Traditional carnival theory, based mainly on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Victor Turner, has long defined carnival as inversive or subversive. The essays in this groundbreaking anthology collectively reverse that trend, offering a re-definition of 'carnival' that is focused not on the hierarchy it temporarily displaces or negates, but one that is rooted in the actuality of the festival event. Carnival details its new theory in terms of a carnival that is at once representative and distinctive: The Carnival of Trinidad-the most copied yet least studied major carnival in the world.
Editor Milla Cozart Riggio has compiled a body of work that takes the reader on a fascinating journey exploring the various aspects of carnival - its traditions, its history, its music, its politics - and prefaces each section with an illuminating essay. This beautifully illustrated volume features work by leading writers and experts on carnival from around the world, and includes two stunning photo essays by acclaimed photographers Pablo Delano and Jeffrey Chock.

Traditional carnival theory, based mainly on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Victor Turner, has long defined carnival as inversive or subversive. The essays in this groundbreaking anthology collectively reverse that trend, offering a re-definition of 'carnival' that is focused not on the hierarchy it temporarily displaces or negates, but one that is rooted in the actuality of the festival event. Carnival details its new theory in terms of a carnival that is at once representative and distinctive: The Carnival of Trinidad-the most copied yet least studied major carnival in the world.
Editor Milla Cozart Riggio has compiled a body of work that takes the reader on a fascinating journey exploring the various aspects of carnival - its traditions, its history, its music, its politics - and prefaces each section with an illuminating essay. This beautifully illustrated volume features work by leading writers and experts on carnival from around the world, and includes two stunning photo essays by acclaimed photographers Pablo Delano and Jeffrey Chock.

An eclectic collection of 19 essays, conversations and reports intended to reach beyond regions and compartamentalized disciplines. They encompass the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and the arts. The book hopes to broaden the horizons of what we call 'The Caribbean' both geographically and intellectually. Included are Harvey Neptune's re-evaluation of CLR James' American Civilization as a book that foretold the rise of a populist autocratic leader in the US long before Trump. Christopher Laird provides a revealing outline of Banyan holdings, the largest cultural archive in the Caribbean while Heather Cateau explores the 400- year old links between Connecticut and the Caribbean. The notion of the Caribbean as a 'new Mediterranean' is examined by Gary Reger and Honduran historian Dario Euraque traces references to Afro-origins in Central American curricula. Tony Hall argues for recognition of Marcus and Amy Garvey in societies ranging from Jamaica and Costa Rica to the US. The collection also includes Pablo Delano's installation The Museum of the Old Colony and a conversation with Trinidad masman artist Peter Minshall. Essays also focus on Hindu, Moslem and Afro-Caribbean women in the Diaspora and on the difficulties facing LGBTQ communities in the Caribbean and the US. Other authors compare the UK Leeds carnival with that of Trinidad and on the importance of David Rudder's Cricket Chronicles as cultural documents.

The devil is a defiant, nefarious figure, the emblem of evil, and harbinger of the damned. However, the festive devil--the devil that dances--turns the most hideous acts into playful transgressions." Festive Devils of the Americas" is the first volume to present a transnational and performance-centered approach to this fascinating, feared, and revered character of fiestas, street festivals, and carnivals in North, Central, and South America. As produced and performed in both rural and urban communities and among neighborhood groups and councils, festive devils challenge the principles of colonialism and nation-states reliant on the straight and narrow opposition between good and evil, black and white, and us and them.
Each section of this volume opens with regional maps ranging from the Andes, Afro-Atlantic, and Caribbean, to Central and North America. However, festive devils defy geographical as well as moral boundaries. From Brazil's Candomble to New Mexico's dance halls, festive devils and their stories sustain and transform ancestral memory, recast historical narratives, and present political, social, and cultural alternatives in many guises. Within economic, political, and religious cross-currents, these paradoxical figures affirm the spirit of community within the framework of subversion and inversion found at the heart of the festival world.