284 p., An anthropological study of music as social activism and postcolonial identity development. The research for this dissertation was conducted in Trinidad and Tobago during an extended period of fieldwork from August 2003-February 2005, and during subsequent research trips from 2005 through 2008. This dissertation is a social history of the evolution of rapso, a genre of music that is heavily oriented toward poetic lyrics that advocate for social justice and the upliftment of the oppressed in Trinidad and Tobago. Grounded in oral and archival history and performance analysis, this study addresses the complex interconnections between the political economy of cultural production in Trinidad and Tobago, the politics of racial, gender, and national identity, and the individual quest for self-affirmation and meaning in life through the pursuit of artistic and activist work.
