Methods in Caribbean research : literature, discourse, culture /

The four editors--Lalla (emer.), Nicole Roberts, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw, and Valerie Youssef--are all scholars of Caribbean literature and discourse from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, and Tobago. They have assembled a volume that offers various approaches to literary and cultural research in or about the Caribbean. Divided into four sections that range from conceptual considerations to practical matters concerning the research process, the volume begins with an excellent overview of the complex theoretical dimensions of Caribbean research, invoking Antonio Benítez-Rojo's characterization of Caribbeanness as a "nonlinear system, an unpredictable system, in short a chaotic system" that begs flexibility in methodological approaches. The essays that follow cover topics such as culturometrics, fieldwork, and data collection; the study of the calypso; and process and method in creative writing and thesis writing. These essays will serve both lower- and upper-level undergraduate students well, particularly those who are undertaking research about the Caribbean for the first time. This useful volume prepares students for the "complex sociocultural interplay" of Caribbean literary and cultural studies, while also providing practical information to budding researchers on all stages of scholarly work, from crafting the research proposal, to conducting interviews or archival research, to proofreading the final draft. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates. --Jill Elizabeth Baron, Dartmouth College