Introduction

Myth and crisis may well be the markers for the origins and terminus which defi ne the object of the work about to unfold here. Pre-Columbian the one and abolitionist the other, these two categories frame the meaning and contexts for the Caribbean-Atlantic imaginary this book proposes to recover. Imaginaries are six for the bit now, or a dime a dozen; choose your currency. Good and clear defi nitions of them are somewhat more rare and perhaps, for all, bought at a higher price. I start here with a few defi ning propositions based on the work of the philosopher-social theorist, Cornelius Castoriadis.