The Caribbean

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The Caribbean region extends from Barbados in the East, Trinidad and Tobago in the South, to the Bahamas in the North and Cuba in the West (Edwards, 2013, Unit 10 ). A rich cultural heritage is one of the regions most prized possessions, dear to the heart of its people. Merriam-Webster(2013) defines culture as “the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time”
Diverse cultural components of music, dance, the arts, literature, languages, and religious practices do exist. This diversity is a direct result of the impact of African culture, East Indian culture and other immigrant groups of diverse origins. The immigrant groups, modified various features of their culture, and also created new forms of culture. This type of adaptation to local conditions is termed creolization (Beckford, 2013, Unit 10).
Creole languages including Papiamento (a blend of African, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch languages) Patois( a mixture of African and English languages) and Kweyol (a blend of African and French) are becoming prominent. However each island is designated as either English speaking, French speaking, Spanish speaking or Dutch speaking (Beckford,2013, Unit 10) and modifications of these languages are often used.
Many strides have been made to preserve this rich cultural heritage. The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has endorsed Education for All Plan of Action 2000-2015 with the main focus of sustaining and preserving indigenous languages (Douglas, 2011). In St Lucia the Prime Minister has permitted the Governor General to read a section of the annual Throne Speech in Creole (Douglas, 2011) In St. Lucia Government has initiated the Kwéyòl Multimedia Product Development Committee, whose main agenda was to deve...

... middle of paper ...

... that Caribbean cultural components such as language and music are being preserved.

Works Cited

Culture (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary online. Retrieved on November 12, 2013 from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
Royalties (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary online. Retrieved November 12, 2013 from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/royalties
Pay Day for ECCO members (2013). The Vincentian Newspaper online. Retrieved November 11, 2013 from: http://thevincentian.com/pay-day-for-ecco-members-p3763-1.htm#sthash.iWCX761e.dpuf
The Association of Caribbean Copyright Societies (ACCS) (2013). Retrieved November 11, 2013 from: http://www.accscaribbean.com/content/association-caribbean-copyright-societies-accs Partners in Bible Translation (n.d.). Wycliffe Caribbean. Retrieved November 12, 2013 from:

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