Carnival, Memory and Identity
Abstract
The carnival of Trinidad and Tobago is a performative ritual of cultural resistance and awakening, claiming a space and celebrating freedom from any kind of oppression. The history of this ritual is strictly connected to the process of cultural decolonization and political independence of the Caribbean country from the mother(is)land; it is in carnival and for carnival that Trinbagonians have successfully fought colonialism to gain their freedom. Imported in the Caribbean by French planters, as a ritual of amusement and temporary freedom, through the encounter with other rituals such as African masquerade and canboulay, Trinidad Carnival became, for the first time in the world, the instrument to earn an actual and non-temporary freedom, and the space for the celebration of a new interethnic national identity, obtained through the ritual itself. The present of carnival is divided between the memory of this past, and a reality of “bikini and beads†costumes, ironically very close to the “pretty mas†that was imported from colonizers, and to the better-selling Brazilian carnival. The ritual that more than anything else shaped the national memory and the identity of this country, is now pulled by two ends. Past, present and future have to be discussed together for a real understanding of the relationship between carnival, memory and identity in Trinidad and Tobago.References
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[2] B. Brereton, “The Trinidad Carnival in the Late Nineteenth Century,†M. C. Riggio, Ed. Carnival. Culture in Action – The Trinidad Experience. London, UK; New York, USA: Routledge, pp. 53-63, 2004.
[3] J. D. Elder, “Cannes Brûlées,†The Drama Review, vol. 42, no. 3, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, pp. 38-43, fall 1998.
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[10] G. Sofo, “Forged from the Love of Liberty: Popular Music, Resistance and Identity in Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival,†Gli Spazi della Musica, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 24-32, 2013.
[11] K. A. Yelvington, “Introduction: Trinidad ethnicity†K. A. Yelvington, Ed., Trinidad Ethnicity, ser. Warwick University Caribbean Studies, London, UK: MacMillan Caribbean, pp. 1-32, 1993.
[2] B. Brereton, “The Trinidad Carnival in the Late Nineteenth Century,†M. C. Riggio, Ed. Carnival. Culture in Action – The Trinidad Experience. London, UK; New York, USA: Routledge, pp. 53-63, 2004.
[3] J. D. Elder, “Cannes Brûlées,†The Drama Review, vol. 42, no. 3, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, pp. 38-43, fall 1998.
[4] R. Foote, Carnival: Contemporary Crucible of the Social Sciences, Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: The University of the West Indies, School of Continuing Studies, 2005.
[5] Sir C. Hollis, A Brief History of Trinidad under the Spanish Crown. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad and Tobago Government Printer, 1941.
[6] H. Liverpool, “Origins of Rituals and Customs in the Trinidad Carnival: African or European?,†The Drama Review, vol. 42, no. 3, Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, pp. 24-37, fall 1998.
[7] H. Liverpool, Rituals of Power and Rebellion: The Carnival Tradition in Trinidad & Tobago 1763-1962, Chicago, USA: Research Associates School Times Publications, 2001.
[8] L. Regis, “The African Presence in the Pre-Emancipation Trinidad Carnival,†History in Action, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-7, april 2010.
[9] G. Sofo, “Jouvay of a Culture: Risveglio e Resistenza Culturale nel Teatro di Carnevale a Trinidadâ€, M. thesis, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy, March 2009.
[10] G. Sofo, “Forged from the Love of Liberty: Popular Music, Resistance and Identity in Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival,†Gli Spazi della Musica, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 24-32, 2013.
[11] K. A. Yelvington, “Introduction: Trinidad ethnicity†K. A. Yelvington, Ed., Trinidad Ethnicity, ser. Warwick University Caribbean Studies, London, UK: MacMillan Caribbean, pp. 1-32, 1993.
How to Cite
SOFO, Giuseppe.
Carnival, Memory and Identity.
Култура/Culture, [S.l.], n. 6, p. 17-24, nov. 2014.
ISSN 1857-7725.
Available at: <http://journals.cultcenter.net/index.php/culture/article/view/41>. Date accessed: 03 mar. 2026.
Section
English Articles
Keywords
carnival, Trinidad and Tobago, cultural resistance, postcolonial identity, carnivalesque
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