TAMING THE TEMPEST 27

 years ago. Although Bermuda does not have a strong contemporary
 literary tradition which local artists can draw upon, nevertheless, all
 three of these writers have begun the work of illuminating Bermuda
 for Bermudians, skilfully highlighting contemporary issues which lie
 just below the deceptively calm waters of local society.
 Meredith Ebbin's story "Hot Sauce" in the Palmetto Wine anthology
 touches on a sensitive issue already mentioned; the strained
 relationship between Bermuda and the Caribbean.9 The story opens
 with the main character, a Bermudian woman named Leigh, declaring
 that "I've had enough of those West Indians" whom she sees as being
 "grabbish," "loud and aggressive" people who reek of "coconut and
 hot sauce" (16). Leigh admits that she spent most of her life priding
 herself on not being a West Indian, despite having a Guyanese
 grandfather. It is not until Leigh attends school in Canada and is rejected
 by her white boyfriend's family that she realizes racist or xenophobic
 people make no distinction between Bermuda, Barbados, and Bahamas.
 The rejection Leigh experiences awakens a level of social consciousness
 she previously lacked, which sparks a desire to identify herself as a
 member of a pan-Caribbean community.
 With her story "Hot Sauce," Meredith Ebbin uses literature to remind
Bermudians of what Mary Prince's narrative historically indicates:
Bermudians are Caribbean people, and such a statement is not an
arbitrary affiliation. Because Bermuda's physical, political, social and
economic positioning has exposed residents to British, American, and
Canadian ideologies, Bermudians have had difficulty defining
themselves from a cultural perspective, both historically and presently.
But as Ebbin illustrates, a Bermudian who denies Caribbeanness
engages in a devastating act of self-negation. "Hot Sauce" sets up a
familiar scenario for many Bermudians in terms of the disdain for the
Caribbean that has long been a part of cultural reality, and provides a
cognitive map charting one Bermudian's path out of denial and self-
hatred. This story, which emerged during a particularly crucial time
for Bermudians attempting to define Bermudian identity, also functions
as a challenge for Bermudians still slumbering under the spell of cultural
and social colonialism.
 Angela Barry's short story entitled "Song for Man" delves into
Bermuda's youth culture, a subject which rarely garners much critical


 9 Ebbin, Meredith. "Hot Sauce." Palmetto Wine. Devonshire, Bermuda: The
Bermuda Writers' Collective, 1990. 15-22.