Microsoft Word - Bacchus_RedemptionSong_Numbered.docx CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 113 Redemption Song: A Commentary on Caribbean Society Maria Bacchus Centre for Caribbean Studies Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto Maria Bacchus is a Guyanese Canadian undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. Having completed a Bachelor of Arts with a major in History and minors in Anthropology and Classical Studies, her academic career has been characterized by an exploration of the social, cultural, and religious landscapes of antiquity and contemporary times through her production of artwork, literature, and oral history during her time at the university. KEYWORDS: Stuart Hall Historical Causality Foreign Influence Colonialism Plantocracy Cultural Continuity Assimilation Race ABSTRACT This essay unpacked and analyzed the seven-part documentary series, Redemption Song, narrated by Stuart Hall, about the Caribbean in the early 1990s. Given the diversity of the Caribbean, Redemption Song unified the Caribbean by framing how the Caribbean’s past of foreign influence has shaped its present. Thus, this essay linked historical causality and the Caribbean’s present as a cultural mosaic to argue that Redemption Song demonstrates how contemporary Caribbean society is a product of its history of foreign influence and colonialism. This was accomplished by discussing a scene from each episode of Redemption Song and connecting it with secondary literature on Caribbean society to touch upon how the series represents and comments on contemporary Caribbean society. Namely, this essay discussed issues concern- ing the economy, identity, citizenship, race, class, sovereignty, borders, and tourism and how they relate to British, Afri- can, Indian, French, Spanish, and American influences in the Caribbean Introduction Redemption Song is a seven-part documentary series nar- rated by the late theorist Stuart Hall about the Caribbean in the early 1990s. An overarching study of the Caribbean is 1 Kamala Kempadoo, “Introduction: Thinking About the Carib- bean,” in Sexing the Caribbean: Gender, Race and Sexual Labor challenging, considering its diversity of ethnicities, lan- guages, religions, and cultures.1 This begs the question, what unites the Caribbean as a topic of discussion and study? While the series covers many cases, many (Routledge, 2004), 5. Caribbean Quilt Journal Homepage: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cquilt/index CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 114 contemporary issues represent critical aspects of Carib- bean society. Sidney Mintz argued that the Caribbean is distinct due to its social form, which stems from the colo- nial history that has shaped the region.2 Therefore, this es- say will play with the dynamics of historical causality and the Caribbean as a “cultural mosaic” to argue that the con- tent explored in Hall’s Redemption Song exemplifies the linkages of Caribbean society and its history of colonialism and foreign influence. This will be achieved by analyzing a central theme or scene from each episode of Redemption Song to show how the series may comment on issues of Caribbean society contemporary to the filming of the series. These issues comment on how foreign or global forces in- fluence different areas of life in the Caribbean, showing the relationship between the Caribbean’s past and its present. Episode 1 The first episode in the series, “Iron in the Soul,” laid the foundation of the series. As a result, Hall began by address- ing a seminal component of the Caribbean: its history with, and legacy of, colonialism and slavery. At the core of a dis- cussion of slavery in the Caribbean is the institution that organized and maintained slavery, the plantation. As Mintz argued, the intersection of slavery, plantations, and sugar reshaped the Caribbean society and the economic land- scape.3 The plantation was integral because its economic structures brought different people from the world together in a particular way, shaping the population and social com- position of the Caribbean.4 On top of bringing together di- verse peoples, the plantation system controlled the lives of the people within it, and so, one’s status within the planta- tion shaped how one related to others and was perceived.5 “Iron in the Soul” depicted the plantation in its historical form describing slavery in Jamaica, and its contemporary vestiges, by featuring the Cave family plantation in Barba- dos. The Caribbean’s history with the plantocracy also con- textualizes its current economy. Beckford discussed the unequal distribution of land in Jamaica, where the few 2 David Scott, "Modernity that Predated the Modern: Sidney Mintz’s Caribbean," in History Workshop Journal 58, no. 1 (2004): 199. 3 Scott, 200. 4 George L. Beckford, “Introduction,” in Persistent Poverty: Underdevelopment in Plantation Economies of the Third World (University of West Indies Press, 1999), 3. 5 Beckford, 9. existing plantations account for 56% of the available farm- land in the country.6 As a contrasting point, small farms (of less than five acres), which occupy 71% of the farms in Jamaica, only encompassed 12% of the country’s farm- lands, thus restricting the opportunities of these small farmers.7 The difficulty of local Caribbean farmers in at- taining land attests to the continued monopoly the planta- tion has on land in the Caribbean. Despite this, Steven Cave, the current owner of the Cave plantation, expressed concern over the Barbadian government threatening to na- tionalize his family’s plantation.8 When held against the economic angle of an uneven distribution of land skewed in favour of the plantation, his words appear short-sighted or conveniently ignoring the benefit of the country and many small farmers over his personal preferences. This at- titude of entitlement is a vestige of the plantocracy, demon- strating how the Caribbean’s historical plantation system, and its embedded class structure, continued to impact con- temporary Caribbean society and economy. Episode 2 The second episode, “Out of Africa,” attests to the contin- ued presence of Africa in the Caribbean. Redemption Song used this standpoint to describe Haiti’s history and the ex- pressions of African identity and culture in contemporary Haitian and Jamaican society. As the episode presented, Vodou served as an amalgam of different West and Central African rituals that came over with slavery and survived due to Haiti’s isolation.9 In Jamaica, Africa is intentionally drawn upon as inspiration with Rastafarianism and Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement.10 Thus, Caribbean society is a product of assimilation and retention in re- sponse to its history of encroachment, colonialism, and slavery.11 Slavery worked by trying to instill a sense of in- herent inferiority in the enslaved people, especially in com- parison to the superiority of their Retaining African cus- toms and traditions within music, dance, religion, and lan- guage has allowed those in the Caribbean to survive the 6 Ibid., 23. 7 Ibid. 8 Redemption Song, “Iron in the Soul.” 9 Redemption Song, “Out of Africa.” 10 Ibid. 11 Stuart Hall, "Negotiating Caribbean Identities," New Left Re- view no. 209 (1995): 7-8. CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 115 rupture of displacement and overall, the trauma of slav- ery.12 As “Out of Africa” elaborates, Africa evoked a rediscovery of roots, the recreation of one’s history, and a reclamation of one’s agency.13 Thus, Rastafarians believed they were in exile and aspired to return to Zion or Africa, showing that repatriation is vital to their belief.14 Africa becomes idealized as a powerful symbolic point of reference for home, roots, and source of identity. Additionally, the Bib- lical references of Ethiopia provide a counternarrative of liberation and dignification which contrasted with the con- ditions of slavery.15 This reinforces the notion that socie- ties in the Caribbean have been influenced and shaped by resistance to slavery and the plantation.16 Therefore, Re- demption Song celebrates the role this cultural retention has played in the past and present, contextualizing the Af- rican influences in contemporary Caribbean society. Episode 3 “Paradise Lost” describes the differing conditions of life in the Dominican Republic, ranging from wealthy individuals such as Senora Puccini, who can afford to travel all around the world and host extravagant parties, to Haitian migrant workers, whose lives have been compared to slavery. The juxtaposition between the two speaks to the intersection of race, citizenship, statelessness, and nationalist ideologies in the Dominican Republic. Hall frames the discussion with a remark that even the poorest Dominican citizen would not be caught dead cutting sugar cane.17 Instead, it is the work of migrants from Haiti. This intentionally con- trasts the Dominican citizen against the Haitian migrant in the Dominican cane fields. Other scholars, such as Samuel Martinez, have also used the word “slavery” to describe the situations of the Haitian migrant workers within the Do- minican sugar industry. 18 Haitians have migrated and worked in the cane fields of the Dominican Republic since the beginning of the twentieth century.19 By the 1930s, the 12 Hall, 7, 12. 13 Redemption Song, “Out of Africa.” 14 Chevannes, 1. 15 Ibid., 34. 16 Ibid., 17. 17 Redemption Song, “Paradise Lost.” 18 Samuel Martinez, "From Hidden Hand to Heavy Hand: Sugar, the State, and Migrant Labor in Haiti and the Dominican “piece-rate” wage system was instituted, where cane cut- ters were only paid according to how much sugar cane they cut, resulting in economic coercion due to such low wages. 20 Additionally, 25,000 Haitians were killed in 1937, but those living on the sugar estates were spared, es- tablishing that the only safe space for Haitians on Domin- ican soil was within the bateyes.21 Redemption Song sheds light on the lives of these Haitians and the forced labour, constant surveillance, horrible living conditions, and debt to the company store they faced.22 Additionally, Hall described Haiti as “the Republic’s tradi- tional enemy.”23 This wording contextualizes the condi- tions of Haitians in the Dominican Republic and links it to a history of a racialized construction of the Dominican Re- public in opposition to Haiti. The Trujillo dictatorship led a propaganda effort in the 1930s to depict Haitians as cul- turally and racially distinct from the Dominican people, es- tablishing Dominican identity and citizenship along racial lines while isolating and Othering those of Haitian de- scent.24 This mistreatment of Haitian workers coincided with the redefinition of the Dominican Republic and Haiti along racial lines, with the populace of the former depicted as Spanish and the latter as African, which limited the op- portunities for Haitian workers in the Dominican Republic to the cane fields. Ultimately, the fear of the “Haitian men- ace” justified Trujillo’s dictatorship.25 Overall, the depic- tion of Haitian migrant workers in the Dominican Republic in Redemption Song has been used to show the stark con- trast between classes in the country. Still, this case study is the tip of the iceberg in discussing race, style, and national identity in the country. Episode 4 The fourth episode, “La Grande Illusion,” explored society in Martinique in light of its historical and contemporary connections with France. Martinique’s connection with France is evident in its everyday community, as seen Republic," Latin American Research Review (1999): 57. 19 Martinez, 60. 20 Ibid., 66-67. 21 Martinez, 70. 22 Redemption Song, “Paradise Lost.” 23 Ibid. 24 Martinez, 69. 25 Ibid., 71. CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 116 through the country's widespread French culture and lan- guage. The pervasive French influence in Martinique speaks to the colonial tendency to transfer its culture, lan- guage, and education systems to its Caribbean colonies.26 The Caribbean middle class was seen as having the social and cultural capital to rule the Caribbean post-colonial state because they adopted the West's cultural capital and consumptive patterns. 27 However, such features of the West were incompatible with the Caribbean’s economy and nature due to clashes with the natural racial hierarchy in the Caribbean.28 This racial hierarchy necessitated the negotiation of one’s identity within or against their “inher- ent” social rank within the racial hierarchy.29 An example of this can be seen in the episode’s depiction of the white population in Martinique, with interviewees stating that they do not mix with other racial groups to maintain their racial and cultural superiority. 30 Marti- nique’s education system also teaches French language and history but ignores, sidelines, and ultimately erases black history.31 The varying value and attention placed on dif- ferent histories and cultures show the uneven racialized landscape of the Caribbean. Redemption Song acknowl- edges this condition in the title of the episode. As elabo- rated by Aime Cesaire, “La Grande Illusion” refers to the belief that the enduring French influence in Martinique would allow its citizens to be considered equal to Black Frenchmen.32 The status of being an equal Black French- men remains an illusion due to the racialized nature of Car- ibbean society.33 This racial hierarchy is present in Marti- nique, so while French culture and language transfer was transferred, it was placed on top of the racial order. Thus, the denial of this order perpetuates the “Grande Illusion.” Therefore, in Martinique, there is a disjuncture between the valorization of French identity and what this French iden- tity embraces and hides, which has repercussions on the identity and self-recognition of those living in the 26 Redemption Song, “La Grande Illusion.” 27 Aaron Kamugisha, "The Coloniality of Citizenship in the Contemporary Anglophone Caribbean," Race & Class 49, no. 2 (2007): 24-25. 28 Kamugisha, 24-25. 29 Hall, 8. 30 Redemption Song, “La Grande Illusion.” 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Redemption Song, “La Grande Illusion.” Caribbean. Episode 5 “Worlds Apart” highlights the linkages between history and contemporary society in portraying Trinidad and Guy- ana's racialized divisions and tensions. The Caribbean post-colonial state is ultimately a racial state based on how The connection between race, colour, culture, and class shapes Caribbean society. 34 In Trinidad and especially Guyana, there is an ideological divide between those of Af- rican and Indian origins. This divide is believed to have begun when Indian indentured workers were brought in by colonial powers after emancipation, taking away the bar- gaining power of formerly enslaved people to better con- ditions and wages.35 The tension between those of African and Indian descent in the Caribbean was fostered by colo- nial powers, dividing society to prevent the union of these groups against the colonial administration.36 Despite the perceived differences between the groups, they share the common interest of being shaped by foreign influences, which pit them against each other.37 However, this ideol- ogy also produces material consequences, leading to ethnic polarization and political violence.38 This racial divide is present in Guyanese politics between the People’s Progres- sive Party (PPP), which Indo-Guyanese broadly supports, and the predominantly Afro-Guyanese-supported People’s National Congress (PNC).39 These parties are perceived to be inherently different even though they are ideologically similar, with liberal-democratic views, following the 1990s.40 Thus, Redemption Song depicted the naturaliza- tion of ethnic polarization due to a specific history. Additionally, “Worlds Apart” provides a new avenue to consider how racial identity and ethnic divisions can be subverted in Caribbean society through featuring the singer, Drupatee. As an Indo-Trinidadian, Drupatee is part of a community that strongly draws upon the largely patriarchal 34 Kamugisha, 26. 35 Kevin Edmonds, “Race and Conflict in the Caribbean,” Lec- ture at the University of Toronto. 36 Ibid. 37 Perry Mars, "Ethnic Politics, Mediation, and Conflict Resolu- tion: The Guyana Experience," Journal of Peace Research 38, no. 3 (2001): 366. 38 Mars, 357. 39 Ibid., 356. 40 Ibid., 357. CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 117 Indian family values.41 Thus, she was expected to be a housewife in a private, supportive role in the domestic sphere. Despite this expectation, and with her husband’s support, Drupatee challenged traditional Indian patriarchal expectations and became a famous public singer. Drupatee also subverted racial lines by appealing to Afro-Trinidad- ian audiences by singing Calypso.42 Thus, the portrayal of Drupatee in “Worlds Apart” showed that it is possible to transverse these gendered and racial divisions, showing how these seemingly “inherently different” groups were not, in fact, worlds apart. This subversion reiterates that the tale of a historical rift between Guyanese of Indian and Af- rican descent is a myth based on relatively recent antago- nisms.43 Race is seen as a pervasive reason for divisions shaping many aspects of Caribbean society, such as politics and gendered family structures. Still, the episode furthers this topic by showing how this preconception of race as an end-all can be subverted and challenged. Episode 6 “Following Fidel” focused on life in Cuba. Within this ep- isode, Hall also touches upon Guantanamo Bay. By doing so, Hall reasserts that despite the hard borders and security measures between Guantanamo Bay and the rest of Cuba, it is still part of Cuba. The physical and ideological mainte- nance of separation between Guantanamo Bay and the rest of Cuba links to a more extensive discussion of sovereignty and the nature of foreign intervention in Cuba. The story of Cuba is intertwined with foreign influence, as expressed through the vintage American cars found on its streets or the Soviet-style clothing tailored for Eastern European women, available in Cuban stores.44 The case of Guan- tanamo Bay reinscribes the nature of the foreign occupa- tion, as it represents a portion of Cuba that still belongs to the United States but also hardly resembles Cuba.45 The Cubans in Guantanamo Bay must commute to work over large distances and face security searches. Meanwhile, the Americans who live on the base are isolated, with no com- munication with the outside. So few can compare the 41 Redemption Song, “Worlds Apart.” 42 Ibid. 43 Mars, 366. 44 Redemption Song, “Following Fidel.” 45 Ibid. 46 Ibid. 47 Yarimar Bonilla, "Ordinary Sovereignty," Small Axe: A conditions in Guantanamo’s well-stocked shelves and the bare ones surrounding Cuba.46 The case of Guantanamo is one of security, management and, ultimately, dissociation, where the “savagery and barbarism” of its surroundings are kept outside its gates.47 Guantanamo Bay is a space of containment and management for those that could potentially “trouble” the nation, namely Haitian migrants.48 However, the terms of the lease of Guantanamo Bay to the United States dictate that the Cuban government has “sovereignty” over the area even though the United States operates and exercises its military control.49 Therefore, Guantanamo Bay serves as “a carefully crafted legal absence” which allows the United States to use simultaneously and remain unaccountable for this space in Cuba.50 Thus, this shows how space can be constructed in a way separate from its surroundings, allow- ing foreign occupation to co-occur unimplicated. Despite this, Hall challenges this dismissal of accountability by bringing Guantanamo Bay back into the conversation of Cuba by featuring clips of the site and its workers and con- trasting it with the rest of Cuba.51 This speaks to a more significant pattern of the illusion of accountability and (non)sovereignty found in the discourse of imperialism, occupation, and foreign intervention compared to its real- ity in the Caribbean.52 Episode 7 “Shades of Freedom” ends the series by discussing how, despite the formal end of colonialism and slavery, Carib- bean society has attained freedom in differing degrees. Per- haps one of the most poignant examples of this conditional emancipation from foreign influence is seen with tourism in the Caribbean. The Caribbean has been a source of de- sire for its natural beauty and “tropical sensuousness.”53 Colonial portrayals of the Caribbean as welcoming and open for conquest are repurposed by the current tourism industry, distorting the Caribbean’s reality and presenting Caribbean Journal of Criticism 17, no. 3 (2013): 161. 48 Bonilla, 160. 49 Bonilla, 161. 50 Ibid., 160. 51 Redemption Song, “Following Fidel.” 52 Bonilla, 161. 53 Kempadoo, 1. CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 118 an orchestrated Caribbean caricature to the tourist.54 This is motivated by the fact that many of the economies of Car- ibbean countries rely on profits from a particular view of the Caribbean. 55 However, as expressed in Redemption Song, the money and services brought in by tourism is not used to benefit the country’s people but to enrich those who own the tourism sector.56 Actions undertaken to help the locals, such as replacing a statue, are only accomplished if seen benefitting the tourist industry.57 The attention and effort put into the tourism industry, rather than national de- velopment, contributes to the alienation of Caribbean peo- ples.58 As discussed in the episode, the local becomes in- cidental, a second-class citizen, and sidelined against the needs of the tourist.59 The material and ideological con- struction of the Caribbean according to foreigners' desires and consumption patterns is a simultaneous act of violence towards its locals.60 Thus, Hall ends the episode with a message that links all the episodes of Redemption Song to Caribbean society in general: an awareness that the Carib- bean’s past was cast in “different images of Europe” and now must determine if its present reshapes or breaks away from these images to depict the Caribbean in its likeness.61 The balance between the benefits of the tourism industry in the Caribbean against the damaging effects of Caribbean alienation, commodification, and reproduced inferiority must be negotiated as Caribbean society redefines itself from its past. In conclusion, contemporary Caribbean society is a prod- uct of its past and has been shaped by cultural continuity and change. This essay has analyzed each episode of Hall’s Redemption Song and has put it in conversation with topics relevant to Caribbean societies today to demonstrate that Caribbean society is shaped by its history of foreign influ- ence. Thus, this essay has touched upon issues of economy, identity, citizenship, race, class, sovereignty, borders, and tourism and how it has related to British, African, Indian, French, Spanish, and American influences in the Carib- bean. 54 Kamugisha, 29. 55 Kempadoo, 1. 56 Redemption Song, “Shades of Freedom.” 57 Kamugisha, 28. 58 Ibid., 29. 59 Redemption Song, “Shades of Freedom.” 60 Kamugisha, 29. 61 Redemption Song, “Shades of Freedom.” CARIBBEAN QUILT 2023 VOL. 7 NO. 1 119 BIBLIOGRAPHY Beckford, George L. “Introduction.” In Persistent Poverty: Underdevelopment in Plantation Economies of the Third World, 3-29. 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