September 2002 a Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements of the University of London for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
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IDENTITY AND CARNIVAL IN TRINIDAD Kathianne Hingwan Goldsmiths College University of London September 2002 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the University of London for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. IIEi Abstract The thesis examines the development of ethnic and national identity in Trinidad. More specifically, it examines the tensions and dialogues between the various ethnic identities that co-exist in Trinidad and their role in the formation of the national identity as mediatedthrough Carnival, and its embodimentof the national myth - 'all o' we is one'. Durkheim's concept of 'collective effervescence' and Bakhtin's 'dialogism' provide the two analytical poles of the argument. The first focuses attention on the representation of the social collective, whilst the second provides a way to think through the eruption of experiential heterogeneity.The central argumentis that despitethe high degreeof ethnic diversity there is somethingthat can be called a 'Trinidadian way of life' or 'experience', which is sharedacross all social identities. Thus the 'everyday' is connectedwith Carnival - its discursive other - as the occasionwhen the high encounterthe low, the polite meet the vulgar, pretty mas meets dirty mas, and the different ethnicities coalesce. However, while Carnival plays a role in reducing the tensions produced by differences, it is also a celebrationof the samedifferences that tend to undermine the senseof the collective. Carnival, then, is marked by ambivalencein that it both reinforces and subvertsthe existing order. On the basis of forty depth interviews and a variety of other primary sources, I explore such questions as: 'what does it mean to be 'Trinidadian"? 'Why are primordial ties still powerful in the construction of identities'? 'What part doesthe body play in the physical experienceof identity"? And how is it that Carnival is symbolic of national unity 2 and identity for some while for others it simply reconfirms existing structures and hierarchies, which are seen as falsifying this same unity and identity. 3 Contents Introduction Chapter One: Conceptual Resources and Research Process Chapter Two: The Chronotopes of Identity (1498-1960) Chapter Three: Hybridization and The Racialization of Consciousness (1960-2000) Chapter Four: Narratives of Identity: Ethnic/Racial Chapter Five: Narratives of Identity: National Chapter Six: Carnival Chapter Seven: Collective Effervescence and Freedom Conclusion Bibliography 4 Introduction I will begin by outlining my personal connections with my research topic. My mother has always loved Carnival and has regularly played Mas in Notting Hill as well as Trinidad. She speaks proudly of being part of the first band produced by today's most celebrated designer, Peter Minshall, a 'devil mas' he put on the road at Notting Hill in 1975 just before he returned to Trinidad. Nine years earlier I had left Trinidad for Britain at the age of five. I was too young to have any recollection of Carnival back home but somehowI knew about it, probably though listening to the conversation of adults and calypsos. I got my first chance to play Mas one Christmas in the Holland Park area of London. I must have been about seven. The occasion was the school nativity play and I was chosen to be one of the three kings even though I desperately wanted to play an angel. I wanted to wear a white gown, a silver halo made from tinsel, and beautiful wings coveredin silver starsand glitter. Even at seven I realised that I had not been picked to be an angel becauseI did not possessthe 'appropriate' look which was basically 'white' with 'European' features. This was confirmed for me by the fact that becauseit was a girls-only school all the masculine roles were played by girls who were either non-white or different for one reason or another. I was not happy but my mother was thrilled and went about making my costumewith the sameenthusiasm she normally reserved for Mas, or decorating the Christmas tree! She decided on a gown that had gold thread woven through it and a head covering of a red silk squarethat would be held in place by a crown. A Trinidadian friend of hers,who was a skilled Mas man, 6 agreed to make the crown and the matching gold slippers. The crown was beautiful: made of gold wire and studdedwith coloured stonesand beads,and the slippers were made of linoleum and plaited rope and sprayed gold. I was thrilled with my costume. I adored the crown, the slippers and the overall effect. I no longer resented being chosen to play the part of a king. The other mothers and children were stunned by the gorgeousnessof my costume. Many of the costumes worn by the angelswere not very well made and it was all too clear that in many casesthe wings had been made from cornflakes boxes.Just before the performancestarted I saw that my mother was surrounded by the angels. They were queuing up to receive a dab of red lipstick on their lips. I joined the queue and insisted on my dab of lipstick but instead she pulled out her black eyebrow pencil and drew a moustache and a beard on my face. All my initial resentment about being made to play a king returned. The only thing on my mind was that the girls chosen to play the parts of but 'women' because angelswere lucky - they were not simply angels of the lipstick. It was my mother's attention to detail that resulted in the application of a moustacheand beardthat I took to be a violation of my senseof self as a girl. I was not only 'racially' ambiguous but now sexually ambiguous too. This was my introduction to the gorgeous but also strange and sometimes disturbing world of Mas that I eventually cameto seeas uniquely Trinidadian. As part of the Trinidadian diasporabased in London, Carnival rapidly gained a special fascination for me becauseof the very apparentdesire of membersof my family bacchanal.Not and Trinidadian friends to return to Trinidad for the annual only 7 that but I was also aware of the fact that Trinidadians living in the larger diasporic centres of New York and Toronto were also doing the same thing. Thus I started to wonder why this carnival thing was so important both at home and in the diasporic centres.I also wanted to know what it was aboutMas that many of the Trinidadians I know love and miss whilst they are away. Why does carnival time become an 'emotional' time for Trinidadians who cannot make the trip? What is it they think they are missing out on by not being there? These, then, were the very basic questionsI had in mind as I beganthinking about this thesis. Substantive Themes and Theoretical Concepts It is my hope that someof the themesand ideasthat arise in the thesis but are not discussed will pave the way for further investigation such as questions about the manner in which 'carnival culture' is transported and transposed to the main centresof the Trinidadian diaspora- New York, Toronto and London - where it has become part of new dialogues of identity. It is also my hope that the issues discussedand approachesdeveloped in the main part of the thesis may also have implications for our understanding of the following topics: identity formation in multi-ethnic societies;the role of ritual in contemporarysocieties; and the transnational cultural flows that Homi Bhabha(1994: 172) refers to as 'translational' cultures. For the present I have restricted the thesis to its principle substantive aim which is the examination of interaction betweennarratives of identity and Carnival in Trinidad, and in doing so I employ a network of generaland more specific 8 concepts in order to understand the construction of Trinidadian identity and the role that Carnival plays in defining and sustaining this identity. The general concepts are dialogism, collective effervescence, and the (socially constructed) body. The first refers to the general approach I take which is Bahktin-inspired, whilst the seconddemarcates my broad areaof interest,and the third specifiesa major focus of empirical attention. The more specific concepts are 'Carnival' and 'Identity'. Here the first refers to the type of 'effervescence' produced through collective ritual that is most pertinent to national identity in Trinidad today, and the second to the narratives of identity that are produced through national and 'racial' discourses. The concept of identity is currently fashionable in sociology particularly amongstthose interestedin ethnicity, genderand sexuality. But what doesit mean? Stuart Hall (1996) and Ian Craib (1998) discuss identity in different ways. Whereas Hall focuses upon the external and social dimensions which lead to the privileging of social identities as social positionings, Craib focuses upon the psychological ones in which the internal aspectssuch as experience- thinking and feeling - have a contribution to make in enhancing our understanding of identity. This combination of thesetwo approachesenabled me to conceiveof Trinidadian identity as having social and experiential dimensionsand lead to an exploration of the positionings of identities and how that 'reality' is experiencedrather than simply perceived in an ethnically diverse society. 9 By paying attention to experience the body becomes a privileged material site since bodies allow us to communicate and share experiences. Whilst the body has long held a prominent position in anthropology this has not been the case in sociology. Bryan Turner (199 1) argues that a secret history of the body may be detected in classical sociology such as the works of Marx, Engels and Weber and later developed through the writings of Nietzsche, Elias, Marcuse, and Foucault (Shilling 1993: 27). According to Turner, an important re-evaluation of the importance of the body has occurred,not just in feminist theory but also amongst those concerned with class analysis, culture and consumption.