Om

Heard but not seen:

Womens Short Stories
and the BBCs
Caribbean
Voices
By: Abigail Toussaint
Programme

Activity
On the piece of Paper
Provided name a Caribbean
writer.

The BBC and Caribbean Voices

The BBCs Caribbean Voices programme was the
Launchpad for the careers of some of the regions
biggest names in literature.
Caribbean voices coincided with the boom in
West Indian Literature. It
A.) helped establish writing as a regional profession
B. ) forstered positive attitudes towards what was written in
Caribbean societies
C. ) and kindled friendships amongst writers.

The Problem Emerges

During the bulk of its 15 year existence it was run
by men with women occupying more secondary
positions, such as assistants and secretaries.
Men were the main contributors. Around 400
stories were produced from 372 contributors. 71
were women.

The Problem Continues

Women and men did not have the same fate as
writers. Few went on to win awards like their male
counterparts.
Female Caribbean writers rarely relocated to the
metropole to pursue writing careers, unlike their
male counterparts.
Many men who began with short stories went on
to become novelists, but with the exception of
Sylvia Wynter, no women did.

The Short Story

The short story form was particularly feminine- it
was diminutive, domestic and more provisional
than a novel. It also suited the radio programmes
format. Many men who began with short stories
went on to become novelists, but with the
exception of Sylvia Wynter, no women did.

The Caribbean Writer

George Lamming describes the Caribbean writer as
one who looked in and down at what had
traditionally been ignored. However, with a lack of
feminine work, a skewed version of Caribbean
society was portrayed because the domestic, local
and intricately human aspect they wrote about were
left out.

An analysis of Caribbean Female WritingMelville, Crichlow and Wynter

Edwina Melville
Melville is specifically noted for using the
environment to function as an allegory.
Melville uses fish as well as the act of fishing as
metaphors.

Melville Continued
In contrast, Melvilles second story delivers the
female writer to the centre of her own text.
Previously, there were perspective shifts and a
near constant worry about a man who was
thought of as the leading figure.
Melville shows the significance of a woman
hearing her own voice in the world by writing
about a woman on a journey in a savannah.
By hearing her own voice she becomes excited
from the recognition. It creates connections in her
life and the distant world of the motherland.

An Extract From Melville

Oh! she prayed, let me find the station quickly.
The night was so hot, not a breeze, not a friendly
sound. On the range-finder the needle, moving
slowly, oh so slowly, trying to pick up London, the
BBC.
Then a voice! The voice! The programme already
started and the reader half-way through the story.
Her story! Her eyes shining in the glow from the
radios dial, Nancy suddenly leapt from her
crouching position and shouted: Coco! Machek! []
Call the vaqueros. Quick! Tell them to come!

Marina Crichlow
Writer Marina Crichlow reverses the
identity of the archetypally,
physically strong Caribbean male in
order to articulate a remarkable
emotional capacity.

An Extract from Crichlow

It wasnt her faulthe knew itit
couldnt be. It traced back to her
home lifeshe was not to blame. He
couldnt blame her. Her father drank,
her mother drank, her sister and her
two brothers too. How could she help
it? She had grown up in it and it had
grown with her grown too big for
her.

Sylvia Wynter

Highlighted prejudice in
society and
Womens views of other
women

An Extract From Wynter

Dat half chiney wretch, day common
woman dat have a married man keeping
her. You mean you go in the house of a
kept woman after all the slave ah slave for
you. You with your colour and education
can get anywhere and now you want to be
a sluta paramour like dat woman.

In Conclusion
The Caribbean Voices programme sought distinctly
Caribbean voices.
The writers featured appeared to be less self
conscious about the Caribbean-ness of their work
than about themselves as writers.
Both male and female writers sought the
Caribbean Voices programme for the recognition of
their work that it could bring.
Had female Caribbean writers work been awarded
the same treatment as mens, the Caribbean
literary repertoire would be different today.

Works Cited
Brown, Stewart. All Are Involved: The Art of Martin
Carter. Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 2000.
Dobie, Ann B. Theory Into Practice: An Introduction to
Literary Criticism. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009.
Donell, Alison. "Heard but not Seen:Women's Short
Stories and the BBC's Caribbean Voices Programme."
Evans, Lucy and Mark Mc Watt. The Caribbean Short
Story, Critical Perspectives. Peepal Tree Press, 2011. 2935.
Wilson-Tagoe, Nana. Historical Thought and Literary
Representation in West Indian Literature. Florida:
University Press of Florida, 1998. print.

Discussion:
Debate
In groups of two, one side for, the other against:
The short story form is inferior to the novel form,
and because so many women did not go on to
write novels they did not win awards and were not
as celebrated.

The
End!