WINSTON SILL/Freelance Photographer
Members of the Stella Maris Young Adults Ensemble performing at the Institute of Caribbean Studies' 'An Evening of Black Magic Cliff on Campus', on Friday, February 4. The artistic director, Monica Lawrence, is a student in the Cultural Studies Unit.
Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
WHEN MANY of us struggle to define that evasive creature called Jamaican culture, Miss Lou and Bob Marley readily spring to the rescue from the mists - and 'Ring Ding. Culture has been twisted into that thing which pops up on programmes under the non-descriptive term 'cultural item' and most people only have a vague idea what that means, other than folk dance or poem.
When pressed against the wall by the thrusting insistence of the genre's success, many of us will admit that dancehall is culture. Sean Paul and Shaggy, who are not only pretty to look at but lack the uneasy edge, grittiness and discontent of the likes of Bounty Killer and Shabba Ranks, have made it easier to accept.
GREATEST COMPLIMENT
Alas, culture is simply who we are, how we are and what we do. In this space, slackness and 'culture' can bubble together toward defining or analysing the Jamaican identity. Several years ago, University of the West Indies' Professor Edward Baugh argued that criticism is the greatest compliment that a society can pay to its writers.
To stretch that statement (maybe close to its breaking point), it can be argued that the deliberate attempt to criticise, analyse and understand our culture, rather than to stamp 'foolishness' on it then chuck it into history's wastebin in a crumpled heap, is a compliment our society owes.
However, as a largely oral culture, Jamaica has largely reneged on its duty of recording and analysing itself. After various incursions of those from foreign lands we now understand that we need to record and understand our own stories. Additionally, several aspects of our creative industries are in dire need of serious study to take them to the next level so they can become more than a miracle in a den of chaos and paradox.
With the stirring vocals of Jimmy Cliff at 'Black Magic' in the Oriental Gardens five weeks ago, the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, declared itself present and ready to write. The Cliff concert was an attempt to generate necessary funding for scholarship.
The Cultural Studies Unit is the institute's flagship. Created in 1999, the institute currently has approximately 50 graduate students and approximately 300 undergraduates who minor in cultural studies. A major is forthcoming in the next academic year.
Dr. Stanley Niaah is an assistant lecturer with the Institute and also its first successful doctoral candidate. Stanley Niaah's thesis, Kingston's Dancehall: A Story of Space and Celebration, combined the study of geography, the subject in which she obtained her Bachelor of Arts, with the study of the music genre.
Stanley Niaah explains that many people simply look at the music aspect of dancehall, but she interrogated it from the very space which its name calls up. Stanley Niaah's merging of disciplines to tackle an issue is quite typical of those who are engaged in the Cultural Studies Department. Her work is also a great signal as to the quality and importance of work coming from the Caribbean about its own culture.
Her journal article of the same name as her thesis, published in the Space and Culture Vol. 7:1 in 2004, is the second most read article in the top 50 of the publication's online archives.
Of course, Caribbean nationals have not been waiting for the mercury-like pace it took for the establishment of a cultural studies programme. Many have simply been called forth by the magnetic pulse of the well-stocked libraries at universities such as York in Canada or New York University in the United States. Stanley Niaah explains that some students who have gone abroad to study have discovered a "disconnect" between the material and the subject being studied. She noted, therefore, that by 2010 the Institute intends to have built the bridge between the need for Caribbean cultural studies material and material produced by Caribbean nationals.
While one can easily see how issues of dance, theatre, music and fine art fit into the cultural space, the Institute goes much further. Graduate students pursue a myriad of topics, including architecture, football, museums, and sexuality. Debra Hickling is studying the changes in Jamaican television, to be used as a case study toward understanding other cultural industries, those which she says "started out without legitimisation".
Hickling has worked in various aspects of television and her professional work in part propelled her toward further study. "My thing started as a very emotional thing, where I was looking at the television industry and my role in television," she says.
A glance at the list of the persons engaged in study at the institute shows several professionals who are tackling their interests from another level. Monica Lawrence, artistic director of the Stella Maris Young Adult Ensemble, is studying Professor Nettleford's transfer of folk dance to the stage. "Nettleford has mastered the art of taking dance from the field to the stage," she says. Lawrence explains that it is important for her to document this as yet unexplored process for her development as a choreographer and teacher of dance.
Abena Chevannes is exploring local architecture and its relationship to social class. Having studied architectural technology at New York University, Chevannes notes that on her return to the island she noted "particular aesthetic" across the island, the meaning of which she wishes to explore.
Don Davis, a past professional footballer and coach, is exploring football. "It (football) has an impact on all levels, from the individual to the national," he explained. However, he noted that the business aspect of the game needs to be properly explored for the game to develop further. "We are still viewing this as recreation, something to pass time, while on the globe it is an industry," Davis said. He explained that among the issues his study explores is sports' ability to reduce juvenile delinquency.
So as these scholars march on against the clicking of the Glock, it can be hoped that the pen will prove mightier than the gun.
And with the units' imminent success, tomorrow's parents will simply have another thing to be sore about. After centuries of having to persuade their children that literature, art, dance, music and drama are not real areas of study, now they have to add cultural studies to the mix.
