MODULE 1: CARIBBEAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Location and definition of the Caribbean

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The caribbean:
* comprises the caribbean sea, its islands and the surrounding areas.
* Southeast of north america & the gulf of mexico
* East of central america
* Northwest of south america

American Mediterranean Sea = c’bean sea + gulf of Mexico ( Cuba, Jamaica,

Hispaniola and Puerto Rico separate the American Mediterranean Sea from the
Atlantic Ocean.)

The region has 4 subregions:

* Lesser Antilles: made up of the leeward islands, leeward antilles and the
windward islands.
* Greater Antillies: CUBA , HISPANIOLA (HAITI AND DR), JAMAICA AND CUBA
* Mainland Territories: Belize, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana
* Other territories: Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos Islands

LESSER ANTILLES
Leeward Antilles (netherland antilles) - ABC Islands
Leeward Islands (away from wind) - Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St Martin, St
Barthelemy, Saba, St Kitts and Nveis, Antigua & Barbuda, Montserrat and Guadeloupe.
Windward Islands - Dominica, Martinique, St lUcia, Bim, SVG, T&T

Problems Defining the Caribbean

Each definition excludes a country or group of countries. The term caribbean is an
abstract concept and there is no one specific definition which can be applied to
it. The definition can be: political, geographical, geological, historical or
diasporic.

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Definition
Background/Knowledge
Knowledge Words
 Geographical
* Area washed by the Caribbean sea and is often described as the Caribbean
basin.
* Lesser antilles, greater antilles, mainland territories and other territories.
* Bahamas, mainland countries and Barbados are not washed by the Caribbean sea.
* Some countries like Venezuela are washed by it and aren't a part of the
caribbean. (panama, columbia, costa rica, etc)
* The mainland territories shared features similar to caribbean islands rather than
their neighboring countries.
* Columbus misunderstood the location and called it the ‘west indies’
* Longitude 60°W to 85°W
* the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and regional organisations such as the
Association of Caribbean States (ACS) include Mexico, Honduras, Panama or Nicaragua
as as part of the ‘Wider Caribbean’ region
1. Lesser/Greater Antillies
2. Mainland Territories
3. Caribbean Basin
4. Archipelago- chain of islands
5. Water bodies
6. Isthmus - a narrow neck of land separating two water bodies (PANAMA)
7. Wider Caribbean
Geological

* Area defined by the caribbean plate that shares similar seismic, tectonic and
volcanic features
* - territories of much of the eastern caribbean made by impact of plate tectonics
(lesser antilles archipelago)
* Geology is the study of the earth involving the earth’s structure, features and
the materials it is made of in addition to the composition of those materials.
* Earthquakes, volcanic activity and mountain building are examples of seismic or
tectonic activities that occur along plate margins as they move and interact with
other plates.
* the Caribbean Plate does not include Guyana, the Bahamas, and much of Cuba
1. Nazca plate
2. Cocos plate
3. North american plate
4. South american plate
5. Plate tectonics
6. tectonic plate - part of the Earth’s crust, underlying the land and oceans that
we can see.
7. Seismic activity - Earth movements that impact and influence the surface of the
Earth.
Historical
* The countries that have shared experiences of European colonisation,
slavery, indentureship and plantation system.
* The 4 leading colonial powers; Spain, Holland, France and Britain colonised the
region from the 16th century onwards. Other colonizers include; denmark, Sweden and
portugal.
SIMILAR CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL EXPERIENCES
* Agricultural production & imported labour (slavery and indentureship)
* Indigenous populations were adversely affected by colonisation through
displacement, disease and forced labour practices.
* Individual territories retained close ties to their colonizers (guyana & jamaica
= british … suriname and aruba = dutch influence still evident today)
* European powers used colonisation, slavery, the encomienda system and the
plantation system to sustain the economic wealth of the continent. These systems
shaped the shared history of the Caribbean nations.
* Countries which were colonised were influenced by their colonisers cultural
traits. It is for this reason that languages, cultural pratcices, religions and
economic activities of c’bean states reflect those of their colonial powers
* COLONISATION IS A SHARED FEATURE OF THE HISTORICAL CARIBBEAN

* ■ occupation of the area by the indigenous people;

* ■ European exploration and settlement;
* ■ genocide and war waged against the indigenes;
* ■ African slavery in all and Indian indentureship in some;
* ■ colonialism;
* ■ socioeconomic developments related to the plantation;
* ■ independence, and the forging of a free society based on these experiences.
* SPAIN
CLAIMED ALL OF THE C’BEAN AND MOST OF THE LATIN AMERICA. Culture most
prominent in cuba, venezuela, Domi. Rep. puerto rico
BRITAIN
Anguilla, antigua , barbados, bermuda, st kitts, the bahamas, british guiana,
cayman islands, st lucia, nevis, montserrat, t&t
FRANCE
Dominica, guadeloupe, haiti, st vincent, tobago, st kitts, st lucia, st
martin ( nothern half), st barthelemy, martinique
HOLLAND
The netherland antilles ( aruba, bonaire, curacao, saba, st eustatius & st
martin), tortola
US (after europe)
Puerto rico, virgin islands, cuba

1. Colonization
2. Slavery
3. Indentureship
4. Plantation system
5. Genocide
6. Colonisation
7. Slavery - legal bind where individuals are owned by others. Slavery arrived when
britain needed more workers for the plantation
8. Indentureship - given land, cash and a chance to return home for his hard work
9. Plantation system - a system of cultivation based on large-scale farming
plantations to achieve agricultural mass production
10. Encomienda system - indigenous natives were given to an explorer by the spanish
crown. This guaranteed economic and political order in the areas conquered by the
spanish.
11. The metropole or metropolitan country - the country which dominates or has
dominated a territory politically and/or culturally (often the former colonial
power).
12. Anglophone
13. Francophone
Political
* The socio-economic and toher groupings found in the region
1. Independent states - previously colonized but now self-governed
2. Dependent states -
3. Colonial deoendencies ( dependent territories)

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THE HISTORICAL PROCESS

TOPIC
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE WORDS
Migrations
* Caribbean experienced many migrations. The movement of society and culture,
as well as their meeting and mixing with other societies and cultures.
* Amerindians moved on foot from Eurasia to the western hemisphere through the
berin strait. They were nomads and followed animals during the ice age.
1. Ethnocentric outlook- view of history and current affairs from the pov of
one’s own culture.
2. Migration - the movement of a group from one area to another.
3. Forced Migration or Voluntary Migration.
4. Nomadic groups - people who are constantly on the move.

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ARTS AND POPULAR CULTURE

Caribbean Arts and Popular Culture in the Region and its Diaspora
(a) Caribbean art forms (for example, popular music, culinary practices,
festivals).
(b) Human and cultural development via the arts.
(c) Contributions made by individuals, for example, Rex Nettleford, Louise Bennet,
Beryl McBurnie, Paule Marshal, Aubrey Cummings, Martin Carter.
 (d) Art Forms in the diaspora, Carnivals, for example, Notting Hill, Caribana and
the West Indian Day Parade.
Cultural expression in the CARIBBEAN is KEY to identity in the region and to its
human and cultural development. There’s; painting, drawing, culinary arts, folk
craft, performance art and festivals.
TOPIC
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE WORDS
CARIBBEAN ART FORMS
* There are three main categories for the arts which include: Literary
literature and poetry, performing music, dance and drama and visual painting and
sculpture.
* Hybridisation, syncretism and creolisation have played a role in the creation of
rich and diverse cultural forms which are unique to the region.
* Computer technologies and mass media have contributed to the growth, acceptance
and appreciation of caribbean music, cuisine and festivals.
* Creolization
* Indigenous society
* Culture Syncretism
* Cultural hybridization
* Cultural retention
* Cultural erasure
* Cultural renewal
* Caribbean art forms
* Enculturation
* Cultural Assimilation
* Transculturation
* Dougla
* Mulatto
* Diaspora
* Popular culture
* Mass communication
* Acculturation

1. The Arts - vehicles for cultural expression.

2. Popular culture- mainstream culture based on the tastes of ORDINARY people or
masses rather than ELITE CULTURE or HIGH CULTURE
3. HIGH Culture - works of art which can be compared with similar works
internationally. E.g. ballet, opera, gallery art and theatre production.
4. Artisanal- works which are produced by artisans who make art for local sale
5. Folk culture- beliefs and practices of a distinct ethnic group and tends to be
tradition bound.
Popular Music and Dance
MUSIC
* Music has helped to define the region as a whole and has placed it on the
world map.
* Bob marley
* Most music was brought to the region by migration and through syncretism, have
expanded.
* Caribbean music gives caribbean people their identity whether in the region or in
the diaspora.
* Our ancestors were brought from many different places and many differents african
tribes and they brought MANY DIFFERENT cultures.
* The Anglophone Caribbean have soca, calypso, steelband, ragga soca, chutney,
parang, tambrin (T AND T), spouge (BARBADOS), marimba (Belize), junkanoo, mento,
sky, reggae fusion, rockers, rock steady, etc Jamaica)
* Non Anglophone countries had some music and dance like: rumba, salsa, timba,
plena, bomba (cuba, dr and pr), reggaeton (pr), compass, rara, twoubadou (Haiti),
kawina (suriname) and beguine (martinique and guadeloupe.
Reggae
* Reggae is the most internationally famous style of Caribbean music.
* JAMAICA LATE 1960’s. It has infectious rhythms and dynamic performers.
* “Reggae can be considered to be a reinterpretation of american rnb” professor
Peter Manuel 1998.
* Reggae has evidence of jazz, calypso and african music and is sung in jamaican
patois and jamaican english.
* It was popularised in the 1970s by the late Bob Marley with his rasta lifestyle.
* His album Exodus was listed by time magazine as the album of the century.
* His music has a message of peace and love that young people can identify with. It
also documents social and political criticism.
* Reggae sumfest is held in jamaica and is a huge source of foreign exchange.
CALYPSO
* Calypso has its origins in western african music and singing and resistance by
the lower socioeconomic classes to the colonial powers.
* It was a means to ‘poke fun’ at important people and institutions like the roman
Catholic Church.
* In present day, calypso provides a social and political commentary of events
mainly in T&T.
* Calyposians like the mighty sparrow use music to act as a voice for their people,
expressing views and protesting government actions.
* Hasn’t gained as much international attention as reggae. By the arrow’s “ah
feeling hot”. And the late Calypso Rose “fire in meh wire” which has been sung in 9
different languages.
* Calypso brings in foreign exchange and has a strong connection to Carnival.

Steel Band
* This is the ONLY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT to have been invented in the 20th century.
This was during colonial times.
* The steelpan movement emerged as a new way of drumming which evaded colonial
restrictions
* It originates in Trinidadian carnival musical traditions and developed in the
middle of the century out of experimentation with readily available materials and
objects which could be used and tuned for percussion
* It is electronically tuned from soprano to bass to produce different sounds
* The steel pan is associated with grassroots people
* Tokyo, invaders and the red army. These names reflected the current situation of
the war years, elements of resistance to domination and the desire to project a
tough image.
* Local steel pan players migrated abroad and have taught others how to play and
tune the. Some schools in europe and north america teach the steel pan

Punta Rock
* Drumming on conch or turtle shells
* From Belize in the 1970s out of the traditional garifuna punta percussion music
and dance and has become popular in south america. It was taken abroad mainly to
the Belie community in new york and spread from there.
* The songs are mainly in the form of call and response with drums.
* It was originally in the garifuna language but has been translated to english and
spanish.
* The early songs were in the Garifuna language, celebrating their history and
culture
* While punta was the traditional dance music of the Garifuna people, punta rock is
more widespread in its appeal, with faster rhythms and more provocative dancing.
Other forms of music in the region
* Reggae - roots reggae and ragamuffin
* Calypso - soca, chutney, rapso, reggae soca
* SOCA MUSIC - music that is the most demanded in carnival. It is growing
internationally and developed out of calypso in the 1970s and 1980s introducing
indian rhythms.
* Chutney hybrid from indian music and african based music traditions.
* DRUMMING HAS DIRECT ROOTS TO AFRICA AND WAS DISCOURAGED AND FORBIDDEN IN SLAVERY.
* Drumming is the main feature of all caribbean music
* drums (hollowed-out tree trunks, with the skin of goats, deer and other animals
stretched out on top
* PARANG is in t and t around xmas time and combines spanish, amerindian and
african heritage and is sung in spanish. It has been hybridised and there is even
parang soca.

* The European jig, reel, waltz, polka and mazurka

* riding a rhythm — like the trojan rhythm of the dead like dog rhythm

1. Reggae
2. Soca
3. Punta
4. Zouk
5. Bob marley
6. Shabba Ranks
7. Shenseea
8. Spice
9. Rastafarian
10. Roman catholic church
11. The Mighty Sparrow
12. The Calypso Rose
13. Lord Kitchener
14. Chalk Dust
15. Orchestra
16. Steel pan
17. Grassroots people - poor people on the outskirts of port-of-spain
Dance
* Dance forms originating in the caribbean include; beguine, zouk, meringue.
* folk dance such as traditional Trinidad limbo dancing, the quadrille, Bermuda’s
Goombay or Grenada’s cakewalk;
* indigenous ceremonial dance such as Guyana’s mari mari;
* spiritual dancing, associated with religious practices, such as Kumina;
* popular dance forms such as calypso, soca, ska or punta.
* European dances were creolised to create caribbean dance
* The quadrille was copied by the slaves and mixed with african elements. They were
hybridised further like salsa from mambo.
* Some, particularly salsa, have become globalised phenomena, via the Caribbean
diaspora.
1. Limbo
2. Souk
3. Beguine
4. Soca calypso ska (dance forms)
5. Cake walk - grenada
6. Religious practices - Kumina
Culinary Practices
* Many culinary practices due to the region’s many migrations.
* From the Amerindians , europeans , africans, east indians and chinese
* The food is generally hot and spicy which is a mix of indian and african cooking.
People
Food
Indigenous people
Corn beer, bbq and jerked wild meat, pepperpot soup, use of roots and
tubers , cassava bread
British
Salt fish.
To feed the slaves
Rice and peas, salted meat, smoked herring, black pudding and souse and
discarded animals parts (pig snout, cow heel, goat belly, fish head, animal feet)
oxtail
More for the slaves
Root crops (cassava, yams, eddoes) breadfruit. Breadfruit can be steamed,
roasted, stuffed or baked into chips
East Indians
Curries, pepper, lentil peas and various herbs and pisces. Doubles and roti
and pholourie. Trinidad – Aloo choka
Chinese
Fry rice, fry chicken and vegetables
British
English potato is mainly present in the indo-caribbean , tea and porridge for
breakfast. gravy
Caribbean
Angostura bitters, jerk seasoning , rum are major exports and contribute to
economic growth
Rum distillery in barbados
* Salt fish was imports by the british to feed the slaves but is now used in
the making of many dishes like fish cakes in barbados, saltfish and dumpling, salt
fish and ackee, salt fish pelau, saltfish and breadfruit, etc.
* Many ‘slave foods’ are not a part of our diet.
* Fast food from north america has made its way to the caribbean
* Those living in the diaspora have expanded the local cuisine
* Food may be the same in all the territories but range in terms of preparation or
how they are served.
1. Culinary practices - the methods used to prepare and consume different
foods that are unique to a cultural or ethnic group.
2. Rum
3. Angostura bitters
4. Jerk seasoning
5. Barbecuing
6. pepperpot
Festivals
* Festivals bring the ethnic groups together
* Promotes and enriches caribbean history through the use of the costumes, music
and dance and high level of audience interaction.
SECULAR FESTIVALS
All carnival celebrations in the Caribbean are street festivals with mas bands or
costumed revellers, with steelbands and brassbands or other percussion instruments
providing music, and the songs are primarily calypso, soca or the local variant
* Carnival started in trinidad but spread to other parts of the region
* Carnival in trinidad has contributed to the growth and development of the
caribbean through promoting music, bringing all classes of people together,
boosting creative small businesses, tax revenue, multiplier effect, increased GDP,
transfer of technologies.
* Carnival has been influenced by extra regional countries and has now been
commercialized to attract people from various parts of the world.
* Carnival comes from a mix of celebrations
* So trinidad and haiti carnival for roman catholic vehicle bim, antigua and
barbuda for emancipation.
* Crop over in barbados - started in 1780s when bim produced the most sugar and
lasted for 5 weeks. It highlights history, art and culture.
* Junkanoo in the bahamas - celebrate near xmas and started during slavery as a day
when slaves could leave the plantation and celebrate with their community.
* Reggae festival in jamaica - 1978 in early august. Lasts for one week and
different types of reggae are played. Evolved into reggae sumfest
* Tobago heritage festival - cultural retention of the history of the island. Crab
and goat race.. Wedding music and dance
* Tobago Jazz Fest - a yearly event
* Vincy mas in St Vincent , Lucian Carnival, spicemas in grenada.
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS
* Christian festivals brought by the europeans
* Hindu and muslim festivals brought by the east indians during indentureship
* Carnival is creeolised christian festivals.

Muslim
Eid al-Fitr - end of ramadan.. Bank holiday in T & T

Eid al-Adha - festival of sacrifice

Hindu
Diwali - festival of light over darkness

Phagwa - festival of colours

Christian
Easter

Christmas

-Carnivals took place all over Europe and involved the portrayal of characters in
masquerade Caribbean impact on europe through arts.

* Artisanal crafts - part of popular culture.. Forms our cultural identity

1. Secular festivals
2. Carnival
3. Multiplier effect - when money is spent in an economy this spending effects
other areas and results in a knock on and multiplies effect on the economic output,
employment, etc
4. Crop over
5. Junkanoo
6. Reggae sumfest // reggae festival
7. Eid al-Fitr - end of fasting for muslims
8. Eid al-Adha - festival of sacrifice
9. Diwali - connects east indians to the motherland
10. Phagwa - spring festival of colour
11. Easter - death and resurrection of jesus
12. Christmas - birth of christ
13. Artisanal crafts
CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARTS TO HUMAN AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
Human Development
* The process of enlarging people’s freedom and opportunities as well as enhancing
their well-being.
Ways the arts foster humans development:
1. Empowerment
2. Productivity
3. Equity
4. Sustainability

EMPOWERMENT
* Unites people and allows individuals to showcase their talents.
* Develops human potential
* Allow people to have creative self-expression and intellectual growth. May be
therapeutic
* Unity via street festivals, art groups, etc
* Resistance to cultural imperialism. Rex Nettleford, Louise Bennet. Shapes
Caribbean identity
Productivity
* Creates employment opportunities and increase the multiplier effect
* Increase trade and foreign exchange
* Recreation and relaxation which promotes self empowerment and make people more
productive overall.

Equity - the quality of being fair and impartial

* So resistance to oppression
* Represent a valuable aspect of Caribbean heritage.
* Tool to express struggles for justice and against oppression and celebration of
culture
* Self worth can be magnified when people reach international levels and this can
be liberating in a society which still has metropole aspects.

SUSTAINABLILTY
* People are agents which development can take place and be sustained
* Through the arts, dress, language and customs can be retained.
* Human capital can be developed through arts.
* Governments promote folk festivals for cultural renewal and retention.
* This promotes economic and sustainable development via tourism.

Cultural Deveelopment
The arts forms contribute to the formation of culture and society. The arts can
provide means of socialisation as people learn about their culture’s values,
beliefs and identity. This new knowledge and understanding of the basis of one’s
society enables its continuous growth, evolution and development.
Arts define cultural pride and identity.
People in the diaspora can also allow for cultural development.
1. Human development
2. Unity
3. Empowerment
4. Productivity
5. Productivity
6. Equity
7. Cultural imperialism- one culture dominates another
8. Human Capital - the skills, knowledge, productivity or other intangible assets
that individuals use for benefit.
CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY INDIVIDUALS TO C’EAN DEVELOPMENT

NAME
 DATES
Country
TYPES OF CULTURE
MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS
Rex nettleford
1993-2010
jamaica
Dance, scholarship
Dance based on cultural marronage which represented the spirit of resistance
to the colonial rulers
Louise Bennet
1919-2006
jamaica
Performance and lectures
Perspectives on the lives of working class women in jamaica in colonial and
post colonial world
Beryl McBurnie
1914-2000
trinidad
Dance
Promote trinidad and tobago culture through dance.
Paule marshall
1929-
bajan
Author
Attempt for black americans to reclaim their roots in africa like marcus
garvey
Martin Carter
1927-1997
Guyanases
poet
Poems based on politics and had a communist view
Bob Marley
1945-1981
Jamaican
singer
Rastafarian singer who sung about politics and the promise for a better life
through allegiance to Jah. Snag about freedom from oppression and mental slavery

1. Cultural marronage

Arts and pop culture in the diaspora

Mass media allows for the expansion of the arts. People cement their culture in
their new societies and sense of identity. Music has contributes to
transnationalism
An important group, known as the Caribbean Artists Movement, was formed in the
1960s in the UK as a cultural initiative to link Caribbean writers and artists and
encourage their work

Caribbean music played worldwide and salsa performed everywhere.

Nottinghill carnival - In london, street festival. Began in 1960s and allows
cultural expression for the london west indian community.
West indian day parade - NEW york . Lbaour day parade. 1969.
Caribana- Canada. 1967. Music street festivals. Largest cultural festival in north
america
1. Transnationalism - a social phenomena involving the heightening
interconnectivity between people across geographic boundaries..