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Jamaican Patois: Origins and Significance

The document compares and contrasts various cultural aspects between Canada and Jamaica. It discusses that while Canada has no dominant culture or identity, it shares values of openness, respect, compassion, and equality. Jamaica's culture is centered around close family ties and distrust of authority, relying more on family. In terms of religion, Christianity is the majority in both countries but Jamaica has more churches and religious traditions play a bigger role in cultural events. Jamaica also has stronger influences from African ancestry and traditions like Rastafari music and dress, while its class system was historically based more on European norms.

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Justiz Samuels
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93 views2 pages

Jamaican Patois: Origins and Significance

The document compares and contrasts various cultural aspects between Canada and Jamaica. It discusses that while Canada has no dominant culture or identity, it shares values of openness, respect, compassion, and equality. Jamaica's culture is centered around close family ties and distrust of authority, relying more on family. In terms of religion, Christianity is the majority in both countries but Jamaica has more churches and religious traditions play a bigger role in cultural events. Jamaica also has stronger influences from African ancestry and traditions like Rastafari music and dress, while its class system was historically based more on European norms.

Uploaded by

Justiz Samuels
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Language

Canada: Our Native English


Jamaica: Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois (Patwa or Patwah) and called
Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-based creole language with West African
influences (a majority of loan words of Akan origin)
Literature
Canada: We read popular north american literature (Ex: Shakespeare, Hunger Games,
the stuff you would have read growing up)
Jamaica: Jamaica’s profound pool of literary talent belies the island nation’s size and
reinforces its importance as a cultural heavyweight within the Caribbean. Claude McKay
(1889-1948) is a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay was a
Jamaican-American writer who would become hugely influential with his politically
charged celebration of African American and Afro Caribbean culture.

Values
Canada: There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada....There are shared values
— openness, respect, compassion, willingness to work hard, to be there for each other,
to search for equality and justice. Those qualities are what make us the first postnational
state.
Jamaica: The Jamaican family includes a close-knit web of aunts, uncles, cousins and
grandparents. Families are close and provide both emotional and economic support to
its members. The family is the most important group a person belongs to, and as such, it
the group with whom a person spends most of his/her time developing and maintaining
cordial relations. Jamaicans have a healthy distrust of those in authority and prefer to
put their faith in those they know well, such as their extended family and close friends
who are treated as if they were family.

Beliefs and Religion


Canada:Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs.
Christianity is the largest religion in Canada, with the Catholic Church having the
most adherents. Christians, representing 67.3% of the population, are followed by
people having no religion with 23.9% of the total population
Jamaica:Belief is a fundamental part of culture. Whether it is religion or superstitions,
these are very much part of Jamaica’s culture. When it comes to religious practices,
Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other country in the world.
While a high percentage of Jamaica people consider themselves Christians, all are not
necessarily church goers but will attend on special occasions such as funerals, weddings
and christening.

Traditions
Canada: Catholic and Christian based traditions as well as things like fireworks on
Canada Day, Victoria Day, etc.
Jamaica:
The extensive use of song makes Rastafari a particularly musical source of Jamaican
culture. Rasta cultural traditions include wearing their hair in uncut, uncombed strands
known as dreadlocks (in adherence to the Nazarite vow), as well as eating unprocessed
(natural) foodstuffs which are known as Ital.

Ethnic Origin
Canada:
Jamaica:
The average admixture on the island is 78.3% Sub-Saharan African, 16.0% European,
and 5.7% East Asian.
Social Hierarchies
Canada:
Jamaica:
Jamaica’s class system is based on money, of course, but there are other criteria. These
include European-based notions of etiquette and decorum, as well as education and the
way people dress and speak. Respectable people lived by certain standards. They do not
act with vulgarity, obscenity, drunkenness, arrogance, rudeness, slovenliness, idleness
and “showing off” were considered signs of a “lower-class” upbringing.

Kinship Relations
Canada:
Jamaica:
There are no corporate kin groups, but kindreds are very important. Jamaicans
maintain strong ties with consanguines that include regular exchanges of gifts such as
produce. Descentis bilateral, although matrilateral ties are often stronger than
patrilateral ones. Jamaicans have an Eskimo System, using basically the same kin terms
as the English and the Americans, but they emphasize consanguines and often ignore
affinal or conjugal relationships.

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