Overview

"Jamaican place names range from the commonplace to the bizarre. Densely distributed across the map of the island, they not only intrigue the visitor and the resident but also provide clues to Jamaica's past landscapes and its social and economic history. Written from a historical and geographical perspective by two authors with an intimate knowledge of the island, this book presents an entirely new approach to the study of Jamaican place names. Maps and other sources dating from the earliest years of European contact to the twenty-first century are used to compile a data base of over 20,000 names. Analysis provides clues to the culture and national origins of the dominant planter population who were the major name-givers but also include many names with distinctive Jamaican 'creole' meanings. Today, Kingston, May Pen, Rio Bueno, Me No Sen You No Come, George's Plain Mountain and Content, names derived from a variety of sources, are all equally Jamaican and equally fascinating. ""Jamaican Place Names"" is written for both the scholar and the general reader with an interest in the island's landscapes and history."

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9789766402174

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Reviews

This is the work of master craftsmen who weave meticulously the methodologies of historian and geographer to produce, out of a confusing galaxy of Jamaican place names, a coherent and thoughtful exposition on the complexities of place names in creole Jamaica. - Patrick E. Bryan, Douglas Hall Professor of History, University of the West Indies, Jamaica There is nothing like this for the Caribbean and very few analyses of this depth and sensitivity for any other former colonial society. It is a thought-provoking study that should prompt readers across the West Indies to think about what particular place names mean and what sort of societies generated them. The book will change the way that people view place names across the region. It should also encourage comparisons with Jamaica's experiences well beyond the Caribbean too... It will be widely read and cited. - James Robertson, Senior Lecturer in History, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Author Information

B.W. Higman is William Keith Hancock Professor of History, Australian National University, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. His award-winning publications include Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807-1834, which won the Bancroft Prize in American History; Slave Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807-1834, which won the Elsa Goveia Prize of the Association of Caribbean Historians; and Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom, 1739-1912, which also won an Elsa Goveia Prize and an award from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.

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