Paul Coady

Honore Missihoun
LBST 2102-005
20 November 2015
Creole Modernity
The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself
(Marxism). Lenin applied Marxs theory to reality and found that the working class ends up
battling employers and the government when seeking self-emancipation. In Ineke PhafRheinbergers, Landscapes, Narratives, and Tropical Nature: Creole Modernity in Suriname, it
is implied that freedom is controlled by man. Rheinbergers text consisted of multiple different
voices expressing struggles for liberty where man dominates.
Cynthia McLeod, author of The Black Woman Elisabeth: Prisoner of Color, tells a story
of a creole woman named Elisabeth Samson in the 18th century. Elisabeth was born free even
though her parents were both slaves and she became the richest woman of her area. According to
society, it was an achievement for her to marry a white man as such a phenomenon was illegal.
Her social status had risen so much that she governed an entire plantation. Elisabeths struggle
for freedom was different than other blacks in Suriname at the time. Colonial society gave
Elisabeth a lavish life, but it also took away her values and meaning in life. Elisabeth was born
free and died trapped in her own despair.

Clark Accord, author of The Queen of Paramaribo, tells a story of a woman named
Wilhelmina Rijburg who lived in Paramaribo. Wilhelminas family was respected by the
community and made descent money, but was cut out of the story when she became a prostitute.
Maxi Linder was the new name that she made for herself when she adopted her profession.
Linder was initially well respected because she would charitably donate money towards
education for poor children and people shed been involved with in the business and political
world. Eventually, however, Linder ran out of money and, because high society in Paramaribo at
that time stripped her any respect that she may have had, she died a very lonesome death.
According to creole narratives, the kankantri was a giant wild silk cotton tree that used to
serve as an important landmark for creole cultures. In No-Merci-Mi-Kondre, or Dont-botherme country, it was known as the mother-tree because it protected them from the outside world.
The kankantri was a peacemaker for intercultural relationships in creole society. Without the
kankantri, all balance between the inside and outside world was lost. As creole society urbanized,
tropical trees disappeared and the tropical environment became increasingly distant from
civilization.
Rheinbergers polyphonic text offers multiple viewpoints exemplifying the struggle that
women of creole descent and the tropical environment underwent during modernizing periods in
time. Man is a polysemic term that can be used for groups of people which seem to have
everything revolve around them. In the history of creole modernity, man refers to the rich people
of high society who abolished the values Wilhelmina, Linder and, the kankantri. Man has, and
may continue to, assert dominance over anyone and anything opposing its own freedom.

Works Cited
"Marxism versus Leninism." The Socialist Party of Great Britain. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.