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ABSTRACT/RESUME
In the Caribbean the average person harbours no illusions about the existence of a regionally united and integrated community. For although there is some pretence of "Caribbe an - ness" at the level of popular culture, each of the Caribbean countries still jealously gu ards its own insular identity and distinctiveness, which is further buttressed by keen rivalries in p olitics, sport and cultural fare. And while individual Caribbean countries may identify local or na tional heroes, there are no genuine West Indian heroes around whom the entire region rallies, n or are there any unique contributions that the Caribbean as an integrated whole has made to t he international community.
Dans le Caraibe la personne moyenne n'est pas sous aucune illusion de qu'il exis te une communite regionalle unifiee et integree. Bien qu'il y a un pretexte de quelque chose qu'on appelle "esprit du Caraibe" au niveau de la culture populaire, chaqu e pays encore se garde jalousement son propre identite et caractere distinctif, lesquels sont plus accentues par des rivalites ardents dans la politique, dans les sports, et dans la chere culturelle. Et en me@me temps que les pays individuels peuvent identifier des he ros locales ou nationales, il n'y a pas des heros authentiquement antillaises autour desquel s la region entiere se rassemble, ni sontelles aucunes contributions uniques que le Caraibe comme un ensemble integre a fait a la communite internationale.
Plural Versus Creole Society
One of the most heated and enduring debates over the structure and composition o f Caribbean society concerns the question of ethnic identity definition and the nature of cu ltural boundaries. The debate, which incorporates issues of conflict and consensus between and amon g identifiable ethnic communities, has tended to be bi - polar. On the one hand, the plural soc iety thesis of M.G. Smith (1965) sees the entire region as a hodge - podge of cultural and ethn ic segments that exist in separate communities and share a very competitive relationship. And whi le these communities may meet and mix in the pursuit of daily economic ends, they do not combine socially and culturally. For Smith, the plural society is "a unit of disparate p arts which owes its existence to external factors, and...