Abstract

This article analyzes the novel The Dragon can't Dance, written by Trinidadian writer Earl Lovelace. It focuses upon a concept of paramount importance in the history of Insular Caribbean: the concept of Caribbeanness. The article will explore the relational dynamic in the society of Calvary Hill and, complementing the work with bibliography from important authors in the history of Caribbean identity configuration, it will analyze the consequences that the process of European colonization had upon the construction of a Caribbean identity, taking as its articulating axis the racial question and finally concluding that the uprooting is a factor of which all the characters in the novel are victims, making the consolidation of a shared identity difficult.

Keywords Caribbean; colonization; identity; race; Trinidad and Tobago