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The Rastafarian Movement in Jamaica Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

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The Rastafarian Movement in Jamaica Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Bakalářská diplomová práce Michal Šilberský Michal 2010 Michal Šilberský 20 10 10 Hřbet Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Michal Šilberský The Rastafarian Movement in Jamaica Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph. D. 2010 - 2 - I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature - 3 - I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Martina Horáková, Ph.D. for her helpful advice and the time devoted to my thesis. - 4 - Table of Contents 1. Introduction 6 2. History of Jamaica 8 3. The Rastafarian Movement 13 3.1. Origins 13 3.2. The Beginnings of the Rastafarian Movement 22 3.3. The Rastafarians 25 3.3.1. Dreadlocks 26 3.3.2. I-tal 27 3.3.3. Ganja 28 3.3.4. Dread Talk 29 3.3.5. Ethiopianism 30 3.3.6. Music 32 3.4. The Rastafarian Movement after Pinnacle 35 4. The Influence of the Rastafarian Movement on Jamaica 38 4.1. Tourism 38 4.2. Cinema 41 5. Conclusion 44 6. Bibliography 45 7. English Resumé 48 8. Czech Resumé 49 - 5 - 1. Introduction Jamaica has a rich history of resistance towards the European colonization. What started with black African slave uprisings at the end of the 17th century has persisted till 20th century in a form of the Rastafarian movement. This thesis deals with the Rastafarian movement from its beginnings, to its most violent period, to the inclusion of its members within the society and shows, how this movement was perceived during the different phases of its growth, from derelicts and castaways to cultural bearers. The first chapter deals with the history of Jamaica. It summarizes the development of the island‟s most important events of black people‟s resistance towards the white oppressors. Both slave and peasant insurrections are included. Political and economical situation in the time of the emergence of the Rastafarian movement is mentioned as well. Those facts and event serve as a background for the emergence of the movement. The next chapter deals with the Rastafarian movement itself. The first part of the chapter concerns its origins, the religious situation at Jamaica, the role of the slaves on the island and two most important persons from the point of view of the Rastafari. The description of the first Rasta community, Pinnacle, and its influence on its neighbors follows. The detailed characterizations of Rastas, e.g. their habits, appearance and beliefs, are mentioned as well. After the certain events in their first community, the members of the movement moved to the Jamaican capital city. The enlistment of the Rastafarian characteristics is deliberately included between the two parts of the Rastafarian development – in and after Pinnacle. The reason for this is that at Pinnacle, the Rastafarians did not come to the wider subconsciousness of the Jamaican society, because they were known only among their neighbors. After they came to Kingston, they started interacting with the wider society - 6 - and the society started being influenced by them. This chapter shows the different stages in the development of the movement. The last chapter shows the inclusion of the movement within the society at the examples of some cultural elements. Two elements are chosen: tourism and cinema. Tourism shows what is now considered to be Jamaican culture and how the Rasta image was recreated by the Jamaican society to fulfill the tourists‟ needs. The part that deals with cinema describes the depiction of Jamaica and Jamaican culture from the point of view of American and Jamaican movie makers. This chapter shows the present image of Jamaica and the influence of the movement on the society. The goal of this thesis is to provide a resume of the development of the Rastafarian movement and its influence on Jamaican culture. - 7 - 2. History of Jamaica The first mention about Jamaica goes back to the time period around AD 700 when the island was settled by Arawaks. As Foehr observes, Arawaks originated in the Guianas of South America. From the continent, they moved north through the Caribbean island chain. After arriving to the island, Arawaks started calling it Xaymaca, which mean “the land of wood and water” (130). The Europeans learnt about Jamaica during the voyages of exploration in the 15th century. According to Foehr, Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1494 (130). The first encounters of European and Jamaican cultures were brutal: “Columbus ordered his crossbowmen to fire on the group [of Arawaks], and killed several” (Foehr 131). This initial act reflects the whole history of Jamaica when the white people, though smaller in population, ideologically dominated over the rest inhabitants of the island. The Spanish ruled over the island very ruthlessly, “[t]he impact of the contact with the Spanish was traumatic, and these [Arawak] communities disappeared in 70-80 years” (Essix). The shortage of work force was substituted by an import of the African slaves, who were transported to Jamaica via Middle Passage.1 One of the first forms of resistance of the black people towards the slavery was in form of runaway slaves. These slaves were called cimarrones2, or shortly Maroons. After they escaped from the plantations, they trooped and lived in the groups on the places with difficult access, “[s]ome slaves inevitably run away from the estates to live in small bands in the mountains as Maroons” (Essix). The slaves in those groups were the first rebels who fought against the European colonists in Jamaica. Jamaican society was, from the very beginning, stratified by color: “whites [were dominating] over blacks and in between them [one could find] a range of subtle gradations of color and status” (Chevannes, Rastafari: Roots and Ideology 3). The Jamaican colonists grew 1 Middle Passage was one stage of the triangular trade which operated form the late 16th to 19th century. At this stage, people from Africa were transported across the Atlantic to America and Caribbean (“Middle Passage”). 2 Cimarrón is a Spanish word which stands for runaway slave. - 8 - very rich because of their plantations. Slave trade was growing. Slavery was maintained by two methods: physical force and ideology. The Europeans have come with a stratification of society according to the color of the skin, with the colonizers at the top and the Africans at the bottom. The white leading class created many stereotypes about the African slaves. According to the ideology of the inferiority of the black people, a usual slave was “not only black and ugly. He was, besides, morally debased, lazy, lascivious and a liar” (Chevannes, Rastafari: Roots and Ideology 9). These ideological attacks from the white dominating population were focused on the black people themselves. The goal of those attacks was to degrade the slaves of their dignity. Another line of attack was focused on the African culture. As Chevannes observes, the Europeans tried to make the Africans forget about Africa or at least make them think that Africa is very undeveloped and barbaric place. The colonists regarded the use of African drums and the African dances as primitive habits. (Rastafari: Roots and Ideology 10). All these efforts had one goal, to instill the ideas of the African inferiority, both physical and cultural, into the minds of the slaves. At the end of 17th century, the first major slave rebellion took its place in Clarendon parish3. As Roth mentions, this notable slave revolt took its place in 1690, when many slaves escaped from Sutton‟s plantation and joined the descendants of Spanish slaves, who were called Maroons (1). The English started the First Maroon War in 1729 and their goal was to exterminate the Maroons. The war lasted approximately 10 years. Both sides signed a peace treaty in the end. As Foehr observes, the peace treaty granted Maroons 1500 acres of land. In return the Maroons agreed to chase down runaway slaves and to assist the English in repressing the slave rebellions (80). This can be seen as an ideological victory of the European population, because they bought the rebels who agreed to help them. The rebels were no longer rebels but an aide to the authorities, as they betrayed the black people. 3 A parish is a local administrative division. - 9 - The black and white population grew. According to Tortello, there were 7000 English and 40 000 slaves in Jamaica in 1700. In the next century, the number of the English increased to more than 20 000, but the number of the black people jumped to 300 000 (“The Arrival of the Africans”). The slave population hugely exceeded the British and many insurrections and rebellions took place, but up to 1760, rebellions that occurred in Jamaica were only the local insurrections (Evans). On Easter Sunday 1760, a slave called Tacky and a group of his followers killed their masters, armed themselves and fought against the British militia and Maroons. The rebellion was fought back but it encouraged many other rebellions all over the island, “[t]he rebellion didn‟t end here, as other rebellions broke out all over Jamaica … It was months later until peace was restored” (Evans). The most famous and best organized rebellion was called the Christmas Rebellion in 1831. It was inspired by Samuel Sharpe, a Baptist deacon. As Chevannes observes, Sharpe was able to plan this rebellion via network created by Native Baptist movement. (Rastafari: Roots and Ideology 12) At first, Sharpe did not want a violent riot, he prayed for the passive rebellion when he encouraged the slaves from his “church” to refuse working during the Christmas holidays.
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