Sharon Wilcox Adams
Doctoral Candidate
Doctoral Candidate
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Garifuna
Reconstructing Identity:
Representational Strategies in the Garifuna Community of
Dangriga, Belize
Masters Thesis Abstract
Sharon Elizabeth Wilcox, M.A.
The University of Texas at Austin, 2006
Supervisor: Dr. Leo Zonn, Professor of Geography
Living along the Caribbean shores of Belize, the Garifuna is a small ethnic group united by a unique sense of culture, ethnicity, place, and history, but its struggles to preserve a collective sense of identity have been greatly complicated by the effects of decolonization and globalization. The concern of this thesis is with the ways in which members of this community in Dangriga, Belize have consciously (re)presented images and narratives with the intent of (re)forming and enhancing the unique character of this identity. Specifically, this study examines the mediums of documentary film, holiday celebration, public monuments, and the history museum as means of structuring narratives of cultural origins and community solidarity with the intention of fostering a sense of common identity, directing economic development, and promoting the general well being of the Garifuna people. This thesis contends that only by placing these representations within larger economic, political, and social frameworks acting and interacting at local, national, and international scales, can these socially constructed images and narratives be interrogated for their larger significances and meanings within the Garifuna community.
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Reconstructing Identity: Representational Strategies in the Garifuna Community of Dangriga, Belize
Master's Thesis, (c) Sharon Wilcox Adams 2006
The University of Texas at Austin, 2006
Supervisor: Dr. Leo Zonn, Professor of Geography
Living along the Caribbean shores of Belize, the Garifuna is a small ethnic group united by a unique sense of culture, ethnicity, place, and history, but its struggles to preserve a collective sense of identity have been greatly complicated by the effects of decolonization and globalization. The concern of this thesis is with the ways in which members of this community in Dangriga, Belize have consciously (re)presented images and narratives with the intent of (re)forming and enhancing the unique character of this identity. Specifically, this study examines the mediums of documentary film, holiday celebration, public monuments, and the history museum as means of structuring narratives of cultural origins and community solidarity with the intention of fostering a sense of common identity, directing economic development, and promoting the general well being of the Garifuna people. This thesis contends that only by placing these representations within larger economic, political, and social frameworks acting and interacting at local, national, and international scales, can these socially constructed images and narratives be interrogated for their larger significances and meanings within the Garifuna community.
Download PDF:
Reconstructing Identity: Representational Strategies in the Garifuna Community of Dangriga, Belize
Master's Thesis, (c) Sharon Wilcox Adams 2006
