"A pioneer editress": Frieda Cassin's complex contributions to the 19th century Caribbean Creole literary world

Abstract

This project is a large-scale recovery of Frieda Cassin’s (1870-1915) life and work. Cassin is the earliest Antiguan novelist, founder of the first Antiguan literary periodical, and one of the earliest female literary periodical editors in the Caribbean. This project includes both literary analysis of her work and historical recovery of her life and periodical, as well as a scholarly edition of all six issues of her periodical, none of which have been published in this century or recovered. In this project, I argue for the importance of recovering Cassin’s life and work; as an author, editor, and Antiguan citizen, she offered a critical intervention in the Caribbean literature marketplace of her day and was successful by numerous measures, including international recognition in both the Americas and England. I examine the importance of the transatlantic connections between Antigua, the United States, and England, and through doing so, demonstrate how Cassin responded to cultural forces at play in the nineteenth century – participating in some (e.g., racist language and its ideological underpinnings) while resisting others (e.g., gender and racial hierarchies). It is my hope that this project will provide an adaptable model for dealing with the authorial history of a figure whose work and life contain both problematic and admirable features, especially in a place like the Caribbean, with its hybrid culture and complex social hierarchies.