The history of the insular Caribbean has long been told in terms of the boom and bust of the monoculture plantation system. Indeed, monoculture has become a pervasive way of understanding not only the agriculture but also the societies, economies, and cultures of the Caribbean islands. Yet, as Kamau Brathwaite has written, “the plantation does not contain all that is planted.” Contending that monocultures are never absolute, this talk lays out a theoretical framework for going beyond monoculture as monolith in Caribbean literary studies.

Hannah Rachel Cole is a scholar of environmental humanities and Caribbean literature. Her current book project examines representations of plant life in Caribbean literature in the aftermath of the plantation system. Her work can be found in Environmental Humanities, Latin American Literary Review, and several forthcoming edited collections.

 The Center for Cultural Studies hosts a weekly Wednesday colloquium featuring work by faculty and visitors. We gather at 12:00 PM, with presentations beginning at 12:15 PM. Staff assistance is provided by The Humanities Institute.