관광객과 원주민의 시선이 교차하는 신식민의 공간—자메이카 킨케이드의 『어느 작은 섬』

Abstract

Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, published in 1988, represents the colonial history of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean region in the form of a travel guidebook. This text exposes anger toward colonialism and its consequences. The background of the anger arises not only from differences between tourists and natives in perceptions of the past colonial history, but also from perceptions of the tourism industry today. In this paper, I will compare the views of tourists and natives of some public buildings and carnival events related to Antigua’s tourism industry. And by comparing the meanings of these views from Antigua’s past and present perspective, I will examine the correlation and perpetuity of Antigua’s tourism industry and neocolonialism. Based on these considerations, I will give a suggestion of an alternative to overcoming the difference of views between tourists and natives. Kincaid reverses Antigua’s image as a paradise for tourists by exposing the blind spots in the tourism industry. Today, tourism is a very important factor in the Caribbean economy because it directly and indirectly affects GDP and job availability. However, most of the foreign currency earned from the tourism industry flows overseas again, and jobs are also seasonal, which makes the lives of local uneasy. Furthermore, tourists are perpetuating ‘another form of slavery’ by demanding endless hospitality from the Caribbean natives. Although tourists were rude to the natives in their dreams of paradise, they were enabled by the advertising of the giant tourism industry. It is also due to the transnational tourism industry that Antiguans have become slave-like simple workers striving for a better life. In this context, tourists and natives meet at the same position of victim. After all, both tourists and natives can understand and forgive the other when they can perceive each other’s circumstance.