This book covers significant new ground, examining the impact and imprint of new leading technology on a range of popular expressions. This technology includes the internet, the computer, the cell phone, television, and radio, among others. Best argues that Caribbean culture has gone wireless, virtual, and simulated in the age of the machines.

The anglophone Caribbean has long been celebrated and known for its vibrant and innovative music. Reggae, dancehall, calypso, soca, gospel, and ringbang have flourished within the Caribbean and have exploded on the worldwide stage. Somewhat surprisingly, many facets of this contribution have not been adequately analyzed or discussed by academic writing. This work deliberately moves away from the customary exclusive focus on Trinidad and Jamaica and broadens the discourse to represent the wider region. It addresses several topics which remain under- discussed in Caribbean music, such as the...

This book is the first comparative work of its kind to provide an extended analysis of the contribution of Kamau Brathwaite and Christopher Okigbo. It considers the poetic works of these two artists as they responded to the transformations taking place within Africa and the Caribbean during the Independence period. Some of the issues discussed include: politics and art, religion, spirituality, traditional culture versus popular culture, language and identity, literature and orality, cyber-culture and identity.
This book highlights some of the similarities and differences in the life and...

During the second half of the 20th century, the Caribbean island of Barbados emerged as a key player in the creation and nurturing of Caribbean popular music. And, yet, despite its vital role in the popularization of tuk music, the rise of spouge, and the Barbadian contribution to and transformation of other Carribean music traditions, there is still relatively little sustained critical literature that discusses the various strands of the island's music culture. Curwen Best's The Popular Music and Entertainment Culture of Barbados provides this long overdue survey of the development of...

This book covers significant new ground, examining the impact and imprint of new leading technology on a range of popular expressions. This technology includes the internet, the computer, the cell phone, television, and radio, among others. Best argues that Caribbean culture has gone wireless, virtual, and simulated in the age of the machines.