Reads Carnival-related performances in relationship to the colonial and national histories of the circulation of Indian and black women's bodies in Trinidad and Tobago, asking what is at stake in these occupations of genre, form, and performative presence in the latest global scenes of late capitalism (where image and sound, as cultural productions, are always in circulation beyond the scope of the nation, and their own "original" referents).
Discusses the popular notions of sexuality that lay behind the women's bodily displays during Trinidad Carnival, the iconic Carnival experience in the region, and contrasts these to some Christian notions of the body and sexuality, which see the body ('the flesh') and sexuality, as problematic even sinful.
This article compares the transformation of carnival celebrations in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay at the beginning of the 20th century. It argues that changes in carnival practices in the River Plate region was linked to the rise of a vacation culture in Montevideo. The article also assesses the historiography on Montevideo's carnival which has cast a negative light on the impact of modernization and the festival. In comparison to Buenos Aires', carnival in Montevideo was fomented by governmental regulation. Finally, the article examines the relationship between carnival and each of the city's African-descent populations.
A brief overview of London's carnival and its beginnings in the late 1950s. Claudia Jones committed herself to both the culture and political underpinning of Caribbean carnival when she founded the event. London's West Indian community embraced carnival as an important source of celebration and cultural identity in the face of racist intimidation in Britain. The essay explores various difficulties that black British artists face gaining recognition, particularly those who work in carnival.
