Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-03, Section: A, page: 1095.

Director: Hazel V. Carby.

This dissertation focuses on the cultural productions of second-generation Caribbean immigrants in the United States. It discusses the ways in which music, literature, and other expressions offer a prism for understanding the formation of Caribbean-American identity. The methodological framework of "Constructing Black Selves" is organized around an examination of the lives, works, and political ideologies of second-generation artists and intellectuals after World War II. The subjects of the dissertation are Harry Belafonte, Paule Marshall, Audre Lorde, Piri Thomas, and Proyecto Uno.

The dissertation's focus on cultural production is undergirded by two overarching arguments. First, the dissertation posits that an analysis of the cultural production of second-generation immigrants in the United States enhances contemporary discussions regarding the transformation of Caribbean identity after migration to urban landscapes. The social practices and institution building of Caribbean Americans have been well-documented by social scientists (Basch et al. 1994; Kasinitz 1992); however, the cultural texts created by Caribbean Americans have not been analyzed for the ways in which they give perspective to social formation. Contemporary migration theories fail to envision the role of cultural production as a conduit for reading what has yet to be fully grasped and mastered by scholars of migration studies: the importance of ethno-history, sexuality, and gender politics to the development of Caribbean-American identity.

Secondly, this study argues that the cultural texts of second generationers must be analyzed for the dialectical relationships they have with the African-American culture industry. The dissertation provides a necessary framework for examining the differences between race and ethnicity in black American populations, thus challenging the canonical understanding of African-American literary and cultural traditions. By focusing on the ways in which second-generation Caribbean immigrants engage African-American cultural politics, the dissertation illuminates the multiple expressions of black identity in American society.

The study concludes that ethnicity works hand-in-hand with representation: cultural selves are imagined, created, made, and re-made through cultural production. By examining the discourses of ethnicity, race, and gender in selected works, "Constructing Black Selves" reveals the impact of social movements, migration patterns, and assimilation processes on Caribbean-American narratives in the United States.