FOUN 1101 CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION

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One Course One University One Caribbean

 (UNIFIED)FOUN 1101:
CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION
Plenary #8

Ms. Akilah Lamsee

One Course One University One Caribbean

2
 PLENARY 8: CARIBBEAN CULTURAL
EXPRESSION: FESTIVALS, MUSIC AND SPORTS
 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

• The concept of culture

• Caribbean festivals

• Caribbean music

• Sport in the Caribbean

 CULTURE

A body of beliefs and practices

in terms of which a group of
people understand themselves
and the world and organise their
individual and collective lives.
It is learnt through socialisation
and is shared by members of a
society
 CULTURE

Non- Material culture is the

intangible world of ideas
created by members of a
society.
Material culture constitutes the
tangible things created by
members of a society.
 TYPES OF CULTURE

• High culture – refers to cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite.

• Popular culture designates cultural patterns that was widespread among a society’s population

• Subculture – cultural patterns that distinguish some segment of a society’s population. They involve
not only difference but also hierarchy.

• Counter culture – refers to cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a
society. Counter cultures reject many of the standards of a dominant culture.
 CULTURAL PASSAGE

• Culture is passed on both consciously and unconsciously

 CULTURAL PASSAGE

• Culture is passed on both consciously and unconsciously

 CARIBBEAN CULTURE AND CULTURAL
EXPRESSIONS
1. Transmissible

2. Always Evolving
PURE VS DILUTED FORMS OF CULTURE
 CARIBBEAN CULTURE

• A body of learned behaviours common to the Caribbean region, which is passed on

from generation to generation.
CARIBBEAN FESTIVALS
 FESTIVALS: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
CARNIVAL
Two distinct social streams:
1. Upper classes and their masked balls
2. Lower classes in the street parades

It is also believed that Carnival was influenced by

western religious beliefs and is tied to Easter-
Lenten observances.

Corey Gilkes postulated that Trinidad Carnival

emerged from West African festivals.
Negue Jadin
Dame Lorraine
Blue Devil
La Diablesse
 ASPECTS OF CARNIVAL

• Mas

• Calypso

• Steel Pan
 FESTIVALS: HOSAY/HUSSAY

• It was call Moharram in India

• When it was brought to the Caribbean it
became known as Hosay
• It was celebrated in Guyana, Trinidad, St.
Vincent, Jamaica, Belize, St. Lucia and
Guadeloupe
• Until 1940s the festival invoked religious
sentiments and devotions from both Hindus and
Muslims who would avoid alcohol, sex and other
pleasures for 10 days
• On the 9th night tazias were assembled and
there would be a procession
 FESTIVALS: JONKONNU

• Carried out during the Christmas holidays

when the enslaved were given ‘free’ time to
celebrate.
• Drumming, dancing and costumes/masks
• Celebrated in JA, Bahamas, Belize, SK, Guyana,
Bermuda as well as NC.
• Origins in Africa and went unimpeded by
European culture until the 18th century
• Before its creolization it functioned as the core
of oppositional culture especially among the
enslaved in Jamaica
• Most of the characters are male with vivid
characters similar to that of Trinidad’s
Carnival
 CARIBBEAN MUSIC
• Music holds a special place in the lives of
Caribbean people

• It has the power to heal, to motivate and transform

their lives

• Music has been the balm for systematic

oppression, as well as the marginalisation and
negation of its people

• Music articulates their struggles and articulates

their victories while inserting a Caribbean world
view into the global landscape
 ONE GOOD THING ABOUT MUSIC WHEN ITS
HITS YOU, YOU FEEL NO PAIN
• Stress relief
• Physical exercise
• Pleasurable emotions
• Spiritual emotions
• Transcendence of daily irksome issues
• Caribbean music reflects the ethos of Caribbean daily life.
• Music plays an important roles in the shaping of societies.
• It is a potent socialising form in the region
 CARIBBEAN MUSIC

Hispano Franco Anglo

Cuba – Rumba, Son, Pachonga, Haiti – Rara, Twoubadou, Jamaica – Kumina, Mento,
Mambo, Salsa Kompass/Kompa Reggae, Dancehall

Dominican Republic – Guadeloupe/Martinique – Trinidad and Tobago –

Merengue, Bachata Zouk, Kadans, Bele Calypso, Soca, Chutney and
other East Indian subgenres

Puerto Rico – Plena, Salsa, St. Lucia/ Dominica - Bouyon

Bomba, Nueva Cancion

Reggaeton
 CELIA CRUZ

• Born in Havanna, Cuba in 1925

• Established a career in singing in the 1950s, only female in a
male dominated genre
• Relocated to the US when Fidel Castro came into power
• Castro was enraged by her deflection and banned her from
returning to Cuba
• Grew to stardom in the US singing with many notable stars
such a Tito Puente.
• She produced more than 75 records and earned numerous
Grammys and Grammy nominations
 CELIA CRUZ – THE QUEEN OF SALSA

• ¡Azucar ! - this was Celia Cruz’s battle

cry.
• It was her way of energizing and
injecting the music with that extra
serving of sabor
• Sugar was linked to Cuba’s
agricultural history. It was a link to the
diversity of Cuban culture and the
violence of slavery.
• Cruz’s throaty cry evoked these
associations.
 CALYPSO

• Calypso can be described as oral tradition, possessing keen

observation, inspired by social commentary and biting satire
• This genre can be traced to the arrival of the enslaved from West
Africa as they used their own kind of music and songs as a form
of communication and self expression.
• Many early calypsos were sung in French-creole patois by a
singer call a griot.
• The griot later became known as the chantuelle and in more
recent times the calypsonian
 CALYPSO
• During the period of enslavement, calypsos were sung to
mock the planterclass and as a form of communication.

• After slavery, the calypsonian was someone who acted as

an advocate of the poor and disfranchised. It has often
been called a poor man’s newspaper in times when
literacy was not widespread.

• The calypsonian would ridicule and reprimand the

authority for their inadequacies in social policies.

• Those in power disapproved of calypsonians

• Outside of the Caribbean, calypso is often seen as

carefree, light hearted and even frivolous
 CALYPSO

• During the colonial era, the art faced cencorship

as calypsonians will often criticize colonial
mismanagement and corruption.
• Combination of joyful cadences with serious and
often subtle commentary on a wide range of topic
– racism, the cold war, cost of living
• For many years men dominated the calypso
world (Calyso King Competition”. This changed
in 1978 when Calypso Rose won the competition
and it was renamed “Calypso Monarch
Competition”.
 MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CALYPSO
• 1914 – The 1st Calypso was recorded (Iron Duke)

• Late 1920s – Calypso tents emerged.

• Late 1930s – Calypso began to be exported, Atilla the Hun, Roaring Lion, Lord
invader
• 1956 – Harry Belafonte recorded his famous Banana Boat classic Day O. Sparrow also
sang the popular Jean and Dinah in this year.
 CHUTNEY

• A derivative of ancestral music from

India

• Retained some of Hindi language

and mixed with Trinidadian creole

• Indian culture and music remained

in the rural areas in favour of the
traditional calypso
 CHUTNEY REVOLUTION

• Mid 1990s
• Sonny Mann Lotayla
• Establishment of the Chutney Monarch Competition
• Black Stalin won calypso monarch in 1995 with
Sunday Popo
• Basdeo Panday became Prime Minister
• Establishment of Indian Arrival Day a few months
before election
 CHUTNEY AND THE INDIAN IDENTITY

• Bhojpuri Folks song brought from India during the indentureship period
• These folk songs were associated with the lower class, lower class female in
particular
• Lower classes were banned form reciting religious Vedic texts
• Unlike Indian classical music which was religious roots, the folk songs dealth with
issues such as sex, birth, marriage and familial issues. They were highly eroticized
and intimate.
• Many did not see chutney as a representation of Indian identity.
 CHUTNEY AND THE INDIAN IDENTITY

• Religious

• Gender

• Class

• Race
 REGGAE

• The rhythms of Reggae emerged from Ska in the 1950s and

Rock Steady in the 1960s
• It is recognized as different from its predecessors because of
its spiritual emphasis.
• The lyrics of Reggae typically deal with poverty, love, politics
and Rastafari
• There are different forms of Reggae including Roots Reggae
typified by Bob Marley, Lovers Rock, Dub and Dancehall
 MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
REGGAE
• Bob Marley was the pioneer of reggae
music
• The 1972 film The Harder They Come
did much to bring Jamaican culture
and reggae music to international
audiences
• Reggae continued to grow over the
years and diversify
• Dub emerged and it entailed a form of
re-mixing under the manipulation of
electronic effects
• In the 1970s saw the birth of Lovers Rock

• Dancehall reggae exploded onto the scene in the

1980s and soared to greater heights in the 1990s
• Since it inception dancehall has be characterized
by sexually explicit lyric and violence
• However, all is not negative with artiste such as
Luciano, Buju Banton, Sizzla brought new levels of
consciousness to the genre
 ZOUK

• Zouk music emerged in the French Antilles in the

1980s

• The word Zouk is creole and originates in

Martinique where it was a common expression for
party

• Zouk’s dance rhythms are based on traditional

African roots in Martinique

• It has been made famous by the Caribbean

performing group Kassav
 SPORT IN THE CARIBBEAN

• Socially, it promotes self-esteem and achievement which may not have been possible
to attain otherwise.

• Politically it can promote island and regional integration. It can also reflect the
regions collective political perspectives.
• Encourages economic growth through sold out stadiums and exportation of
professional athletes.
 SPORT: WEST INDIES CRICKET

• Originally imported from England to all of its colonies

including those in Asia and Africa
• Its was another socializing tool just as Religion and
Education were.
• England sought to socialize the populations and
reinforce hieararchies via the sport
• Cricket was indeed a gentleman’s game and all others
were excluded by their inability to demonstrate an
understanding of cricket’s image of the ideal
gentleman
 COLONIAL CRICKET

• Cricket allowed the plantocracy to pledge its

support for British cultural values
• Consequently, African and Indian descendants
who made up the indentured labour pool who
were exposed to cricket began to either in whole
or in part, espouse these views.
• By the end of the nineteenth century the middle
class began to dominate West Indian economic
and cultural institutions and began to form their
own cricket clubs
• High walls were built around their games to keep
it from the hands of the unwashed and uncivilised
 BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

• Cricket encapsulates issues of politics, race,

class as well as high and low culture.
• As the lower classes entered the game the
sporting regimen was used to produce an
individual who would become disciplined,
loyal, obedient and respectful of authority
• The Caribbean person however began to
transform it from a mode of social control to
one of social protest
 BEYOND THE BOUNDARY

• What could not be done off the field was

done on the field
• The clash of cultures
• Their success was reflective of the regions’s
right to self determination and cultural
legitimisation
• Like music, it reflected the ‘ethos’ of the
Caribbean people in an effective non-
verbal manner
 WEST INDIES DECLINE

• Up until the 1960s their wins were sporadic

• The 1960s saw a change in the team from being
white dominated to black dominated
• By the late 19870s, WI were recognised as the
unofficial world champions
• The 70s and 80s they had the best team in test
cricket history
• 1990s – 2000s saw a sharp decline in WI
performance and to this day they struggle to
regain their past glory.
CRICKET AS A CARRIER OF CARIBBEAN
CULTURE