A FRAMEWORK FOR CULTURAL STUDIES

 
INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS BY:
Gilbert A. Sprauve

At the outset we offer a few words about our conceptual framework and the contents of this volume: The word manual implies a publication embodying a high level of utility. Yet, utility in this context might imply more than we wish to concerning "fixing" or "repairing" culture. True, most of the writers, resource persons and culture bearers who made up our team are Virgin Islanders and/or West Indians and are seriously committed to the preservation and promotion of "the Culture of our Islands." Yet, from the outset we have attempted to maintain a level of objective distance in presenting cultural activities and institutions. We thus preclude or at least reduce the temptation toward nostalgic brooding. We have thus made an effort to organize this manual along thematic lines. We have tried to order the themes or unit headings in terms of what we feel is a logical sequence in the acculturation forces that surround and engage us in natural settings.

The reader might discover ambivalence in our content, particularly on the matter of Virgin Islands versus West Indian Culture. We would respond that the charge of ambivalence itself might be an oversimplification. For, the task here imposes a concept of nothing less than multivalent switches operative in Virgin Islands Culture.

Instructors should note that as teaching tools the entries may differ considerably one from the other and, as such, may pose different types of practical challenges. Some subject areas simply lend themselves better to systematic skewering of the levels from "abstract" and "theoretical" discussion to illustrative "sample" or "specimen."

Along with the above two levels of presentation we have developed for most of the texts a set of questions intended to reinforce content and ease understanding. Additionally, we periodically suggest topics for writing or oral presentation of one kind or another, under the rubric "Discussion," and offer suggestions for additional readings. Again, to help classroom instruction and to maximize the deployment of time resources we have devised a code concerning appropriateness of readings. Selections intended for use at the junior high level are designated JH, immediately after the selections title or heading. SH signifies senior high. C-U means college and/or university. I refers to Instructor. The level of difficulty of the exercise one decides to assign depends ultimately on the academic and experiential level of the user. At this stage of the project this latitude imposes on the subject area coordinator and ultimately on the instructor a burden of systematic previewing before presenting. As a rule, however, we offer theoretical articles as background material. This is primarily for the benefit of the instructor. We intend that instructors use them as a backdrop in promoting in-class discussion. We hope that students at all levels will be encouraged to roam through this volume following the dictates of their natural curiosity. The majority of them are already accustomed these days to similar educational adventures on the Internet. We hope that they would study both the articles and the specimens and related passages, relate them to each other and react to them in terms of their own live experiences.