Realms Of The Maroon
"The maroon is the only true popular hero of the Caribbean," writes Edouard Glissant in Le discours antillais in 1981. A decade later, his compatriots quite literally act on this statement as they begin erecting numerous statues in memory of this emblematic figure of their slave heritage. Symbolizing the slaves' active resistance against oppression spurred by the desire for freedom, maroons occupy an important place in the West Indian imagination today. As Richard D. E. Burton (1997: 23–25) points out, maroons embody the reverse side of assimilation and the possibility of existing outside of the colonial system. Many contemporary Caribbean authors use marronnage as a principle theme in their work.1
