| Popis: |
This chapter provides the historical, theoretical and sporting context for this book’s examination of cricket’s place in Anglophone Caribbean literature. It begins by establishing the importance of cricket for the Caribbean. It then reads quotes from Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers (1836) and George Lamming’s Season of Adventure (1960) as marking how the plantation economy, cricketing acculturation and emerging independence are negotiated through literary depictions of Black Caribbean cricketers, especially bowlers. From there, the chapter summarises key aspects of the game’s development and reception in the region, particularly in relation to the formation and progress of the West Indies team. The critical significance of C.L.R. James’ foundational text, Beyond a Boundary (1963) is briefly mapped, and so too is the manner in which James’ work has been taken up in recent scholarship. Finally, the book’s aims and central arguments are articulated, and subsequent chapters are introduced. |
