Jan 9th Sid and Bri!

 Good day,  

While in Tobago for a brief moment, our class read about the origins of carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. In Tobago, things were a lot slower paced; there wasn’t the same kind of hustle and bustle as we had seen and experienced in Trinidad, particularly in Tunapuna and exploring the central market. As it relates to the content we indulged in for class, we saw the presence of carnival culture all around the island of Tobago, such as the countless advertisements posted on the sides of the winding roads showing off the elaborate costumes women wear for this big series of fetes. In a way, these ads serve the purpose of not only presenting the vibrancy of carnival culture but also commodifying the culture through the commercialization of the event, especially in Tobago, a very tourist-centered space in contrast to Trinidad.  


Additionally, more tied explicitly to the texts we read about carnival origin, we learned how there was a desire to create the falsehood that carnival had eurocentric roots in which Trinidad and Tobago's colonial history is forefronted in the carnival. This falsehood is extrapolated in the text, in which it’s dissected so it’s understood that the truth of the matter was that Carnival was a culmination of many different cultures of peoples who forcibly immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago but created rituals and celebratory practices. Such practices include wearing big masks resembling spirits, or “jumbies” in Trinidad, walking on stilts, and playing in mass.   



⭐FUN FACT⭐  

Did you know that Trinidad and Tobago’s carnival culture has African roots and many other multicultural roots? It was influenced by ancient Egypt, where celebrations were held to praise the gods of fertility and rejuvenation.  

 

Any who, that's all for now; much more is to come!:)  

-From Bri and Sid 💛

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