Chapter 8
Picong and puns, boasting and complaining
Oral performance in the language of calypso
Calypso (or ‘Kaiso’) as a form of artful oral performance has a long history in Trinidad and has been explored from the perspectives of its historical development (Rohlehr 1990), its importance as a political and social commentary (Regis 1999), as well as its significance as a form of oral literature (Warner 1985). Rooted in West African tradition of praise and complaint songs, the format developed in the 19th-century post-emancipation Carnival context. While the genre has undergone many transformations in musical form (from litany to strophic singing), language (from French Creole to English/Creole) and topics (from highly localized issues to more global themes), it is still recognizable and alive.
This chapter looks at Trinidad calypso as a performance genre deeply rooted in the psychodynamics of orality (Abrahams 1983, Ong 2002). Particular emphasis will be placed both on the participatory and the agonistic nature of the genre with an analysis of the speech acts of complaints and boasting in calypsos as well as an investigation of call and response patterns, calypso war rituals and the role of the audience. The performance of gender and masculinity will be in focus in a comparison of the classic calypso in the post-war period with the transformed genre it has been associated with since the 1970s.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Rum and Coca Cola: Contested perspectives on the nature of a genre
- 2.Calypso, oral culture and the good performer
- 2.1Historical roots of calypso
- 2.2The language of calypso
- 2.3Calypso and oral performance
- 3.Belmont Jackass and Madame Dracula: Extempore performance and picong/ ritual insults in the Trinidad Calypso context
- 4.“I ain’t boasting but I’ve got durability”: Self-praise, masculinity and the gender divide in traditional calypso
- 5.Outlook: Soca, calypso and the global scene
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Notes