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Negotiation of Trinidadian identity in ragga soca music
Author(s) -
LEUNG GLENDA ALICIA E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-971x.2009.01609.x
Subject(s) - creole language , indigenous , linguistics , identity (music) , musical , negotiation , sociology , opposition (politics) , english based creole languages , art , literature , political science , aesthetics , foreign language , social science , ecology , philosophy , modern language , politics , law , biology
In the late 1990s, a new musical genre emerged in Trinidad called ragga soca. Ragga soca is described as the product of blending Trinidad's indigenous soca music with Jamaican dancehall. One peculiarity of ragga soca is the borrowing of Jamaican Creole English phonological features into the performance genre. Initially, there was much opposition to this genre as it challenged notions of Trinidadian identity and self. This paper considers the linguistic innovativeness of ragga soca artists, in particular, their use of Jamaican Creole English phonological borrowings, demonstrating that they have not only created a new performance genre, but have used Jamaican Creole English to mediate their Trinidadian identity.