boasty Ep 5: Jamaican Creole, Coveted Everywhere?
Dr. Clive Forrester has been teaching academic writing and linguistics at the undergraduate level for roughly 12 years now. He's a faculty member at the Dept. of English Language & Literature at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Before moving to Canada, Dr. Forrester lectured at UWI, Mona and UTech, Jamaica. His research in forensic linguistics focuses on how Jamaican Creole shows up in courtrooms.
He joins me on this episode, along with artist and creative entrepreneur Robynn Bourne, to talk about how Jamaican language is treated in films featuring Caribbean characters.
We talked about:
Kromanti (aka Jamaican Maroon Creole). Read more about it here.
The Dictionary of Jamaican English by lexicographers - Frederic G. Cassidy & Robert Le Page
Quick fact check: Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou) was born on September 7, 1919
The Jamaican Creole writing system & resistance to it. "Distinct and separate language needs a distinct and separate writing system," an important quote by Dr Forrester. This is how demystify the notion that patois is a type of English or as Robynn said, “just an accent”
How close we are to getting patois as an official language, symbolically recognized by Jamaica's parliament
What it means that Jamaica is one of the only countries mass producing music in a language other than English for the purpose of international export!
How attitude toward the language (at home) and linguistic insecurities passed down by generations play a big role in how our language is treated elsewhere.
Connect with Dr. Clive Forrester
Select courses
Intro to Lingustics (University of Waterloo)
The famous Jamaican Creole (York University)
Connect with Robynn Bourne
