High Mas : Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture

"High Mas explores Caribbean identity through photography, criticism, and personal narrative. Taking a sophisticated and unapologetically subjective Caribbean point of view, Browne delves into Mas as an emancipatory practice. The photographs and essays give the viewer an opportunity to see how performers are or wish to be perceived, as well as how the photographer is implicated in that dynamic. The resulting interplay encourages an informed, nuanced approach to the imaging of contemporary Caribbeanness. The first series, "Seeing Blue," features Blue Devils from the village of Paramin, whose performances signify an important revision of the post-emancipatory tradition of Jab Molassie in Trinidad. The second series, "La Femme des Revenants," chronicles the debut performance of Tracey Sankar-Charleau's La Diablesse, which reintroduced the "Caribbean femme fatale" to a new audience. The third series, "Moko Jumbies of the South," looks at Stephanie Kanhai and Jonadiah Gonzales, a pair of stilt-walkers from the performance group Touch de Sky from San Fernando. "Jouvay Ayiti," the fourth series, follows the political activist group Jouvay Ayiti performing a Mas in the streets of Port of Spain on Emancipation Day in 2015. Troubling the borders that persist between performer and audience, embodiment and spirituality, culture and self-consciousness, the book interrogates what audiences understand about the role of the participant-observer in public contexts. The book probes the multiple dimensions of vernacular experience, representing the uneasy embrace of tradition and the reappropriation of complementary cultural expressions, and, through Mas performance, suggests an explicit refusal to fully submit to the lingering traumas of slavery, colonialism, and the myth of independence."--Provided by publisher.;Ash Wednesday -- Proscenium for an aqueous humor -- Deliberative daemonic : making mas rhetorica -- A shot in the dark : toward a poetics of Caribbeanist photography -- Series : seeing blue -- Seeing blue : genesis of public executions -- Series : la femme des revenants -- La femme des revenants : a queen of sorrows -- Series : moko jumbies of the South -- Moko jumbies of the South : walking stick -- Series : jouvay reprised -- Jouvay reprised : a people, ground to dust. Overall Winner of the 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture explores Caribbean identity through photography, criticism, and personal narrative. Taking a sophisticated and unapologetically subjective Caribbean point of view, the author delves into Mas—a key feature of Trinidad performance—as an emancipatory practice. The photographs and essays here immerse the viewer in carnival experience as never before. Kevin Adonis Browne divulges how performers are or wish to be perceived, along with how, as the photographer, he is implicated in that dynamic. The resulting interplay encourages an informed, nuanced approach to the imaging of contemporary Caribbeanness.

The first series, “Seeing Blue,” features Blue Devils from the village of Paramin, whose performances signify an important revision of the post-emancipation tradition of Jab Molassie (Molasses Devil) in Trinidad. The second series, “La Femme des Revenants,” chronicles the debut performance of Tracey Sankar’s La Diablesse, which reintroduced the “Caribbean femme fatale” to a new audience. The third series, “Moko Jumbies of the South,” looks at Stephanie Kanhai and Jonadiah Gonzales, a pair of stilt-walkers from the performance group Touch de Sky from San Fernando in southern Trinidad. “Jouvay Reprised,” the fourth series, follows the political activist group Jouvay Ayiti performing a Mas in the streets of Port of Spain on Emancipation Day in 2015.

Troubling the borders that persist between performer and audience, embodiment and spirituality, culture and self-consciousness, the book interrogates what audiences understand about the role of the participant-observer in public contexts. Representing the uneasy embrace of tradition in Trinidad and the Caribbean at large, the book probes the multiple dimensions of vernacular experience and their complementary cultural expressions. For Browne, Mas performance is an exquisite refusal to fully submit to the lingering traumas of slavery, the tyrannies of colonialism, and the myths of independence. Overall Winner of the 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature High Mas: Carnival and the Poetics of Caribbean Culture explores Caribbean identity through photography, criticism, and personal narrative. Taking a sophisticated and unapologetically subjective Caribbean point of view, the author delves into Mas —a key feature of Trinidad performance—as an emancipatory practice. The photographs and essays here immerse the viewer in carnival experience as never before. Kevin Adonis Browne divulges how performers are or wish to be perceived, along with how, as the photographer, he is implicated in that dynamic. The resulting interplay encourages an informed, nuanced approach to the imaging of contemporary Caribbeanness. The first series, "Seeing Blue," features Blue Devils from the village of Paramin, whose performances signify an important revision of the post-emancipation tradition of Jab Molassie (Molasses Devil) in Trinidad. The second series, "La Femme des Revenants," chronicles the debut performance of Tracey Sankar's La Diablesse, which reintroduced the "Caribbean femme fatale" to a new audience. The third series, "Moko Jumbies of the South," looks at Stephanie Kanhai and Jonadiah Gonzales, a pair of stilt-walkers from the performance group Touch de Sky from San Fernando in southern Trinidad. "Jouvay Reprised," the fourth series, follows the political activist group Jouvay Ayiti performing a Mas in the streets of Port of Spain on Emancipation Day in 2015. Troubling the borders that persist between performer and audience, embodiment and spirituality, culture and self-consciousness, the book interrogates what audiences understand about the role of the participant-observer in public contexts. Representing the uneasy embrace of tradition in Trinidad and the Caribbean at large, the book probes the multiple dimensions of vernacular experience and their complementary cultural expressions. For Browne, Mas performance is an exquisite refusal to fully submit to the lingering traumas of slavery, the tyrannies of colonialism, and the myths of independence. High Mas explore l'identité caribéenne à travers la photographie, la critique et le récit personnel. Adoptant un point de vue caribéen sophistiqué et ouvertement subjectif, Browne se penche sur Mas en tant que pratique émancipatrice. Les photographies et les essais donnent au spectateur l'occasion de voir comment les artistes sont ou souhaitent être perçus, ainsi que la façon dont le photographe est impliqué dans cette dynamique. L'interaction qui en résulte encourage une approche informée et nuancée de l'imagerie de la Caribéenneté contemporaine. La première série, "Seeing Blue", présente des Blue Devils du village de Paramin, dont les performances constituent une révision importante de la tradition post-émancipatoire du Jab Molassie à Trinidad. La deuxième série, "La Femme des Revenants", retrace la première représentation de La Diablesse de Tracey Sankar-Charleau, qui a réintroduit la "femme fatale des Caraïbes" auprès d'un nouveau public. La troisième série, "Moko Jumbies of the South", s'intéresse à Stephanie Kanhai et Jonadiah Gonzales, deux échassiers du groupe Touch de Sky de San Fernando. "Jouvay Ayiti", la quatrième série, suit le groupe d'activistes politiques Jouvay Ayiti qui réalise un Mas dans les rues de Port of Spain le jour de l'Emancipation en 2015. Troublant les frontières qui persistent entre l'interprète et le public, l'incarnation et la spiritualité, la culture et la conscience de soi, le livre interroge ce que les publics comprennent du rôle du participant-observateur dans les contextes publics. Le livre sonde les multiples dimensions de l'expérience vernaculaire, représentant l'étreinte malaisée de la tradition et la réappropriation d'expressions culturelles complémentaires, et, par le biais de la performance Mas, suggère un refus explicite de se soumettre entièrement aux traumatismes persistants de l'esclavage, du colonialisme et du mythe de l'indépendance "High Mas explores Caribbean identity through photography, criticism, and personal narrative. Taking a sophisticated and unapologetically subjective Caribbean point of view, Browne delves into Mas as an emancipatory practice. The photographs and essays give the viewer an opportunity to see how performers are or wish to be perceived, as well as how the photographer is implicated in that dynamic. The resulting interplay encourages an informed, nuanced approach to the imaging of contemporary Caribbeanness. The first series, "Seeing Blue," features Blue Devils from the village of Paramin, whose performances signify an important revision of the post-emancipatory tradition of Jab Molassie in Trinidad. The second series, "La Femme des Revenants," chronicles the debut performance of Tracey Sankar-Charleau's La Diablesse, which reintroduced the "Caribbean femme fatale" to a new audience. The third series, "Moko Jumbies of the South," looks at Stephanie Kanhai and Jonadiah Gonzales, a pair of stilt-walkers from the performance group Touch de Sky from San Fernando. "Jouvay Ayiti," the fourth series, follows the political activist group Jouvay Ayiti performing a Mas in the streets of Port of Spain on Emancipation Day in 2015. Troubling the borders that persist between performer and audience, embodiment and spirituality, culture and self-consciousness, the book interrogates what audiences understand about the role of the participant-observer in public contexts. The book probes the multiple dimensions of vernacular experience, representing the uneasy embrace of tradition and the reappropriation of complementary cultural expressions, and, through Mas performance, suggests an explicit refusal to fully submit to the lingering traumas of slavery, colonialism, and the myth of independence." -- provided by publisher Cover HIGH MAS Title Copyright Dedication CONTENTS Acknowledgments Ash Wednesday Proscenium for an Aqueous Humor Deliberative Daemonic: Making Mas Rhetorica A Shot in the Dark: Toward a Poetics of Caribbeanist Photography SERIES MOKO JUMBIES OF THE SOUTH Moko Jumbies of the South: Walking Stick SERIES JOUVAY REPRISED Jouvay Reprised: A People, Ground to Dust Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index