Transformation and continuity in Trinidadian carnival : The new face of Mas'

Abstract

Trinidad and Tobago makes the bold claim of being home to the Caribbean’s original carnival. As such, it has provided a template that has disseminated throughout the islands of the region. Since the mid-20th century the exportation of carnival from Trinidad has extended far beyond the boundaries of the Caribbean, leading to the establishment of Toronto’s Caribana and the Notting Hill carnival in central London. While both of these festivals have clearly been influenced by the Trinidadian pattern, they have also departed significantly, developing into events that recognise their own locales and celebrate the identities of their participants. This thesis examines past and contemporary articulations of carnival and engages with the discourse of ‘anxiety’ that surrounds its carnivalesque forms of play. The analysis begins by tracing carnival’s history in Trinidad and the Caribbean, accounting for the syncretic society that plays host to the event. This is followed by three chapters that each focus on a single literary text. Mustapha Matura’s Play Mas’, Nalo Hopkinson’s Midnight Robber and Earl Lovelace’s The Dragon Can’t Dance are read alongside a range of calypso and soca lyrics. The discussion this analysis generates points not only to the ways in which such texts relate to Trinidadian carnival, but considers the effect that genre and medium have on the discourse that emerges at the intersections of these creative practices. Of particular interest is the way in which literary texts utilise carnival as a motif and tool for advancing or critiquing pervasive narratives in the communities that they describe and serve. In each text carnival is presented as a form of ideological ‘labour’. The final chapter scrutinises the theatre of carnival and concentrates on the variety of music, costuming and lyrical ingenuity that lend it such a unique character. The advent of soca music and bikini mas’ will come in for particular attention as practices that have been victims of their own successes. By dominating carnival’s land- and sound-scapes they have provoked a broader exploration of contradictory tensions that speak to carnival’s storied past. The unease inspired by new forms of popular revelry highlight the need for Trinidad’s festive communities to account for and preserve the history of an ever-evolving carnival.