2.XVIII.i).

An ancient Mesopotamian pyramid-shaped tower with a square bare, rising in storeys of ever-decreasing size, similar in shape to ancient Central and South American temples by the Aztecs, Maya, &c.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 14:03 |  Tags: Glossary Peoples South America Ziggurat |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Vs

flock of V's (2.XVIII.i).

Rodney's ticks are compared to the recurring sea swifts, drawing connections between Europe and the Americas.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:56 |  Tags: Animals Context Europe North America Sea Swift South America Vs |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Dutch islands

the Dutch islands (2.XVIII.i).

Netherlands Antilles are two groups of islands, one off the coast of Venezuela, and the other between Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe. Walcott is probably referring to the latter, made up of Sint Eustatius, Saba and St. Maarten, which were captured variously by the British, French and Dutch in the later eighteenth century during the American Revolution. Sint Eustatius became rich by ignoring trade embargoes, selling arms to anyone willing to pay, notably American Revolutionaries.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:47 |  Tags: Antilles Colonialism Context History Peoples South America Usa |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Aruac

Aruac (2.XVII.i).

Aruac Indians lived on St Lucia before being dispossessed when the French bought the island in 1651 and, with their African slaves, began earnest colonization in 1746 (Bib:1, Bib:3). Aruac Indians also lived by the Lake of Maracaybo in Venezuela and, according to a collection of Spanish manuscripts , written between 1573 and 1575, these Aruac Indians were barbarous, living in huts and villages on the lake, and though not industrious, were very maritime, energetic fishermen (Bib:2).

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:35 |  Tags: Aruac Caribbean Context Dispossessed Peoples South America St Lucia |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

allamanda

allamanda (1.XI.ii).

Tropical plant of the Americas, cultivated for its large, funnel-shaped, yellow flowers (Bib:OED).

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:21 |  Tags: Allamanda Colours Context Glossary North America Places Plants South America |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Conquistadores

Conquistadores (1.VII.i).

Spanish explorers and soldiers who colonized the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Conquistador is Spanish for 'conqueror'.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 12:56 |  Tags: Colonialism Conquistador Conquistadores Context Europe Glossary History North America Peoples South America |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

South America

Amanda Hopkins : 23 Jun 2007 12:07 |  Tags: Context South America |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem