«It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)

The Trinidadian writer and intellectual C.L.R. James is now recognized as a major voice in a number of areas such as literary criticism, cultural studies, political theory, and history. As a critic but also as a political activist, his life and work spanned the Caribbean, Britain, and America to the...

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Main Author: John Patrick Leech
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Bologna 2020-06-01
Series:Griseldaonline
Subjects:
Online Access:https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/10873
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author John Patrick Leech
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description The Trinidadian writer and intellectual C.L.R. James is now recognized as a major voice in a number of areas such as literary criticism, cultural studies, political theory, and history. As a critic but also as a political activist, his life and work spanned the Caribbean, Britain, and America to the extent that he may be seen as an emblematic figure of what Paul Gilroy has termed the «black Atlantic». This essay looks at some of his writings on cricket, and at the ways in which the categories of race and colour emerge in them as part of a complex stratification of meanings, many related to issues of power, empire, and class. James appears as a figure strongly tied to certain elements of British culture such as Puritanism, a link which he fully recognized himself. James is confirmed as a distinctive voice articulating Black and Caribbean culture within the watery space of the British and American Atlantic world, but one which refuses to attribute to race and colour any essential a priori status.
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spelling doaj.art-32d76063a61c4b1b8b161e5610e5a7e52022-12-21T22:27:45ZengUniversity of BolognaGriseldaonline1721-47772020-06-0119118620110.6092/issn.1721-4777/108739262«It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)John Patrick Leech0Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di BolognaThe Trinidadian writer and intellectual C.L.R. James is now recognized as a major voice in a number of areas such as literary criticism, cultural studies, political theory, and history. As a critic but also as a political activist, his life and work spanned the Caribbean, Britain, and America to the extent that he may be seen as an emblematic figure of what Paul Gilroy has termed the «black Atlantic». This essay looks at some of his writings on cricket, and at the ways in which the categories of race and colour emerge in them as part of a complex stratification of meanings, many related to issues of power, empire, and class. James appears as a figure strongly tied to certain elements of British culture such as Puritanism, a link which he fully recognized himself. James is confirmed as a distinctive voice articulating Black and Caribbean culture within the watery space of the British and American Atlantic world, but one which refuses to attribute to race and colour any essential a priori status.https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/10873c.l.r.jamesracecolourcricket
spellingShingle John Patrick Leech
«It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
Griseldaonline
c.l.r.james
race
colour
cricket
title «It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
title_full «It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
title_fullStr «It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
title_full_unstemmed «It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
title_short «It’s not cricket!» Race, colour and West Indian cricket in C.L.R. James (1901-1989)
title_sort it s not cricket race colour and west indian cricket in c l r james 1901 1989
topic c.l.r.james
race
colour
cricket
url https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/10873
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