BODIES, MEMORIES AND SPIRITS

About the Book

The island of Saint Lucia possesses a vibrant Creole culture that has given shape to a lively and creative people. Cyclical traditions akin to Community Theatre emerged out of discourses, counter-discourses and work practices during centuries of European slavery and/or colonization of the Amerindian, the African and the East Indian. This text provides descriptions of a selection of those traditions. The research was conducted when the author was employed with the Folk Research Centre and while he was engaged in graduate research as a student of Cultural Studies at UWI, Cave Hill. Although the author attempts to place the traditions under study in their historical context, his focus however is on a discussion of the impact of those traditions on the people and their society.

About the Author

Travis Weekes is a St. Lucian actor, poet, playwright and cultural critic. He studied Literature at the Mona Campus of the UWI, theatre at the Jamaica School of Drama and Cultural Studies at Cave Hill, UWI. As a critic/researcher/dramatist Weekes focuses on the impact of creole traditions/discourse on the theatre of Nobel Prize winning playwright Derek Walcott. He also uses this research to develop innovative, dramaturgical approaches to his own theatre practice. Currently a Lecturer in Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia, Weekes has also worked as the Cultural Education Officer at the Folk Research Centre and as Lecturer in French Lexicon Creole at the U.W.I Cave Hill, Barbados.