McKenzie Salon Series | Folk and Fantasy: Colonial Imaginations of Caribbean Culture in Mid-Century Calypso Album Cover Art
Presenters:
Prof. Nickesia Gordon, Associate Professor in the School of Communication, RIT
Jonathan Schroeder, William A. Kern Professor of Communication, RIT
Commentator:
Prof. Kehbuma Langmia, Professor in the School of Communication and Chair of the Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication, Howard University
This project explores the reflections of Caribbean culture found in mid-century calypso album cover art. Calypso cover art offers important documentations of Caribbean folk life and cultural identity pre-independence, but also facilitate the exportation of colonial fantasies about local life to attract tourists. We use semiotics and critical visual analysis to analyze album cover characterizations of the primordial rhythm of folk life and caricatures of native culture as a soundtrack for colonial fantasies and fuel for the colonial gaze. We reveal how minor, even peripheral, objects promoted as fun consumer goods reveal powerful, yet relatively unnoticed, insights into visual communication.
The program includes a performance by the RIT Steelband Ensemble. Light refreshments will be served.
This event is presented collaboratively by the College of Liberal Arts McKenzie Salon Series and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion as part of Black Heritage Month celebrations.
About the McKenzie Salon Series
Organized and presented by the College of Liberal Arts, the McKenzie Salon Series is open to the public and brings together faculty, students, and staff to discuss research and current events. The presentations and comments are followed by discussion with the audience and an informal reception.
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
Open to the Public
Interpreter Requested?
No