Transcript creative expressions

Caribbean – Global Interactions
Objectives
1. Students should be able to understand the
factors which have shaped Caribbean society
and culture
2. Appreciate how cultural traits evident through
out the region have resulted from Caribbean
peoples’ experiences
3. Understand the common features which exist
within Caribbean diversity
Creative Expressions
Objective:
discuss the influence of creative expressions of extraregional countries on the Caribbean
Festivals:
 Most of the Caribbean countries have shown strong
influences of extra-regional countries, namely those of
the European colonizers
 This however has changed due to the creativity of the
Caribbean people by adapting the cultural forms of the
colonizer into distinctive hybrid products of their own
Festivals
Western influences an be found in Christian
observances such as :
 Christmas
 Easter
These festivals are celebrated in a similar fashion
due to foreign mass media (decorations,
commodities and gifts) and commercialization
Festivals
Festivals that show long established Caribbean
traditions:
 Corpus Christi
 Good Friday
 Ash Wednesday
 All Saints’ Day
The West also had little impact on Muslim, Hindu,
Orisha and Amerindian
Festivals
 Secular festivals such as Valentine’s day and Old
Year’s Night, Mother’s and father’s Day and
Halloween has been greatly influenced by the US
again due to the penetration of foreign media
 Most of the production for gifts and cards for these
events also originate in the US
Carnival
 How carnival was celebrated reflected the resistance
of the oppressed people – they parodied and satirized
European attitudes, dress and mannerisms under the
guise of celebration, so that the traditions of critique,
social commentary and resistance was strongly
entrenched in the celebration.
 Carnival in Dominica and T & T was first associated
with the French Roman catholic influence
 In Antigua, Barbuda and Barbados it is celebrated to
commemorate emancipation
Carnival
 Carnival celebrations in the islands where tourism is
a great income earner has been greatly influenced by
extra-regional countries:






What events are staged
Where they are located
How they are packaged to be of interest to the tourist
Admission for shows
Selling the rights to reproduce certain events to foreign media
Production of CDs and videos
Carnival
 In T&T evidence can be seen in the areas of:




Technology – computers used to create images of costumes,
sourcing of foreign materials to build costumes and the sound
technology found in music recordings and live entertainment
Development of ideas – the mas bands are inspired by themes that
range from sci-fi to abstract portrayals of globalization,
oppression, capitalism, gender issues and ecological awareness
Built structures – large floats (some with air-conditioned rooms) –
similar to what is found in Italy and new Orleans
Music that is exported – traditional calypso is no longer exported,
it has been sidelined for the new wave, jump and wine soca
Music
 Caribbean music is known for its resistant themes
which spring from the region’s history of oppression
– colonialism, bonded labour and social
stratification
 The most successful musical forms generated from
the British Caribbean are :
 Reggae
 Calypso
 Steelband
These originated in Jamaica and among the shanty towns and
urban poor in Trinidad
Music
 Calypso had grassroots origins as calypsonians
sought to expose the inequities such as racism, and
political oppression and voiced alternative opinions
to that of the establishment (colonial politics and
Roman catholic Church)
 Their compositions combined wit, satire and humour
to poke fun at important persons therefore it was a
means whereby the poor and powerless could resist
and ridicule the highest authorities
Theatre Arts
 Comprises of drama, dance and stage craft
 In the Caribbean it also includes:
 Traditional dances,
 Limbo
 Stick fights
 Folk singing
 Chanting
 Drumming
 Story-telling
However the extra-regional influences was very evident in how
Caribbean theatre developed
Theatre Arts
 Language – debate between patois and standard
english
 Theme – decolonization: conflicts and tension over
issues such as identity, discrimination based on race,
colour and class
 Therefore theatre arts are not only a form of
entertainment but an attempt to bring awareness to
Caribbean people through humour, tradegy, musical
productions, dance and even arts in education
programs for school
Theatre Arts
 Caribbean theatre arts have into a creative
adaptation of western styles and genres largely by
incorporating:






Caribbean language
Local musical rhythms
The oral traditions
Call and response episodes
Folklore characters
Picong – repartee that is stinging in its wittiness (usually of a
sexual nature)
 The West however has played a role in the growth
and development of:






Poets
Playwrights
Actors
Dramatists
Writers
Novelists
Some Caribbean writers and playwrights that are internationally
known are Derek Walcott, Vidia Naipaul, Earl Lovelace and
Jamaica Kincaid
Culinary Practices
 The culinary arts in the Caribbean also show s a high
degree of creative adaption of the food traditions of
Europe, Africa, India, China and the pre-Columbian
people
 A staple in the Caribbean is saltfish or salted cod
Jamaica – ackee and saltfish is the national dish

St Vincent – roast breadfruit and saltfish

Antigua – duckanoo and saltfish
It originated in the importations of salted and smoked fish from
British colonies

Culinary Practices
 It should also be noted that animal parts were not
considered to be fit for human consumption and
therefore given to the enslaved
 As a result salted smoked and pickled meats became very
popular in the Caribbean
Smoked herring
 Pigtail
 Black pudding
 Pig foot or chicken foot souse
 Cow heel
 Goat belly
most of the Western countries do not use the various animal parts in
their cooking

Culinary Practices
 Note that while the food may be similar – the
preparation and how it served differs greatly
 E.g. rice and peas is a Caribbean staple but red beans
and rice of Jamaica is very different from the
national dish of haiti
 The French influence is still in existence in Haiti,
Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica – especially
seen in the herbs, spices and sauces
 Caribbean cuisine is hot and spicy based on the
influences of the Caribs, Indians and Africans
Culinary Practices
 The British has very little influence on Caribbean
cuisine in terms of taste, spices and herbs
 One of the main staples that did come from the
British was the Irish potato (but cooked very
differently in the Caribbean)
 However the Caribbean people do drink tea and
speak of it as anything from coffee to milo to ovaltine
to cocoa. They may also have porridge for breakfast
 Oats and wheat has been mostly replaced by
cornmeal
Culinary Practices
 Gravy is also British but cooked separately – in the
Caribbean it is cooked as part of the dish
 The West has made a big impact in the areas of timesaving gadgets, appliances and pre-cooked products
such as ham, cakes, home baked bread etc
 Another impact is in the area of fast-food chains
It can therefore be said that to people in extra-regional
countries, Caribbean cuisine represents the ethnic
foods of a metropolitan center