This ground-breaking book investigates and interprets Bahamian literature from its inception in 1724. The book uses textual analysis, a socio-historical approach, and the application of archetypes to literary criticism, in order to demonstrate the view that the Bahamian Black was the historical agent of change for the region's culture. The work is divided into two main sections: The first assesses Bahamian literary production from 1724 to 1953 when the Progressive Liberal Party was formed to fight for the rights of blacks and mulattos; the second analyzes Bahamian Literature from 1953 to 1992, the year in which the quincentennial of the encounter of Columbus and the indigenous people of the New World was celebrated. Dahl's critical analysis in Literature of the Bahamas 1724-1992 is a pioneer work that will spark interest in the Bahamian reading public and first-year College students. Especially useful to readers will be the short chapter introductions in Bahamian dialect and the preface which adopts the tone and linguistic strategies of the storyteller.

This ground-breaking book investigates and interprets Bahamian literature from its inception in 1724. The book uses textual analysis, a socio-historical approach, and the application of archetypes to literary criticism, in order to demonstrate the view that the Bahamian Black was the historical agent of change for the region's culture. The work is divided into two main sections: The first assesses Bahamian literary production from 1724 to 1953 when the Progressive Liberal Party was formed to fight for the rights of blacks and mulattos; the second analyzes Bahamian Literature from 1953 to 1992, the year in which the quincentennial of the encounter of Columbus and the indigenous people of the New World was celebrated. Dahl's critical analysis in Literature of the Bahamas 1724-1992 is a pioneer work that will spark interest in the Bahamian reading public and first-year College students. Especially useful to readers will be the short chapter introductions in Bahamian dialect and the preface which adopts the tone and linguistic strategies of the storyteller.