Author : Belinda Edmondson
Release : 2009
Genre : Black people
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 140/5 ( reviews)
Book Synopsis Caribbean Middlebrow by : Belinda Edmondson
Download or read book Caribbean Middlebrow written by Belinda Edmondson. This book was released on 2009. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is commonly assumed that Caribbean culture is split into elite highbrow culture--which is considered derivative of Europe--and authentic working-class culture, which is often identified with such iconic island activities as salsa, carnival, calypso, and reggae. This book recovers a middle ground, a genuine popular culture in the English-speaking Caribbean that stretches back into the nineteenth century. It shows that popular novels, beauty pageants, and music festivals are examples of Caribbean culture that are mostly created, maintained, and consumed by the Anglophone middle class. Much of middle-class culture is further gendered as "female": women are more apt to be considered recreational readers of fiction, for example, and women's behavior outside the home is often taken as a measure of their community's respectability. The book also highlights the influence of American popular culture, especially African American popular culture, as early as the nineteenth century.