Research Catalog

Carnival, Canboulay and calypso : traditions in the making

Title
Carnival, Canboulay and calypso : traditions in the making / John Cowley.
Author
Cowley, John.
Publication
Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

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TextRequest in advance GT4229.T7 C69 1996gOff-site

Details

Description
xv, 293 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
Summary
  • Starting from the days of slavery and following through to the first decades of the twentieth century, this book traces the evolution of Carnival and secular black music in Trinidad and the links that existed with other territories and beyond. Calypso emerged as the pre-eminent Carnival song from the end of the nineteenth century and its association with the festival is investigated, as are the first commercial recordings by Trinidad performers.
  • These featured stringband instrumentals, 'calipsos' and stickfighting 'kalendas' (a carnival style popular from the last quarter of the nineteenth century). Great use is made of contemporary newspaper reports, colonial documents, travelogues, oral history and folklore, providing an authoritative treatment of a fascinating story in popular cultural history.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
1. Background to West Indian music -- 2. 'Pain nous ka mange': music, carnival and events, 1783-1869 -- 3. 'Not A Cent To Buy Rice': poverty, revelry and riots, 1870-1896 -- 4. 'Iron Duke In The Land': banners, bands and music, 1897-1920 -- 5. Creole musical traditions: Africa, the Caribbean and beyond.
ISBN
0521481384
OCLC
ocm34496964
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries