SUNDAY 22 JANUARY, 2017 – UWI TODAY
17
EVENTS
A SHOWCASE OF
CARIBBEAN IDENTITIES
B Y J E A N E T T E G . A W A I
From left: Nicole Roberts, Nadia Whiteman, Carol Hosein, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw
PHOTO: ROGER MC FARLANE AND FHE
Jeanette G. Awai is a freelance writer and Marketing and Communications Assistant at the Marketing and Communications Office
TheDepartments of Literary,
Cultural andCommunication
Studies (LCCS) and Modern Languages and Linguistics
(DMLL) jointly presented “Dialogues 2016 – Celebrating
post-graduate research” for researchers at different stages of
their careers. This year’s event, chaired by Dr Maarit Forde
and moderated by Dr Nicole Roberts, centred on MPhil
and PhD students whose research showcased how people
in the Caribbean societies produce andmaintain difference.
PhD in Spanish student, Adonis Diáz Fernandez gave
the first presentation on his work, “The Afro cosmovision:
“Orishaismo,” Afro-Cuban and Afro-Hispanic identity.”
Fernandez highlighted the need for naming and classifying
the sacred literature of Cuba using transculturation theory
as advanced by Fernando Ortiz. This is in an effort to
combat stereotypes associated with orishas and to legitimise
Orishaism as a genre for literature, arts and film.
Charisa-Marie Alexis-Francois, PhD in Cultural
Studies, addressed the topic, “Zelophehad’s Daughters:
Women in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement
(CCRM) in Trinidad.” In the days of the Old Testament
women did not inherit property according to Alexis-
Francois, thus Zelophehad’s daughters were the first women
on record to challenge patriarchal rule since they insisted
that their father’s property be transferred to them. It is in
this tradition that the women of the CCRM follow. Using
interviews to examine the lived experiences of these women,
Alexis-Francois examined the basis of female leadership
and empowerment in the CCRM and the establishment
and features of the community from their pre-call to being
fully committed members (post-call).
Jamaica took centre stage in PhD in Cultural Studies,
Nadia Whiteman’s presentation, “Between the Mainstream
and the Alternative: An Ethnographic Analysis of Social
Capital and the Politics of Difference in the Jamaican Rock
Music Scene.” She highlighted the way mainstream music
in Jamaica is used to maintain the local music economy
while oppressing other forms of music such as rock and
alternative music. Using information obtained from over
one year of ethnographic fieldwork in Jamaica, as well as a
Jamaican Rock WhatsApp chat group, Whiteman showed
how persons who listen to rock are seen as fringe dwellers
yet maintain the connected viewpoints to the status quo. She
proposed that the suppression of Jamaican rock was also tied
to the nation’s connection to blackness and by lessening the
rigidity of the Jamaican identity to include rock could have
positive effects on the music industry.
Fay White, PhD Literatures in English, presented
Female Same-Sex Desire and Mother-Daughter Imagery
in Caribbean Diasporic Women’s Writings.” She focused
on fictional representations of mother-daughter bonding
and how they are tied to motherland and Mother Nature
as well as female same-sex desire. Using textual analysis,
literary and feminist theories White examined books such
as Michelle Cliff ’s “Abeng,” Shani Mootoo’s “Out on Main
Street,” and Stacey-Ann Chin’s “The Other Side of Paradise,”
among others.
The final presenter and lone MPhil student, Carol
Hosein, from the Cultural Studies programme gave her
take in “A Study of the Socio-Cultural Effects of the 1970
Black-Power Revolution in Trinidad.” She stressed the
significant socio-cultural impact the revolution had in
Trinidad, including religious identities and practice, the
creation of a memory trove and proliferation of works in
the theatre and the arts.
Professor Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw weighed in
on the discussions, saying that presenters should try to
problematize the solidity of identity. The other discussant,
Dr Charleston Thomas, advised presenters to consider
that in their attempt to challenge hierarchies they should
be careful they do not construct hierarchies of their own.
During the Q&A session, panelists defended their works by
goingmore in depth about the non-binary ways they fleshed
out the concept of identity in their theses.
This year’s event centred on MPhil and PhD students whose research showcased how
people in the Caribbean societies produce and maintain difference
