"Our ancestors would be moaning and turning in their graves at the sight of what Carnival and J'Ouvert have become."That is a sentence we have been reading within recent years at Carnival time, usually delivered by a newspaper columnist or a professor of history and culture at the University of the West Indies. However, I believe that these in- dividuals are in need of elucidation.There is one constant in this world of inconsistency and that is that things can and will always change. It is a futile pursuit to attempt to make Carnival 2011 what Carnival 1970 was in any form, because what created the atmosphere surrounding the people and the nation at that time no longer applies today.
The people who partake of the revelry today are not seeking freedom from slavery, oppression, poverty, violence and hatred. Or are they?The historians say that Carnival has lost its character, but has it really? I would like to suggest that perhaps it has simply developed a new character. A more party oriented and globally marketed character which in turn has created a large cultural industry from which T&T generates significant rev-enue.If we intend to include Carnival as a major tourist attraction and a great opportunity for international trade and recognition, then we must move away ever so slowly from the attitudes and behaviours which we are informed were the genesis of the festival. This is not an endorsement of the wholesale importation of the event in any way. In fact, quite the contrary, because if we stop being the sole producers and suppliers of Carnival as we know it, we can then say it has truly been lost.
Joshua Sylvester
Diego Martin