This thesis seeks to demonstrate that there is a direct relationship
between the emergence of poetry as a performing art in the English speaking Caribbean and phases of nationalist agitation from the uprisings
against unemployment, low pay and colonial neglect during 1937-8 to the
present. Though the poetry has many variations in scope, ranging from
light-hearted entertainment, its principal momentum has been one of
protest, nationalism and revolutionary sentiment. The thesis seeks to
relate tone, style and content both to specific periods and cultural
contexts, and to the degree of engagement of the individual artist in the
political struggle against oppression.
Frequently theatrical, the poetry has commanded a stage and a
popular audience. Though urban in style, it is rooted in older, rural
traditions. Creole, the vernacular of the masses, is a vital common
denominator. The poetry is aurally stimulating, and often highly
rhythmic. The popular music of the day has played an integral part, and
formative role in terms of composition.
The fundamental historical dynamic of the English-speaking Caribbean
has been one of violent imperialist imposition on the one hand, and
resistance by the black masses on the other. Creole language, with its
strong residuum of African grammatical constructs, concepts and
vocabulary, has been a central vehicle of resistance. It is a low-status
language in relation to the officially-endorsed Standard English. The
thesis argues that artists' assertion of Creole, and total identification
with it through their own voice, is a significant act of defiance and
patriotism.
Periods of heightened agitation in the recent past have each led to
the emergence of a distinctive form of performance poetry. Chapter two
examines the role of Louise Bennett as a mouthpiece of black pride and
nationalist sentiment largely in the period preceding independence. Her
principal aim is the affirmation of the black Jamaican's fundamental
humanity. She uses laughter both as a curative emotional release and as
an expression of mental freedom. She lays the foundations of a comic
tradition which does not fundamentally challenge the contradictions of
the post-independence period.
Chapter three relates the emergence of the Dub Poets of Jamaica to
the development of Rastafarianism into a mass post-independence
nationalist revival, and to the contribution of intellectuals, most
symbolically Walter Rodney, to the process of decolonization. Reggae
music, the principal creative response to the dynamics of the period both
in terms of lyrics and rhythmic tension, infuses the work of Michael
Smith, Cku Onuora, Mutabaruka and Erian Meeks examined in this study.
Chapter four illustrates the development of performed poetry in the
context of periods of insurrection and revolution in the East Caribbean.
It examines the Black Rower movement as a stimulus to cultural
nationalism and revolutionary sentiment, and its transcendence to
internationalism and socialism in the context of the Grenada Revolution.
Abdul Malik straddles and exemplifies the creative dynamic which exists
between urban, industrial Trinidad and its tiny, rural and poor
neighbour, Grenada.