What is carnival?
It is an annual celebration of life found in many countries of the world. And in fact, by learning more about carnival we can learn more about ourselves and a lot about accepting and understanding other cultures.
Where did the word “carnival” come from?
The word Carnival is made up of two Latin words, carne, meaning flesh and vale, meaning farewell. In the Catholic calendar carne vale, farewell to flesh, is a feast celebrated on the Sunday (Dimanche Gras), Monday (Lundi Gras) and Tuesday (Mardi Gras) before Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning ofLent and fasting.
Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.”As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival.
The Carnival festival was transported to the Caribbean by the European slave traders. They excluded the African slaves from the festival and had lavish masquerade balls. On emancipation the freed African slaves of the Caribbean transformed the European festival forever into a celebration of the end of slavery. The Carnival festival had a new cultural form derived from their own African heritage and the new Creole artistic cultures developed in the Caribbean. It is the Caribbean Carnival that is exported to large cities all over the world.
The Caribbean Carnival consists of masquerade, dance, music and song. It is unique as a festival as it incorporates the fine arts, street theatre, artistic and musical social organisation, spectator participation, political commentary, spectacle and fantasy.
In Britain Mardi Gras is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day. Carnival was originally a pagan spring festival celebrated by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The Carnival was adapted by the Catholic Church in Europe.
There is Carnival in Europe today, mainly in Catholic southern Europe in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and southern Germany (Bavaria), Carnival in Venice being the most well known. There is a history of similar festivals and events in Britain itself that have been suppressed and destroyed by a long line of British rulers. The festivals that were pagan in origin were thought to encourage absenteeism and disrupt the work ethic. These festivals still persist, especially in the South West of England in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.
We are all familiar with images of Notting Hill Carnival in London. They are of masquerade (costumes), music, dancing and happy people. But what is behind the masquerade? There is a rich history, culture, language and a lot of hard work and struggle. The Caribbean Carnival described here is a celebration of the end of slavery as well as an affirmation of survival. Carnival is where Africa and Europe met in the cauldron of the Caribbean slave system to produce a new festival for the world.
The four elements of Carnival are song, music, costume and dance, which translate as calypso/soca, steelpan, mas (masquerade), and 'wine' (dance) in the Caribbean Carnival.
Trinidad is the island in the Caribbean with the most developed and well-known Carnival. Wherever the Trinidadians go they transplant their Carnival culture.
Carnival first came to Trinidad with the French Catholic plantation slave owners during the 1700s. It consisted of indoor masked balls and was an exclusive, high society event.
The African peoples were brought to the Caribbean as slaves from countries in West and Central Africa that stretch from Senegal to Central African Republic, and include countries that are now Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo, and Central African Republic. Those brought to Trinidad as slaves, also carried with them their own strong masquerade traditions, music and songs, which were used for celebration and the rituals of life, e.g. birth, death, puberty and marriage. This was especially strong with those who were Yoruba (Nigeria), as their strong civilisation and religious structure dominated.
Yoruba
The Yoruba were the last to be taken as slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean because of the strength of their armies, civilisation and organisation. With a strong culture coming late to the Caribbean slave islands, they dominated the religious, cultural and artistic life of the Caribbean Africans. The structure of Yoruba religion starts with the one God, Olodumare and messengers between God and man called Orishas, like Yemenja and Shango, who were prayed to by pretending to pray to the Catholic saints. Prayers to Shango were to shrines with the statue of the Catholic Saint Peter. In this way African culture, specifically Yoruba culture, could survive the murderous cultural and religious oppression of the slave masters. Under slavery these Caribbean peoples developed a new culture, using the European framework and adding West African elements to it. An example of this was the forerunner of the present day Carnival, a festival called the Canboulay.
Canboulay
The Canboulay was a night-time procession whose original purpose was to gather the slaves together and march them to neighbouring sugar cane plantations to put out fires. The burning canes or cannes brulées (French) was Canboulay in the local Creole language. The popular Canboulay consisted of a procession with lighted torches (flambeaux) accompanied by singing, dancing and drumming. The West African call-and-response and satirical songs were sung by a lead singer, the Chantwelle, and the chorus by singers called the Lavué. The drumming was typically provided by accomplished drummers from the Yoruba religion called Shango or Rada (Trinidad) or today Orisha in Trinidad. There were also stick fighters armed with three foot long bois or staves made from the wood of the Poui. Their fierce Kalenda songs and dances provided a sense of confidence and bravado. It would be the Kalenda stick fighters who would later physically defend the Carnival.
Emancipation
After emancipation in 1834, the white planters abandoned the Mardi Gras Carnival and the streets were taken over by the former slaves. Carnival was now a celebration of the end of slavery and included all the elements of the Canboulay with a masquerade that mocked the antics of their former masters as well as being a reminder of the evils of slavery. The European Mardi Gras would be forever transformed by the Canboulay Carnival of the former slaves. There were many attempts by the now British colonial authorities to suppress and abolish this new type of Carnival. These took the form of a virulent media campaign and laws that tried to control the times of the festival. Licences were required for certain masquerades, they banned the use of drums and flambeaux and controlled the numbers of stick fighters. The people struggled, fought and died to defend their Carnival festival. One famous victory was the defeat of aCaptain Baker and the special police brought to the island from England to suppress the Carnival in 1881. These Canboulay riots established the existence and survival of Carnival forever. In Trinidad today Carnival is celebrated every year on the two days before Ash Wednesday. It starts in the darkness of the early morning on Sunday (Dimanche Gras) with drums, whistles and the beating of iron. People wear masks and daub themselves with mud or oil. Crudely made satirical costumes are portrayed. This start of Carnival is called Jouvay from Jour Ouvert (French), meaning daybreak and is the historical remnant of Canboulay.
This blog actually opened my eyes to the practices of Carnival and how it all began. Many times we as Caribbeans or people celebrate things without knowing were it originated from. What I took away from this is "Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” This practice of costumes came from the African festivals whose primary purpose is to revive the community. I enjoyed reading about the practice of carnival.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, your subject is very interesting and full of rich information. I always was fascinated by the Caribbean Carnival and curious to know its origin. Like Ashelle, I learnt a lot reading your article. First, the original meaning of carnival (which I did not know) is good to know. Second, as an African myself, I am glad to know that our culture were able to travel and inspire other black communities to create others culture of their own. The part I enjoyed the most reading was the one about the Yoruba. The Yoruba are a dominant ethnic group in West Africa, and reading through your article, it seems they are also the dominant group of Caribbean descent. I agree that they have a strong culture, power and influence (even today in Africa). I learnt new interesting thing about how the Yoruba were able to preserve their culture under European slavery and domination.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny. Two semesters ago I did my speech on Carnival and the beginning of the celebration, to eat, dance, before the first day of Lent, Before I did my speech I was part of those who celebrate something without knowing the meaning of it. When I was younger, at my school we use to disguise, eat, dance, just enjoy. But then I realise there were more behing it . Like my mother used to say, you never stop learning, and your article actually thought me that Carnival in the Carribean was all influenced by an African tribe. The Yoruba tribe are known for their sense of celebration and dancing, now all this folklore makes more sense to me. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThis article was more than informative. As a born trinidadian,I was not aware of how deep my roots go.This article was very bittersweet because I sometimes participate in the carnival here in Brooklyn, and I never gave much thought, until now, to how much my ancestors went through and how we evolved as a people and how much we regard now as beautiful and intriguing as it was once painful.
ReplyDeleteThe history of carnival in the western hemisphere contains a multitude of geopolitical factors which necessitated its introduction and the violent attempts to terminate the practice among the emancipated slaves. These and other issues are clearly stated in Andrew Joseph’s Blog which chronicles how a European custom was embraced by former slaves to celebrate their freedom from bondage. In addition to discussing how the ex-slaves merged two distinct cultures to produce what is now celebrated throughout the western hemisphere in Caribbean communities.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting Andrew. As a foreigner, I never heard about this event because we don't celebrate it in Guinea. It seems really fun and interactive. Reading this article will definitely push me to attend one of the carnival that will happen here in New York or anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting Andrew. As a foreigner, I never heard about this event because we don't celebrate it in Guinea. It seems really fun and interactive. Reading this article will definitely push me to attend one of the carnival that will happen here in New York or anywhere.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic about the essence and development of carnival. I like how Andrew discusses the issues about this subject because he explains it in an accurate chronological order. So, that his reader can get informed of all the facts associated with the origin of carnival.This topic is so engrossing especially for foreign individuals who are not aware of this theme. The aspect that caught most of my attention was about the masquerade especially the way he explains it on what's really inside it.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I have the impression that Andrew elaborated a well structured research because he exposed relevant information about the history of the carnival practice. I really recommend people to read this because they will learn.