Vol 5, No 1 (2016)

SYLLABUS: A SEMESTER-LONG STUDY OF

CARNIVALS

Deinya Phenix, St. Francis College

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

As a sociologist, I have a general interest in investigating the variety of influences on behavior. Over the last decade this general interest has developed along several areas, including crime and deviance over the life course, education, and structural aspects of cultural practices and representation. The course outlined below came about as a result of my work teaching the sociology of religion as a standalone course and teaching culture, deviance, stratification, and gender as modules of general principles of sociology courses. As these are not my primary areas of research, I made the pedagogical choice to incorporate community voices and experience in the lectures.

As my personal hobbies of dance and music afforded me a network of talented individuals willing to visit the college and share their culture through guest lectures and demonstrations, I experimented with combining lectures by professional artists or religious practitioners with traditional textbooks and class discussion. On the suggestion of my department chair, I developed a new course that combined my avocational interest in music and dance with the academic topics of culture and systems of belief. At the same time, I observed that many of my students were routinely absent in the early spring due to the irresistible allure of “home” and the tradition of playing mas, i.e., marching, dancing, singing, and role playing in the few days before Lent. I decided that the pull toward this particular tradition, extravagant and popular as it was, had as much influence as many other social forces and as much certainty.

As part of the course development, I did some exploratory research in Haiti and Brazil, and I have written some observations of racial consciousness, contested urban spaces, performance-based activism, social service, ethnic representation, and popularization of religious and cultural traditions. I have drawn on some of these themes in developing lessons to engage students in the sociology of carnival. Furthermore, as different as carnivals are across places, the significant overlap in certain practices and themes justifies the investigation of carnival as a single phenomenon.

a deep study of any of these topics. Rather, the course introduces students to the application of these core concepts in examining a specific social phenomenon. Thus, the course content is intentionally broad.

The course satisfies an upper level social science elective requirement for honors students. Per the college honors program requirements, the course does not have prerequisites. Thus, the first lesson in the course is an overview of the major principles of sociology. This overview equips the students with a basic vocabulary and orientation for following the sequence of readings and issues throughout the course. By the end of the course, the students will have several months of practice applying this vocabulary verbally and in writing.

Carnival itself is a very broad term and highly varied set of practices. The inspiration for the course and my research is the pre-Lenten celebration based on the Catholic calendar. However, much of the content concerns the cultures of the African and Caribbean diaspora, and Carnival is defined loosely and includes seasonal celebrations all over the world and any time of the year. For example, students have investigated Mashramani, which occurs in Guyana on the anniversary of its independence in late February. A panel of “burners” presents on the annual summer Burning Man festival in Nevada’s Black Rock desert. Other countries and regions discussed are Spain, Italy, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, the southern United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

While there is no single theoretical frame for the course, there are two overarching theoretical frames linked by the cross cultural readings. The first such frame is the set of social and collective elements of the carnivalesque, including moral flexibility and the performative nature of mass celebration. Students begin to explore this frame as they read Ehrenreich’s (2012) statements about Dionysian rites in ancient Europe, and they continue to test this principle as they read about Brazilian Carnaval and American Mardi Gras. The notion of the carnivalesque is even tested in our discussion about disaster, crime and violence later in the course.

Another foundational lesson in the course is on the notion of diaspora as a consequence of globalization, including the trans-Atlantic slave trade and contemporary migration. In reading Pieterse’s (1996) and Hannerz’s (1987) texts on globalization, students learn about globalization as an ongoing historical process and the propensity of cultures to blend or clash depending on the circumstances. Given this discussion, one of the course goals is connecting specific cultural practices to themes of ethnic and transnational identity. This theme is personally relevant for immigrant or first generation American students, but resonates with all classmates as we discuss connections with our respective heritages and then compare those to the connections discussed in the readings about carnival in the “first world.”

connect the readings, different as they may be, to each other. Discussions are based on the writing assignment and are conducted round-robin style.

In addition to guiding students toward understanding the social forces of culture, identity and globalization, this course engages students as hosts of a speaker series, bringing in guest artists and scholars from the local community to lecture and demonstrate specific cultural practices. Given this, the writing assignments serve a third purpose: (3) they are a structure for students to generate informed questions for the guest speaker or for the class. Instructors of this course will need to build their own connections to historians, folklorists, musicians, dancers and activists in his or her community. Instructors will need time, approximately four months in advance of the course, to familiarize themselves with the artists’ and scholar’s work, to discuss expectations with the artists and scholars, and to negotiate and prepare speaking contracts with the college or university. As public events with guest lectures usually require speaker honoraria and refreshments for the audience, the course requires a department or shared budget of approximately $2000. Films are also part of the course design, and colleges may find increasing the proportion of film content more cost effective.

Speakers are asked to give a formal lecture for 30-40 minutes, then offer a musical or visual demonstration, then open for questions and interactions with the students and other audience members. As the guest lectures and performance/demonstrations are open to the public, additional questions will emerge after the (prepared) questions of the students. By hosting local or regional guest speakers, students will avail themselves of the cosmopolitan capacity of the college or university. In speaking as guests in the series, scholars and artists have the opportunity to reach an audience of undergraduate students primed to ask them questions rooted in the literature and prior class discussion. Even in small or rural communities, instructors should be able to foster such connections between the college community and the practitioners of the culture under study.

Honors program policy has also informed my choice to include excursions as part of the course. I use two local establishments for that purpose: the first establishment is a museum with an ongoing exhibit; the second is a local business that imports and distributes materials used in celebration and other carnivalesque practices. Neither type of establishment may be obvious or available in the vicinity of some college campuses, so some initial research, creativity, and liberal use of technology may be essential to running this course.

SYLLABUS

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COURSE DESCRIPTION:

As an advanced level application of analytical tools in the discipline of sociology, this course investigates pre-Lenten and other seasonal festivals in Europe and the Americas. Using a sociological and interdisciplinary perspective, this course explores issues of gender, race, class, sexuality, culture and finance through text, film, guest lectures and a class excursion. The format of the course is a combination of traditional lecture, seminar, and performance series, all in-person. Students will learn independently through substantial reading and writing, interactively through class discussion and conversations with guest artists and speakers, and experientially through guided excursions to local cultural institutions. The typical meeting frequency for this course is once per week.

TEXTS:

•Ehrenreich, Barbara. Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. 2012. Holt [“Ehrenreich”]

•Mauldin, Barbara. Carnaval! 2004. University of Washington Press [“Mauldin”]

•Riggio, Milla Cozart.Carnival: Culture in Action – The Trinidad Experience. 2004 Routledge [“Riggio”]

•Gardner, Jason. A Flower in the Mouth: The Beauty and Burden of Carnaval in Pernambuco 2013 Visual Anthropology Press [“Gardner”]

•Supplemental academic readings provided by professor via handouts, links to electronic text, or Canvas [“Supp”]

GOALS:

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Understand academic literature from a variety of disciplines related to Carnival, Mardi Gras and other festivals

Demonstrate their awareness of the interconnectedness of knowledge

Identify issues of religion, race, gender and stratification within the general issue of public celebration

Connect specific cultural practices to themes of ethnic and transnational identity Analyze context and social implications in film and public performance

Take advantage of cultural resources in their community or geographic area

Prepare and present informed and culturally relevant commentary and questions to engage artists and other key stakeholders in the culture and performance industry Write critical prose applying concepts learned in the readings and lecture to analysis of films and performances.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING SYSTEM:

Students are evaluated based on active participation in each class, where attendance will be taken. Significant reductions to the Class Participation score will result from inappropriate sidebar conversations, chatting, texting, playing on electronic devices, excessive absences and leaving class or other failures to contribute to the learning environment. Several writing assignments are required. Assignments must be turned in on time via both hard copy and the course website/turnitin.com, and are subject to a penalty of a 20% grade reduction per day, starting at 9pm of the due date of the assignment. Students must submit only original work and, unless explicitly instructed, must work alone. Any unauthorized assistance will be considered plagiarism. Plagiarism will result in an F on the assignment or on the whole course at the instructor’s discretion.

Requirement Point value

Class participation and contribution to the learning environment 20

Weekly writing assignments and recitation, 5 points each 50

Research paper 15

Final presentation 15

Total possible points 100

Final Score Letter

grade Final Score Letter grade

94-100 A 77-79 C+

90-93 A- 74-76 C

87-89 B+ 70-73 C-

84-86 B 60-69 D

80-83 B- 59 and below F

COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE:

Lesson Topic Notes/Assignments

1

Introductions and course overview; introduction to relevant sociological principles, culture and religion

Confirm access to course website

College Library article “Avoiding Plagiarism” [Supp]

“Pre-test” in-class writing assignment Student survey due

2

Carnival’s roots: of spontaneous expression, moral holiday, and role reversal

Schechner, Richard. Carnival (Theory) After Bakhtin [Riggio/Supp]

Ehrenreich, Chapters 1-7 (focus on 1 & 4; skim 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7)

Mauldin, Chapter 1

3

The carnivalesque and making the profane sacred

Jones, Stephen. Tribes of Burning Man: how an experimental city in the desert is shaping the new American counterculture [Supp/SFCelibrary] Mauldin, Chapters 2-5

Guest lecture and photography exhibition by Kelly Gunther

Panel discussion on Burning Man Films:

4

Historical forces: slavery, colonization, migration, globalization

Diaspora, transnational identity and hybridity

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen, Globalization and Culture: 3 Paradigms [Supp]

Ulf Hannerz, The World in Creolisation [Supp] Ehrenreich, Chapter 8

Film: Black Atlantic

5 Yoruba religious and cultural roots _{of masquerade}

Field trip to Hall of African Peoples exhibit at Museum of Natural History

6 Roots of Samba music and dance

Mauldin, Chapter 9

A Flower in the Mouth, pp 1-128 [Gardner] Guest lecture, music and dance demonstration by Grupo Ribeiro

7 Gringos in the hostel

Armstrong, Piers, Bahian Carnival and Social Carnivalesque in Trans-Atlantic Context [Supp] Guest lecture, performance, and Afro Brazilian drum workshop by Batala NYC

8

Religion, stratification and race: from Favela to Carnival in Brazil

Suhrbier, Mona, Candomble and the Brazilians: the Impact of Art. In Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production [Supp]

Tosta, Antonio Luciano, Resistance and Citizenship in the Songs of Ile Aiye and Olodum [Supp]

Films:

 Ebony Goddess: the Queen of Ile Aiye  Girl Power

9

Cuban traditions: echos of identity and stratification

Spirituality and identity in Cuban music and dance

Schmidt, Betina, When the Gods Give Us Ashe: Caribbean Religions as the Source for Creative Energy. In Handbook of New Religions [Supp]

Knauer, Lisa Maya, Consuming Slavery, Performing Cuba: Ethnography, Carnival and Black Public Culture. In Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World [Supp]

Guest lecture and performance by Yesenia Selier and Company

10

Haitian sacred traditions and protest

From Carnival to Rara: a Haitian Spring in dance and song

McAlister, Elizabeth. The Madonna of 115th street revisited: Vodou and Haitian Catholicism in the age of transnationalism. In Gatherings in diaspora: Religious communities and the new immigration [Supp]

Mauldin, Chapter 11

Caribbean [Supp]

Guest lecture and performance by Kongo Haitian Roots

11

Trinidad and transnational identity Playing Mas as marriage of religion and culture

Riggio, Chapters 13, 17 and 19 [Supp]

Nurse, Keith, Globalization and Trinidad Carnival: Diaspora, Hybridity and Identity in Global Culture Mauldin, Chapter 10

Guest lecture and steel pan performance by Leslie Ann Bolden

12

Carnival in the first world: Brooklyn Kasinitz, Philip, New York Equalize You? Change and Continuity in Brooklyn’s Labor Day Carnival [Supp] Nurse, Keith, Globalization in Reverse [Supp]

13 Material culture and the implications of carnival for urban economies

Excursion to drum and costume shop on Union St., Brooklyn

14

Carnival in the first world: American South

Wehmeyer, Stephen, Feathered Footsteps:

Mythologizing and Ritualizing Black Indian Processions in New Orleans. In Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture [Supp]

Shrum and Kilburn, Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras: Ceremonial Exchange and Moral Order [Supp]

Films:

 Mardi Gras: Made in China  The Order of Myths  The Whole Gritty City

15 Essential forms of cultural expression: the power of the moment

Mauldin, Chapters 6 and 12

Guest lecture by SFC Dean Allen Burdowski

16 Law and order when it’s upside down: disaster, violence and the persistence of celebration

Le Menestrel, Sara, “Singing Us Back Home”: Music, Place and Production of Locality in Post Katrina New Orleans

Ehrenreich, Chapters 9, 10 & 11 (skim 10)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival#Violence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Mardi_Gras_Riots

1210407/Notting-Hill-Carnival-ends-violence-teenager-suffers-stab-wounds.html

17 Student presentations

Students will present their research in an interactive session engaging classmates and guests in the discussion of carnival practices in a particular locale and/or a particular question about global carnival practices.

Final Paper due

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, P. (2010). Bahian Carnival and Social Carnivalesque in Trans-Atlantic context. Social Identities, 16(4), 447-469.

Ehrenreich, B. (2007). Dancing in the streets: A history of collective joy. Macmillan.

Gardner, Jason. (2013) A Flower in the Mouth: The Beauty and Burden of Carnaval in Pernambuco. Visual Anthropology Press

Hannerz, U. (1987). The World in Creolisation. Africa, 57(04), 546-559.

Jones, S. T. (2011). The Tribes of Burning Man: How an Experimental City in the Desert is Shaping the New American Counterculture. Ccc Publishing.

Kasinitz, P. (2004). “New York Equalize You? Continuity and Change in Brooklyn’s Labor Day Carnival.” In Millia Reggio, editor, Carnival: Culture in Action, The Trinidad Experience. New York: Routledge, 2004: 270-282.

Knauer, L. M. (2011). Consuming Slavery, Performing Cuba: Ethnography, Carnival and Black Public Culture. Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World, 2(2), 3-25.

Le Menestrel, S., & Henry, J. (2010). “Sing Us Back Home”: Music, Place, and the Production of Locality in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Popular music and society, 33(2), 179-202.

Mauldin, Barbara. 2004. Carnaval! University of Washington Press.

McAlister, E. (1998). The Madonna of 115th Street Revisited: Vodou and Haitian Catholicism in the Age of Transnationalism. Gatherings in diaspora: Religious communities and the new immigration, 123-160.

McAlister, E. (2009). Rara as Popular Army: Hierarchy, Militarism, and Warfare. In Philip W. Scher, ed., Perspectives on the Caribbean: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation. MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 129-143

Nurse, K. (1999). Globalization and Trinidad carnival: Diaspora, Hybridity and Identity in Global Culture. Cultural Studies, 13(4), 661-690.

Pieterse, J. N. (1996). Globalisation and culture: Three paradigms. Economic and Political Weekly, 1389-1393.

Schechner, R. (2004). Carnival (theory) after Bakhtin. Carnival: Culture in Action: The Trinidad Experience, 3-13.

Schmidt, B. E. (2012). ‘When the Gods give us the Power of Ashe’: Caribbean Religions as the Source for Creative Energy. Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production, 4, 445.

Shrum, W., & Kilburn, J. (1996). Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras: Ceremonial Exchange and Moral Order. Social Forces, 75(2), 423-458.

Suhrbier, M. (2012) Candomble and the Brazilians: the Impact of Art. In Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production. In Cusack, C., & Norman, A. (2012). Handbook of new religions and cultural production. Brill.

Tosta, A. L. (2010). Resistance and Citizenship in the Songs of Ilê Aiyê and Olodum. Afro-Hispanic Review, 175-194.