NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Stages of Liberation: A
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Stages of Liberation: Ritual, Nationalism and Women’s Cultural Production in Jamaica's Pre-independence Era A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Field of Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Theatre and Drama By Karima Atiya Robinson EVANSTON, ILLINOIS December 2007 2 © Copyright by Karima Atiya Robinson 2007 All Rights Reserved 3 for my mother, father, and brother and the memories of Una Marson Enid Chevannes and Ivy Baxter 4 Contents Abstract 5 Preface 6 Acknowledgements 9 Chapter One: Introduction 12 Chapter Two: Myalisation of the Middle Class 35 A Genealogy of Afro-Jamaican Religions 39 The Gendered Colonial Discourse on Afro-Jamaican Religions 47 Ritual on Stage: Defining Myalisation and Myal-Theatre 76 Conclusion 97 Chapter Three: Una Marson’s Pocomania as Myal-Theatre 99 Setting the Scene: Jamaican Theatre 100 The Significance of the Rebellion of 1938 104 Una Marson: Poet, Dramatist, Journalist, and Activist 109 Pocomania as Myal-theatre 121 Conclusion 155 Chapter Four: Enid Chevannes’ Vision of Jamaica 157 Enid Chevannes: Unsung Artist, Teacher and Activist 160 Women, Ladies and Class in Root of Evil and Turned Tables 168 ‘Is Why Oonoo So Dark and Superstitious’: Questioning Afro-Jamaica Belief 185 The Vision : Rewriting Jamaica’s Past 202 Conclusion 222 Chapter Five: Ivy Baxter’s Jamaican Folk 225 Caribbean Dance on Stage 228 The Ivy Baxter Creative Dance Group 241 Embodying Nationalism 258 Dancing Pocomania: Embodying Spirit 283 Conclusion 299 Chapter Six: Conclusion 301 References 309 5 ABSTRACT Stages of Liberation: Ritual, Nationalism and Women’s Cultural Production in Jamaica's Pre-independence Era Karima Atiya Robinson This dissertation examines the development of a black theater aesthetic in Jamaica as the colony prepared for independence. I define my theory of myalisation to explain how middle class theatre audiences participated in the Afro-Jamaican religious rituals of the lower class and how their participation signaled the development of a Jamaican national consciousness. I examine the lives and theatrical works of three Jamaican women artists (Una Marson, Enid Chevannes, and Ivy Baxter) in order to demonstrate the role of women in the creation of a Jamaican national identity. I reveal how Afro-Jamaican religious rituals are gendered and how women’s participation in these rituals was perceived by colonial officials as a sign of rebellion, erotic pleasure, and proof of insanity. I unpack how artists Una Marson, Enid Chevannes, and Ivy Baxter critiqued these gendered stereotypes and challenged other troublesome discourses around gender through performance. Playwright Una Marson’s Pocomania written in 1938 serves as the inspiration for and model of my theory of myalisation. Marson’s play exposes the life of a middle class woman who has an intense longing for connection with her African identity. She finds solace by participating in Revival meetings, but is condemned by her family. Marson eloquently shows the conflict between the middle and the lower class as well as rival belief systems at work. Her play actually performs aspects of Revival ritual on stage and inculcates her middle class audiences into ritual participation. Marson’s play marks the beginning of the process of myalisation as middle class audiences will over time become more and more accustomed to witnessing and experiencing the Jamaican rituals practiced by the lower classes. Playwright Enid Chevannes continues the process of myalisation in the 1950s through the performance of her plays where the practices of obeah, nine night, and visions from ancestors are represented. Choreographer Ivy Baxter embodied many popular political ideas of the 1950s through the performances of her Ivy Baxter Creative Dance Group. She also explores the power of ritual by having dancers replicate Revival ritual on stage. I reveal how these performances helped create and define a Jamaican theatre aesthetic. 6 Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge with sincere gratitude the help and encouragement of many people in the writing of this dissertation. Lack of space will preclude mention of the names of all those to whom I am indebted, but special thanks are due to the following: the faculty of Northwestern University’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Theatre and Drama and the Department of Performance Studies and in particular Tracy C. Davis and the members of my dissertation committee, Sandra L. Richards, Susan A. Manning, and Margaret Thompson Drewal for the invaluable training, mentoring and encouragement that made this project possible. Professors from other universities have proven to be equally valuable in completion of this project including Velma Pollard, formerly of the University of the West Indies. Kathy Perkins of the University of Urbana-Champagne and Nancy Cirillo of the University of Illinois, Chicago have played prominent roles in my life professionally and personally. I am deeply grateful for their guidance and support. Actress, poet, playwright and teacher Jean Small, formerly of the University of the West Indies, remains an inspiration. She ushered me into the world of Jamaican theatre during my first visit in 1993. During my subsequent research trips, she facilitated a number of interviews with theatre practitioners. Personally, she introduced me to Buddhism and remains a true friend. This project would not have been possible without her. My research in Jamaica relied heavily on interviews and archival documents. I sincerely thank the librarians and staff of the following institutions: the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, Special Collections; the Institute of Jamaica, especially the Manuscript Collections department; and the Jamaica Archives in Spanish Town, Jamaica. I interviewed over twenty current and former members of Jamaica’s dance and theatre communities. Because they 7 are too many to name and some wish to remain anonymous, I express my sincere gratitude to them collectively for their time, their trust in me, and their belief in the importance of the project. Without them, this project would not have been possible. Much of this dissertation was written during a Consortium for a Strong Minority Presence at Liberal Arts Colleges (CSMP) Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. I was the Minority Scholar- in-Residence with the Department of Drama at Vassar College. I wish to thank Dean Ronald Sharp, Associate Dean Jill Schneiderman, as well as professors Diane Harriford and Neil Flint Worden and the faculty and students of the Drama department. In addition Chris Freeburg, Marame Gueye, and Pamela Martin supported me by reading drafts of chapters and offering their support. I wish to thank the faculty and students of Purchase College for recognizing my abilities as a teacher and scholar and providing me with an arena to grow in these areas. Among the administration President Thomas J. Schwarz, Provost Elizabeth Langland, and Dean Jonathan Levin have been especially supportive. Shemeem Abbas, Mamadi Matlhako, Rachel Simon and Jennifer Uleman have been true colleagues and have become dear friends. Throughout this project I have benefited from the expertise of copy editors including Peter Polinski, Joesph Swatski and Julie Weiner. Djuna DaSilva has been a good student and valuable research assistant. The love and support of my peers in graduate school and beyond sustained me during my journey. I am grateful for the friendship of several people and especially the following: Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns, Brandon Hutchinson, Camille Isabell-Lay, Natsu Onoda, Toni Salazar, Priya Srinivasan, Melinda Wilson and Praise Zenenga. Support and daimoku (prayer) have 8 come from Soka Gaki International (SGI) Buddhist communities in Jamaica, Chicago and New York. Alice Wexler and John Lekli, Jr. of New York and Ruth Levy, Harvette Nelson, Amy Berenz and Jeri Love of Chicago have been a great source of strength for me. I also wish to thank Anthony Wooden Sr. and the members of Bokandeye African American Dance Company for their unconditional support and giving me the opportunity to perform. Lastly, but certainly not least, I want to thank my family for their unconditional love and faith in my abilities, especially my mother Arline L. Robinson, my father Johnnie L. Robinson, Sr., and my brother Johnnie L. Robinson, Jr. My extended family of Hewitts, Brewingtons, and Robinsons are too many to name, but they have made me who I am today and I thank them. The love and support of my boyfriend Kobe has gotten me through the last leg of this journey. 9 Preface My introduction to Jamaican theatre began in the fall of 1993. I had recently graduated from Wellesley College with a double major in English and Africana Studies. I left Wellesley knowing that I wanted to be a writer and that I had a passion for the theatre, literature, and history of the African Diaspora. While I knew what my interests were, I was uncertain how to parlay my passion into a career. I had attended college close to my home town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was longing to travel abroad. I applied for a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study post-colonial theatre and national identity in Jamaica and Zimbabwe. Upon arrival in Jamaica I had one contact, a friend of a friend, and I knew little about Jamaican theatre. I was interested in how post-colonial countries used theatre to create national identities. I contacted professors at the University of the West Indies and eventually created a list of theatre practitioners who might be helpful. My informants all commented on the ‘golden age’ of theatre in Jamaica, the 1970s, mentioning artists like the late Errol Hill, Dennis Scott, and Earl Warner, who had created theatre utilizing Caribbean folk forms on stage. I quickly realized that what was unique about the period was that the artists were exploring Caribbean folk forms and sacred rituals and inventing ways to incorporate them into the dramatic structure of their plays.