Name: Xavier Kistow – Davis

ID#: 816017494

Course: Fine Art Research Seminar III

Course Code: VART 3011

Lecturer: Dr. Marsha Pearce

Assignment: Using a critical approach, write about the topic you identified in the midterm essay

(1,200 words, excluding bibliography).

 An empiricist/theoretical perspective was done on this topic: ‘The commodification of

Trinidad Masquerade’ and it is through the information and data gathered in the previous essay a

critical approach is now being engaged highlighting 5-6 questions that I intend to answer via my

art making. The questions will be placed throughout this essay that will be accompanied by old

and new information gathered on the discussion. I will be looking further into the study by

discussing the link between commodification and the objectification of women and the

relationship between economic and cultural value.

When one speaks of Trinidad Carnival a distinction must be made between that and

Trinidad Masquerade as the former refers to a festive space that transcends boundaries and

celebrates aspects of human community through masquerade as well as calypso, soca and steel

pan. Gareth Green suggests that “The Carnival, however, is not a thing. It is a dynamic and fluid

process that changes with the living conditions of and relationships among those who make it

and participate in it.”1

The word Culture “is a word employed in a variety of senses in everyday use but without

a tangible or generally core meaning.” (Throsby, David 2003) Conventionally, the phenomenon

refers to the daily habits and practices of a given society or community. As a society’s economy

develops, culture is affected especially in today’s highly economized world. Commodification

then refers to forms of production that create products to be exchanged in markets.

The relationship between economic and cultural value is a subject of academic debate:

some scholars, such as Bonus & Ronte (1997), believe that economic value includes cultural

1
Green, Garth L. “‘Come to Life’: Authenticity, Value, and the Carnival as Cultural Commodity in Trinidad and
Tobago.” Identities
value, others, such as Throsby (2001) and Hutter & Frey (2010), believe that cultural value

influences economic value but that the two are distinct. Nurse believes that given the rise of the

global cultural industries, the increasing monetization of the arts in the emerging digital and

knowledge economy accompanied by the increasing acceptance of alternative genres and other

cultures, the Caribbean Region has a window of opportunity. From this perspective, investing in

the cultural/creative industries pays off because it taps into the creativity of local artists, cultural

entrepreneurs, and communities, generates high-value-added jobs, production, and exports, and

boosts tourism and other sectors' competitiveness through market diversification, destination

branding, and media value. Errol Hill (1991) states that, “the carnival festival may have been

transplanted to the region by European settlers; but, once adopted by the Afro-Caribbeans, it was

transformed into an expression of surviving African traditions, colored by local experience.”

This would have impact on the mas to come, because as Nurse (1999) notes, this post-

emancipation period saw Carnival become an annual ceremony that demonstrated the African

population’s resistance against aristocratic European social and political dominance. The

authenticity that Trinidad Masquerade carries impacts its economic value and therefore

reinforces the idea that cultural value influences economic value. There has always been a

conflict between culture and commerce because of the importance behind allowing a culture to

develop or evolve naturally while maintaining those cultural elements without having the

commercial aspect dominate.2 One of the first intentions I have with my practice is to determine

how can I use the traditional mas character(s) to visualize questions of commodity in an attempt

to describe the balance between product and culture. Does economic value hold more precedence

in Trinidad Masquerade?

2
Hergesell, Anja. Modul Vienna University, 2012, Commodification and Culture How Can Culture Be
Economically Used without Selling It out?
 The commodification of culture is neither good nor bad just mishandled and there are

negative impacts such as the reduction of the culture’s authenticity; destruction of local identity

and cultural values; standardization of culture and many others. The commodification can also

cause the inclusion of outside cultural aspects from other communities. Throbsy agrees and state

this can occur through “means of imported goods, apathy of customers towards their own culture

or simply the need for traditional knowledge” Various authors contend that the commodification

of culture can be beneficial. The demand for cultural attractions has the potential to enrich the

values and save traditions from extinction. It’s said that the strengthening of cultural bonds can

occur through the interaction between tourists and local people. (Cohen, 1988; Medina, 2003)

The key concern stems from an understanding of the thesis behind commodification

while at the same time acknowledging the commodification of mas has its benefits. The

perspectives gathered from the literature range from global to local based authors. Many

arguments arise that comment on the lack of balance between commodification and the

reification of cultural values while others suggest that “commodifying cultural forms such as

Carnival is not only imperative, it leads to specific interventions into expressive culture in order

to secure viability into the future.” (Scher 2002). Many economists and participants in the

Carnival saw avenues and possibilities for making it a more profitable and viable enterprise. The

concern for The Carnival and specifically masquerade, as it is a central aspect of the Carnival

and the focus of this study, was that the authenticity would decline. Gareth L Green in “Come to

Life”: Authenticity, Value, and the Carnival as Cultural Commodity in Trinidad and Tobago

argues that culture has been reduced to terms that are beneath the values of Carnival. He

criticizes the Carnival for being an “intense period of frivolity and partying” adding that the

history of the Carnival’s sartorial display of self-affirmation and anti-slavery has been lost. Nurse
makes the point of Carnival’s commodification allowing individuals to turn their creative work

into labor and the ‘decline’ that is spoken about is desired. This effectively highlights the lack of

balance in the commodification of Carnival overall. These various discourses introduce an

inquiry of whether or not there can be a balance and it is through the Blue Devil this concept of

balance is put to the test. How can I organize the three different arguments into this traditional

character?

While there has been analysis done linking the commodification of masquerade to the

objectification of women, that aspect of the discourse is not as developed. Nevertheless, the

information gathered from issues of exploiting women’s sexuality in marketing has provided

relevant data to refer to. One of the primary concepts of advertising, according to Solomon

(1992), is to persuade consumers to buy the product and generate good thoughts about the brand

and company. An attractive lady model connected with a product or message appears to have an

appealing power in consumers' brand evaluations. A lot of the art making will involve

perceptions and how marketing/advertising plays a part in the manipulation of media. De Freitas

criticizes the media’s manipulation of images stating that what is shown is not necessarily the

reality, not all women drink, wine and jam or dress in skimpy outfits. In a market driven

economy, enhancing female sex appeal has become a prime ingredient in sales campaigns. The

way in which women are portrayed in the media facilitates two different arguments. The picture

that is promoted in the media, which ironically serves to convey national moral outrage at the fall

of Carnival “through its association with debased womenfolk”, and to sell Carnival

internationally as an exotic experience. Through this, two questions have been posed; How can I

visualize the link between commodification and the objectivation of women? And what does the

body as a commodity look like?

 References

Adorno, Theodor W. The Culture Industry Electronic Resource. Routledge, 2001.

Alam, Md. Mahmudul, et al. “Presenting Women as Sexual Objects in Marketing
Communications.” Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 10, no. 3, 2019, pp. 911–927.,
https://doi.org/10.1108/jima-03-2017-0032.

Bayazıt, Didem Zeynep. “The Deconstruction of Women Image through Advertising.” Journal
of Business Research - Turk, vol. 12, no. 1, 2020, pp. 429–439.,
https://doi.org/10.20491/isarder.2020.853.

Bunten, Alexis Celeste. “Sharing Culture or Selling out? Developing the Commodified Persona
in the Heritage Industry.” American Ethnologist, vol. 35, no. 3, 2008, pp. 380–395.,
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Copeland, Raedene P. “Bikini, Beads, and Feathers” at Trinidad Carnival: The Voice of the
Younger Generation. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2010.

De Freitas, Patricia A. “Disrupting the Nation : Gender Transformations in the Trinidad

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Culture Be Economically Used without Selling It out?

Miller, Daniel. “Absolute Freedom in Trinidad.” Man, vol. 26, no. 2, 1991, p. 323.,
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competitiveness-in-the-caribbean/.

Nurse, Keith. 2006, THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES IN CARICOM: TRADE AND

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES.

Riggio, Milla Cozart. Carnival: Culture in Action: The Trinidad Experience. Routledge, Taylor
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