Abstract
This paper reflects on European colonialism’s economic, cultural, and historical legacies in the Caribbean and how postcolonial discourse and national identity are shaped by these legacies. It postulates that pride and shame about a nation’s past are not mutually exclusive sentiments but reflective tools to make sense of collective responsibility. The study follows the enduring expressions of racial hierarchy constructed during the transatlantic slave trade and reconfigured into modern systems of dependency, like debt, tourism economies, and offshore finance. With examples such as the Haitian Revolution, France’s indemnity to Haiti, and language politics in the Caribbean, this essay describes how narratives of power and resistance transform over time. At last, the paper suggests that confronting historical injustices through acknowledgment, education, and redress is needed in order to redefine national pride—not as a refusal to acknowledge culpability, but as the sense of courage to embrace and confront it for a more equitable and inclusive future.
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How to cite this paper
Beyond Pride and Shame: Narrative Sovereignty and the Reclamation of History in the Caribbean
How to cite this paper: Jinghan Wang. (2025) Beyond Pride and Shame: Narrative Sovereignty and the Reclamation of History in the Caribbean. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 9(9), 1823-1826.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2025.09.021