Women, Theatre and Calypso in the English-Speaking Caribbean

Abstract

The present essay discusses how women calypsonians in the English-speaking Caribbean use Calypso performances as a theatrical platform to offer a gendered critique of the nation and engage in a dialogue, which despite exhibiting pride in the nation, questions its various exclusions in ways that seek to redefine dominant constructions of the nation as ‘we’. Not only do they offer a vision of the nation and its cultural aspects that is more inclusive, they also speak out against cultural and political oppression. I analyse specific performances by Singing Sandra (Trinidad) and Queen Ivena (Antigua) from my position as an ‘indigenous-outsider’ and ‘outsider within’ in order to demonstrate that Calypso performance is a post-colonial form of theatre in the English-speaking Caribbean that is being used by women as a site for feminist action and agency.

Where Popular Culture IS the Archives: The Archival Significance of Antigua’s Calypso

“…She considered calypso lyrics and performances essential to understanding Antiguan societal discourses and behaviors. Denise Hughes‐Tafen uses calypsos and the performances by prominent Antiguan women calypsonians for her study, “Women, Theatre and Calypso in the English‐Speaking Caribbean.” There, she examines the ways in which women calypsonians in the English‐speaking Caribbean engage in gendered analysis and debate on national identities by means of their calypso performances (48). Elsewhere, I have considered the malleability of calypso to include and reflect the other genres, languages, rhythms, and sounds of the immigrant others settling in Antiguan society (164).…”