Identity in the Caribbean

By definition, identity means the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others (Merriam-Webster). For example, the qualities that identify me as a Puerto Rican woman are my gender (female) and my nationality (Puerto Rican).

            According to Peter Roberts “Language therefore establishes bonds between all communities of human beings but at the same time set up barriers between communities. Human beings, however, are not restricted to use of a single language and cross barriers.”

            I personally disagree with Peter Robert’s  statement. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, this is the community that saw me grow up. But, sometimes I feel extremely out of place. This happens mostly whenever I’m with people around my age, they tend to use certain words and express themselves in a manner that is very Puerto Rican, yet I can hardly understand what they mean. This becomes a language barrier in my own community, even if we’re talking the same language.

            As a person living in the Caribbean, this language barrier becomes more defined because there’s different nations, and most nations have different dialects. For example a word might mean something completely innocent in Puerto Rico, yet in the Dominican Republic it might mean something very naughty, this happens even though we speak the same language. If a person that speaks only Spanish were to go to Guadeloupe, they would have a very big problem, because in that island they speak French and Dutch, but very little English.

            As for home, “…home embodies a psychological factor of attachment, which probably issues from the basic animal instinct of territoriality, but is more an emotional bond created through experience of a place. Because the human being does not necessarily remain in one place through a lifetime, home is a variable and may be place of birth, place of residence or may be defined by the popular notion ‘where the heart is’.”

            How can I feel so out of place in the country that I’ve called home my whole life? Sometimes I just wish I could pack my bags and leave. Where? I really have no idea. I think I understand what the writer means when he says that home is “where the heart is”. My body may be here in Puerto Rico but my heart is somewhere else.

            People in the Caribbean call this territory home, but still move away from their countries to other places, be it because of economical problems, or just different points of view from their fellow countrymen. There’s been a exodus of Puerto Ricans leaving to the United States and some even to Europe, mostly because life on the island is getting more expensive and dangerous. But most of these people will always call Puerto Rico home.  

            “Sameness among human beings is commonly judged under certain basic categories- how people look, how they sound, where they were born and bred and how they behave” Sameness could be a big cultural barrier breaker. Not liking what’s “in” at the moment might sometimes make me feel like an outcast in my own culture. But at the same time I’ve met people from other places in the Caribbean, like Jamaica for example, that actually share some of my tastes. One of the things I like, that’s not very known in Puerto Rico is the TV series Doctor Who. My friend Jario is Jamaican, and is also a fan of this series. We don’t have a lot of things in common, but we have that shared taste. I feel like this has somehow broken that cultural barrier.

            As for Caribbean identity, language breaks us up between countries. The concept of home means something very different for each one of us. Sameness may not exist in every single household, but we are all one. Caribbean people are known for being hospitable. It doesn’t really matter where you stand in the Caribbean, we will greet you with a smile. Our cultures may be different, our traditions may not be the same, but we are one big culture, accustomed to the warm Caribbean sun.