Oral and Literate Strategies in Performances

This paper explores the differences between two social organizations of the West Indian island of St. Lucia. The rivalry between the and societies, exemplified in the adoption of contrasting strategies in performance, forms of communication, and sets of values, is examined in relation to the profound influences of written and oral traditions on people's consciousness (see Finnegan 1977; Havelock 1963, 1982; McLuhan 1962, 1964; Ong 1976, 1977, 1982; and Tedlock 1983). This paradigm informs the meaning of the activities of the two organizations insofar as it brings forth other discrepancies which are related to but transcend the phenomena of orality and literacy: it leads to the discussion of social and economic classes, and what St. Lucians themselves conceive and perceive as their correlating behaviors and attitudes, mores and ideals. It serves as a vantage point from which to survey the network of associations formulated by St. Lucians to make sense of their world as they relate to the past and imagine the future.2 St. Lucia is indeed a perfect example of a complex mixture of orality and literacy. In 1980 a report on the feasibility of a National Literacy Programme for St. Lucia showed that the level of illiteracy in St. Lucia was approximately 46% of the population over 15 year olds; since then, the progress has been very slow. Through the discussion of the and organizations, their membership, and their weekly meetings, this paper aims first of all to show how the differences in the members' behavior and their system of values reflect two noetic systems, namely, the oral and the literate traditions. Next, it attempts to demonstrate how these two forms of communication influence the and aesthetic values and strategies in performance. Last, this study illustrates how these contrasting sets of beliefs and mores of the and societies are not only translated into other musical events but actually pervade St. Lucian culture. Why choose the and social organizations for this study? There are indeed many other types of organizations in St. Lucia. Field work between 1980 and 1986 included observation of a soccer team, a funeral society, a fishermen's association, as well as at least one of the two social organizations. These organizations were selected for this analysis not only because their members take part in singing or dance or playing musical instruments, but also because, according to St. Lucians, the and organizations polarize their society into two representative moieties. Indeed, anyone, whether a member of either association or not, is identified as a La Rose or a La Marguerite by his behavior, beliefs, and mores. These organizations clearly crystallize major tendencies which describe and

Backwardness · Consciousness · Epistemology · Functional illiteracy · Literacy · Mores · Orality · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Population · Social science · Sociology · Demography · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Philosophy

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