The Going Caribbean Research Project is born out of the successful homonymous International Conference that took place at the University of Lisbon (2-4 November 2009), gathering more than a hundred and ten specialists from twenty countries on Caribbean literature and culture. The Going Caribbean Team aims to explore connections between the different `Caribbeans´ that are usually separated by language or nationality. We will endeavour to analyse three major topics:

• First, we will scrutinize the phenomenon of creolisation and its transformation in a theoretical paradigm. Are we all Caribbean now because we live in «urban archipelagoes» (Clifford)?  Around the globe, cultural archipelagoes are quickly emerging as a result of the complex process of creolisation, which is taking place in regions and nations far beyond Martinique, Aruba or Jamaica.  Our interest is twofold: on the one hand we aim to focus on specific links between Caribbean and Cape Verdean writers and artists, both from the islands and diaspora; on the other we will confront the question if and why one can speak of creolisation in a Portuguese context, in accordance (or not) with other nations in Europe.
• Furthermore, we will pay close attention to the role of Caribbean intellectuals in the postcolonial debate, their dialogue with broader Latin American colleagues and the strategies they apply to challenge official discourses of national identity. Therefore, we will revisit the concept of Caribbean “intellectual”, approaching critically the canonization by Caribbean studies of authors such as Césaire, Glissant and Benítez Rojo and drawing insights from “minor” intellectuals whose work has largely remained hidden, mostly because of scarce editorial distribution. We will critically assess the importance of web-based technologies in offering the new generation pathways to access global intellectual debates.
• Finally, we will focus on filling the gap in the study of the relation between gender/sexual identity and ethnicity, specifically in recent Caribbean Woman literature. A transnational, multilingual focus will offer new insights the complex identity configuration of postcolonial Caribbean subjectivity in a regional (Caribbean) and global context. Emphasis will be on how Woman writers, especially those writing from the Caribbean Diaspora, challenge the stereotypes about women and men in postcolonial society and why they propose new conceptions of gender and sexuality.