Bodies Memories and Spirits: A Discourse on Selected Cultural Forms and Practices of St.Lucia

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.