Jamaican Place Names - Softcover

Higman, B.W.; Hudson, Brian J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9766402175 ISBN 13: 9789766402174

Publisher: University Press of the West Indies, 2009

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 Acreole@ 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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About the Author:

B.W. Higman is William Keith Hancock Professor of History in the History Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University; and Professor Emeritus, University of the West Indies. His award winning publications include Slave Population and Economy in Jamaica, 1807B1834; Jamaica Surveyed: Plantation Maps and Plans of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; Montpelier, Jamaica: A Plantation Community in Slavery and Freedom, and Plantation Jamaica, 1750B1850: Capital and Control in a Colonial Economy. His most recent book is Jamaican Food: History, Biology, Culture.B.J. Hudson is Adjunct Professor in the School of Urban Development, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. From 1971 to 1985, he was a member of the Department of Geography at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. In addition to his academic work at the University of the West Indies, he has served as an urban and regional planner for the governments of Jamaica and Grenada. His major books include Cities on the Shore: The Urban Littoral Frontier; The Waterfalls of Jamaica: Sublime and Beautiful Objects; and Queensland: Geographical Perspectives.

Review:

"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"

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