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Feteing as Cultural Resistance? The Soca Posse in the Caribbean Diaspora

2008; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 20; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3138/topia.20.65

1916-0194

Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar,

Latin American and Latino Studies

Diasporic cultural forms such as music are continually transforming and under contestation. Soca music from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago has migrated to the Caribbean diaspora where it is attracting a growing audience, some of whom belong to the second generation Caribbean population. It is within the soca fetes, the large parties or shows that often coincide with Carnivalstyle celebrations, that the significance of soca as a site of cultural resistance can be contested. Drawing on research conducted in Toronto, Canada, which has a large Caribbean diasporic community, this paper examines the ways in which a Trinidadian identity is foregrounded and replicated by the second generation in the soca fete. It also looks at other accompanying tensions between Caribbean identities within a diasporic locale.