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Cultural Maintenance and the Politics of Fulfillment in Barbados’S Junior Calypso Monarch Programme

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Cultural Maintenance and the Politics of Fulfillment in Barbados’S Junior Calypso Monarch Programme MASK AND MIRROR: CULTURAL MAINTENANCE AND THE POLITICS OF FULFILLMENT IN BARBADOS’S JUNIOR CALYPSO MONARCH PROGRAMME A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC MAY 2016 By Anjelica Corbett Thesis Committee: Frederick Lau, chairperson Ricardo Trimillos Njoroge Njoroge Keywords: Anjelica Corbett, Calypso, Carnival, Nationalism, Youth Culture, Barbados Copyright © 2016 Anjelica Corbett Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to thank God because without him nothing would be possible. I would also like to thank the National Cultural Foundation, the Junior Calypso Monarch Programme participants, Chrystal Cummins-Beckles, and Ian Webster for welcoming into the world of Bajan calypso and answering my questions about this new environment. My gratitude also extends to the Junior Calypso Monarch Programme participants for allowing me to observe and their rehearsals and performances and sharing their love of calypso with me. I would like to thank Dr. Frederick Lau, Dr. Byong-Won Lee, Dr. Ricardo Trimillos, and Dr. Njoroge Njoroge, and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's Music Department for approving this project and teaching me valuable lessons throughout this process. I would especially like to thank my fellow colleagues in the Ethnomusicology department for their emotional and academic support. Finally, I would like to thank my family for support and encouragement throughout my academic career. i Abstract Barbados, like other Caribbean nations, holds junior calypso competitions for Barbadian youth. These competitions, sponsored by Barbados’s National Cultural Foundation (NCF), allow the youth to express their opinions on society. As youth become the voice of the people during Crop Over, the normative social order temporarily inverts. Barbados's Junior Calypso Monarch Programme (JCMP) is a developmental program and competition divided into two age categories: 8-12 years old and 13-18 years old. Through the junior calypsonians’ social commentaries, the JCMP promotes a hardworking, traditional, yet innovative image of Barbados to local and international audiences. The program consists of a workshop on calypso performances, junior calypso tent performances, and the competition’s semifinals, and finals. The winners receive the title of Junior Calypso Monarch, the opportunity to perform in Trinidad and Tobago during Carnival, and other prizes. The title of Junior Calypso Monarch garners respect from Barbadians . It is a sign of the child's and Barbados's future success. The JCMP performance practices masquerade on two criteria: One, Calypso’s musical aesthetics, focused on pleasant and melodious sounds, and the aesthetics’ association with bacchanal conceal the serious nature of the social and political criticism within the performance. Two, the junior calypsonians’ performances provide social commentary on topics deemed appropriate by the Barbadian government and society, and reveal youth’s regulated freedom through performance. Masquerade is an avenue to display the youth’s agency in Barbadian society and resistance against the youth’s stereotypical roles in society. Through examination of calypsos from the 2014 JCMP and its role within the Barbadian government, this work argues that the JCMP increases the value of youth’s role in nationalist projects and social agency through calypso ii performances as the youth helps define Bajan musical aesthetics and add new dimensions to Barbados’s national image. iii List of Figures Figure 4.1 88 Figure 4.2 93 Figure 4.3 94 Figure 4.4 94 Figure 4.5 95 Figure 4.6 95 Figure 4.7 96 iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements i Abstract ii List of Figures iv Chapter 1 Smoke and Mirrors: The Collision of Myth and Reality in Barbados 1 Musical Opening Ceremonies: Afro-Modernity, Popular Music, Bajan Culture, and National Identity 7 Four Main Themes 11 Literature Review 16 Methodology 24 Chapter Outline 24 Chapter 2 Manners and Rebellion: Respectability and Masquerade in Barbados’s Creation and Transformations 27 Pre-colonial Barbados 27 Workers and Slaves Supporting Colonial Barbados 28 Masquerade and Revelry: Bajan Slave Resistance 29 The Nation of Barbados 35 New Ways to Rebel 35 Radicalism and Respectability: The Road to Civil Rights and Independence 38 Independent Barbados 43 Barbados’s Musical History 45 v Chapter 3 Masks of the Young Voices of the People: An Analysis of JCMP Lyrics 52 Pop, Folk, or Both: The Classification of Calypso 52 Youthful Words: Lyrics in the JCMP 56 Restless Men, Dedicated Men: The Role of the Father in the Bajan Family 57 Good Grades, Good Test Scores, and Good Behavior: Questioning the Children and Youth’s Role in Bajan Society 63 Ravaging Barbados through Sex: HIV/AIDS in Barbados 71 Beautiful Barbados: Maintenance and Change 75 Conclusion 80 Chapter 4 From the Mouths of Babes: Creating the Bajan Calypso Sound 84 Traces from the Past 84 What is Bajan Calypso? 87 Creating the Bajan Calypso Sound Through Melody 92 My Song 93 My Tribute! 97 We Salute You Dads 98 A Child’s Plea 100 Come Together 103 Don’ Count Me Out 105 De Letter 107 The Sweetness of Calypso 109 Conclusion: The Nested Identities in Calypso 110 vi Chapter 5 The Young Voice of Wisdom: The Junior Calypso Monarch Programme and the National Image of Barbados 113 Legitimizing the JCMP as a Cultural Institution 113 Part of the Sweetest Festival: Crop Over as the Space of the JCMP 120 JCMP as a Cultural Industry 123 Practicing for the Future: The JCMP, Youth Masquerade, and Youth Policy 126 #calypsoisingoodhands: Cultural Industries and the Role of Social Media, Radio, and Television 135 Coming Together: Bajan Nationalism in the Youth’s Perspective 138 Conclusion 141 Chapter 6 Reflection and Dialogue: Bajans’ Fight for Recognition 142 Thoughts for the Future 148 Appendix A: IRB Approval 152 Appendix B: Lyrical Transcription 153 Appendix C: Musical Transcription 167 References 181 vii Chapter One: Smoke and Mirrors: The Collision of Myth and Reality in Barbados As a Caribbean island, Barbados is pictured as a land with beaches of soft sands and turquoise water. Along with beautiful beaches, Barbados is filled with colorful flowers and lush vegetation. More importantly, it is “Little England.” Barbados is a nation of polite and friendly people that completes Barbados's paradise image. Every summer, “Little England” 1 holds a carnival-like festival called Crop Over. Barbados and Barbadians, or Bajans 2as they call themselves, are blatantly on display through the Crop Over. The festival’s origins trace back to the slavery era as a celebration of the end of sugar cane harvesting season and the emotional preparation for the “hard times,” a time where there are less jobs available. In 1974, the most current version of Crop Over was organized by the Barbadian government to increase tourism to the island. This form of Crop Over eventually added Bajan cultural promotion to the festival’s functions. Crop Over season is a time when Bajans and foreigners intimately interact. The season is known to have private and public fêtes filled with music, drinks, and food culminating to the first Monday of August called Grand Kadooment, the final day and the main event of Crop Over. Grand Kadooment, similar to the Trinidadian event Carnival Tuesday, is a large parade or road march of masquerade costume bands, party vans, wayward jumpers, and awe-struck, jovial onlookers. The colorful and energetic people of Grand Kadooment 1 This nickname is common knowledge for people of Bajan heritage, but there are contested origin stories. The common thread of stories that I heard is that the nickname is reflective of Barbados’s relationship to England. 2 Throughout this work, Barbadian will be used during discussions of government processes, actions, and policies. Bajan will be used in discussions of culture, society and national identity. 1 jumping, wukking up 3, and flag waving are the primary images of Crop Over and of Barbados as a tourist destination along with the island’s numerous beaches. The spirit of bacchanal is what currently draws the majority of tourists to the festival and a mentality Bajans look forward to revel in bacchanal during the period of Crop Over. Bacchanal is revelry. It is a mentality ingrained in the Bajan psyche promoting cathartic experience aimed to forget the hardships of everyday life. During Crop Over season, Bajans will go to fêtes and other festivities multiple times a week if they have the financial resources or save money to go to their favorite fête if they do not Masquerade within a carnival setting enhances the catharsis as people temporarily abandon their normal day-to-day identity. The spirit of bacchanal and masquerade promote Barbados’s image as an exotic paradise that functions as a space for foreigners to escape their mundane lives. The other side of Crop Over, as stated earlier, is the exhibition and promotion of Bajan culture. Crop Over’s latest version began with aims to boost the island’s tourism industry but has become “the embodiment of a truly indigenous festival” (Nation Newspaper 1998 7). “Thousands of Barbadians feel and display a local sense of ownership of Crop Over” making it a display of the relationships between the Barbadian government and the agency of Barbadian society during local and global promotions of Barbadian culture (ibid.). The 2014 Crop Over season was the fortieth anniversary of the current version of the festival. The National Cultural Foundation, henceforth called the NCF, focused on Bajan culture and heritage for the anniversary season. There were additional events added to the season including a lecture on Crop Over history, an organized walk in Barbados’s 3Wukking up is the Bajan term for a popular dance move in the Caribbean involving the gyrating of the hips and pelvis. 2 capital, Bridgetown, to sites of historical importance, and a concert featuring Barbados’s past calypso monarchs 4.
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