Trinidad Carnival The Cultural Politics of a Transnational Festival [Paperback]

Like many Caribbean nations, Trinidad has felt the effects of globalization on its economy, politics, and expressive culture. Even Carnival, once a clandestine folk celebration, has been transformed into a major transnational festival. In Trinidad Carnival, Garth L. Green, Philip W. Scher, and an international group of scholars explore Carnival as a reflection of the nation and culture of Trinidad and Trinidadians worldwide. The nine essays cover topics such as women in Carnival, the politics and poetics of Carnival, Carnival and cultural memory, Carnival as a tourist enterprise, the steelband music of Carnival, Calypso music on the world stage, Carnival and rap, and Carnival as a global celebration. For readers interested in the history and current expression of Carnival, this volume offers a multidimensional and transnational view of Carnival as a representation of Trinidad and Caribbean culture everywhere.

Contributors are Robin Balliger, Shannon Dudley, Pamela R. Franco, Patricia A. de Freitas, Ray Funk, Garth L. Green, Donald R. Hill, Lyndon Phillip, Victoria Razak, and Philip W. Scher.

. . . Tracking the various forces that historically and contemporarily shape Carnival as event, ideology, national culture, and commodity, the essays in Trinidad Carnival never view Carnival through a single analytical lens. Indeed, they never yield a picture of a singular Carnival, a particular mas player. Rather, they show how 'specific Carnivals, specific masqueraders, and specific Carnival controversies are in motion, are well-traveled and circulate through the population not just of Trinidadians, but of Caribbean people everywhere, defining their Caribbean-ness while helping to change those definitions as new contexts arise' (Green and Scher 23).[E]ditors Garth L. Green and Philip W. Scher have gathered a thought-provoking collection of essays that extend our understanding of Trinidadian festivals and festival arts at home and abroad.. . . provides interesting alCQ