A Brief Survey into Caribbean Music

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Instructor: Dr. Christine Gangelhoff

Introduction: Creolization in Caribbean Music 

        Tour de force, a musical journey of the Caribbean textbook, canvasses three essential topics: creolization, mentorship, and the model of versatility. This blog will focus on the concept of creolization and how creolization has shaped Caribbean countries forever. Tour de force defines creolization as a blending or "intermixing of musical traditions brought to the region through migration: African, European and East Asian" (Gangelhoff & LeGrand, p. 6, 2019). The blending or intermixing of musical traditions also is seen in languages, foods, dance, and it overall forms the culture of the Caribbean. In the book, it was noted that some of the creole languages that Caribbean countries speak were languages brought on to the country from their colonizers. Gangelhoff and LeGrand (2019) pointed out that some of the languages that are native to the Caribbean are "Kreyol (which is the direct result from the French and other languages spoken in Haiti) and Papiamentu (a hybrid language native to the Netherlands Antilles)" (p. 7).

Figure 1: An example of Creolization in Food: Creole Cuisine from Louisiana

Photo was taken from: Tour de force book 

Video 1: An example of Creolization in food: Louisiana Creole Cuisine Video : Chef  Leah

video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPakK2wuhcg

 

As mentioned in the introduction, other examples of creolization throughout the Caribbean are through dance. One well-known dance in Jamaica is the Quadrille. According to the Jamaican Information Service, "the Quadrille is a female and male dance performed in Jamaica, originating from France and England in the 18th and 19th centuries" (BIS, n.d). The Quadrille dance shows the elegance and mannerisms of the elite societies.

Figure 2:  Quadrille being performed by Jamaicans

Photo take from: https://pripsjamaica.com/places/17663/go/heritage/quadrille


Video 2: Quadrille dance being performed in Jamaica

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA5oGKbKbPQ


This was a brief introduction to Creolization! Thank you for reading blog post 1. 


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