Mixed Ethicity
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Authors in this exhibit:
- Herbert G. de Lisser
- Olive Senior
Mixed-Ethnicity
Mixed race or multiracial is a term used to denote or relate to an individual whose parents or ancestors are from different ethnic backgrounds.
Historical Context
Biological and cultural hybridity in Caribbean society began during the Transatlantic slave trade with the creation of generations of mixed-race individuals of white and black ancestry. Due to socio-economic development and migration, numerous other mixed-race identities have arisen due to the combination of different ethnic backgrounds. 
Nonetheless, the presence of white-engineered racial divisions within Caribbean society, as well as remnants of European colonial oppression, has placed mixed-race people in an ambiguous position, commonly experiencing preferential treatment or being subjected to hurtful insults, simply due to the complexity of their identity. Furthermore, individuals who do not possess stereotypical mixed-race characteristics, such as “light skin” or “loose hair,” struggle even more with appreciating their mixed identity, a fusion of cultures and experiences inherited at birth.
Within the dataset for the project’s name, authors, Herbter George de Lisser and Olive Senior are of mixed-ethnicities.
Herbert George de Lisser
Herbert George de Lisser was an Afro-Jewish Jamaican journalist and author. de Lisser’s work rarely focused on his struggles with identity or race; rather, his novels, which were first published in the newspaper The Planter’s Punch, explored cultural themes such as the role of superstition, magic, voodoo, and witchcraft in socialization in Jamaica. Other common themes within his work include the depiction of heroism and the impact of slavery and systematic oppression on Jamaican society. Furthermore, de Lisser was known for his distinct and resonant portrayal of women in his work, appearing in publications such as Jane’s Career and Myrtle and Money.
“[Herbert George de Lisser] is a distinguished figure in Jamaican intellectual, artistic, political, and social circles.” - Frank M. Birbalsingh
Olive Senior
Olive Senior is a Jamaican poet, novelist, short story, and non-fiction writer, internationally recognized for her literary works. Growing up, Senior, who is of mixed-race heritage, had what Jamaicans would call “light skin” and “good hair”. However, in her low-income childhood village, Tory, these usual symbols of status and privilege did not differentiate her or her family apart from their predominantly African-heritage neighbours. Senior’s works commonly explored her childhood, identity, ethnicity, and the religious, political, and historical contexts of Jamaica.
“Poetry matters because it is a tool for helping us to discover who we are. As individuals, as Caribbean peoples, as citizens of the world. - Olive Senior”
Learn more about Olive Senior Newer Literary Pieces!
Deep Dive!
Herbert G. de Lisser: Jane’s Career: A Story of Jamaica (1971)
Read the book for Free using Press Book Open Source Library
Book Overview
Jane’s Career: A Story of Jamaica was the first West Indian novel to feature a black protagonist. In this novel, de Lisser captures the hope and struggle of a young woman leaving home for the first time. “Jane,” who is moving to Kingston, which is described as a “very big and wicked city,” in which “a young girl like you, who the Lord has blessed with a good figure and a face, must be careful not to keep bad company.” Preparing to send young Jane off to the Jamaican capital, village elder Daddy Buckram attempts to offer her advice on how to keep herself safe from Satan and sinners alike. Despite his serious tone and gloomy portrait of urban life, all Jane can think of is the wonder and excitement waiting for her in Kingston. Raised in the countryside and brought up in a conservative Christian family, Jane sees her new job as a means of achieving independence and establishing her own identity as a proud black woman, and of forging her own path in a new, modern Jamaica. In spite of her dreams, however, Jane finds herself subjected to the cruelties of her employer, Mrs. Mason, who threatens to send a letter to her parents alleging all sorts of imagined misdeeds. Through it all, she tries to maintain a sense of pride, hopeful that hard work—and even romance—will set her free.
Olive Senior: Summer Lightning and other stories (1986)
Summer Lighning and Other Stories by Olvie Senior is a 1986 short story collection set in rural Jamaica and written in vivid, colorful details that compel a wide range of emotions, from childhood hope to brooding melancholy.
The stories in the book are:
- Summer lightning
- Love orange
- Country of the one eye god
- Ascot
- Bright Thursdays
- Real old time t’ing
- Do angels wear brassieres?
- Confirmation day
- The boy who loved ice cream
- Ballad
“I believe Summer Lightning to be a true expression of everyday life in that part of the world I describe, i.e., deep rural Jamaica, in terms of behaviours, beliefs, practices narrated and language used.” - Olive Senior
Bibliography
Ferguson, J. (2021, October 7). Jamaican Gothic: The White Witch of Rosehall. Caribbean Beat Magazine. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-56/jamaican-gothic#axzz7Opaq5Uj2
Muse Arts. (2021, May 28). Power of Words: Olive Senior [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glOO2YdRsTk
Persuad, M. (2001). The Construction of an Essentialist ‘Mixed-Race’ Identity in the Anglophone Caribbean Novel 1914–1998 - Goldsmiths Research Online. Research Online. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/28725/
Simpson, H. (n.d.). Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics. Ryerson. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://www.ryerson.ca/olivesenior/author.html#:%7E:text=Even%20though%20Senior%2C%20who%20is,in%20the%20village%20of%20Troy.
The Poetry Archive. (2022, January 4). Olive Senior. Poetry Archive. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://poetryarchive.org/poet/olive-senior/
Ventour, T. (2021, December 22). Mixed-Race Identity Has Plurality: On Being Irish, Jamaican, and Black. Medium. Retrieved March 27, 2022, from https://treventour1995.medium.com/mixed-race-identity-has-plurality-on-being-irish-jamaican-and-black-4c41cfc8017e