Augustown: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses discrimination and anti-Blackness.

In 1920, Jamaica was under British colonial rule, with Leslie Probyn, a real figure who also appears in the novel, serving as the British-appointed governor. An Englishman, Probyn had also governed Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Grenada, and Barbados, and he did not have a firsthand understanding of the complexities of Jamaican culture and society (79). In the novel, the fictionalized Probyn displays contempt for the people of Jamaica, practicing patois in his head to mock them. The fictional character of Probyn represents the British colonial attitude of superiority toward Jamaica. Jamaica became independent in 1962, 20 years before the 1982 events of the novel.

In 1920, colorism and anti-Blackness were pervasive in Jamaican society, with both white and mixed-race or “brown” individuals often receiving preferential treatment and social privileges over darker-skinned Jamaicans (Kelly, Monique D. A. “Examining Race in Jamaica: How Racial Category and Skin Color Structure Social Inequality.” Race and Social Problems, vol. 12, 2020, pp. 300-12.). Similar sentiments existed in the 1980s, depicted in the novel through the character of Mr. Saint-Josephs, who is biased against Kaia and other Rastafari people and considers himself mixed-race, although he is viewed by society as a Black man.