Letter-writers: Prolific and Prominent
Thoughts of the just-concluded Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival held in Georgetown, the Guyana Cultural Association, New York and its Labour Day week-end, Guyana-oriented Folk Festival and the quite imminent preparations for the Mashramani 2013 Festival all combined to prompt these reflections and personal opinions on Festivals generally. What’s their role? What are the perspectives of people and national decision-makers towards these people-driven events?
Firstly, just what is a “festival”? Cursory research, now easily available, reveals that a festival is “a (periodic) event usually staged by a community, which emphasizes, perpetuates and celebrates some unique aspect – the meaning, history and impact – of that community and its culture”.
Early “festivals”, you will find out, were associated with feasts to honour a God-or gods. Quite often then, those festivals were religious and historical in nature. Today’s secular festivals cover the widest spectrum of social/human traditions and celebrations. Sacred events, anniversaries, national observances, geographical, solar or lunar cycles all can attract festive celebration – or festivals.
I am attracted to the fact that, in earlier times, “festivals were occasions when the elderly shared stories and transferred certain knowledge to the next generation; historic feasts/festivals often provided a means for unity among families and for people to find mates”. Oh, that they would perform those latter functions these days…
“Festival” is also borrowed to describe extended celebratory events like film contests, the arts, folkloric heritage, food, sport, literature, gospel – – everything, apparently, where people seek to recognize, sustain and celebrate.
Guyana’s festivals – – implications
Countries and cultures, over periods, develop and define their own peculiar festivals and oh boy, Guyana has certainly done so. Let’s examine a few. I choose the Christian Festival of Christmas as Guyana’s biggest annual festival. It’s Christian – the feast of the nativity of our Lord – but, frankly speaking, between October and January, this annual, fixed religious festival assumes elements of a secular bacchanal with its commercialism, rampant popular entertainment and unnecessarily extended period now involving most Guyanese, irrespective of their own religions.
We now have – or seek to promote – emancipation/folk festivals, arrivals observances, Phagwah/Holi and Diwali weeks-long celebratory festivals, amongst others mounted by specific civil society groups.
Naturally, I direct your attention to Mashramani. What is and why this celebration now with the trappings of a full-fledged festival? Some know the genesis: structured series of celebratory events fall within the February month which marks the significant national anniversary of Guyana’s acquisition of Republican status.
The folks from Linden initiated the very first Mash for the 1970 first Republican week-long fete. So eye-catching, creative and successful was the Linden First Mashramani that a Burnham Government Minister journeyed to the mining town and promptly appropriated what turned out to be the then Trinidad-like Festival of Mashramani.
Therein too lies the beginnings of today’s official government–driven festival. I’ve always been ambivalent about that. It’s both good and bad – the government “control”. Because the majority of the Private Sector is still indifferent to a festival that is now national in scope, interested Guyanese and groups tend to display a dependency syndrome. ”De govament” is depended upon for too much motivation and sponsorship.
Naturally too, the politicians utilize all the events – official and celebratory – to persuade the people that their stewardship has been super! Thus Mashramani now accommodates commercial interests engaging political/governmental entities for pure business and influence. Calypsonians criticize and prudes reject aspects of the festival which, to its credit, now strives desperately to widen its scope to include literary and folkloric events, discourses, debates and very cerebral Republican Lectures.
I suppose that in societies such as ours, simple festivals are convenient vehicles for various interest groups – from innocent, religious, patriotic citizens to ambitious, concerned politicians – to promote their own agendas. From Easter’s Feast of the Resurrection to a Music Festival, crafty folks can manipulate. Discuss….
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The Guyanese letter-writers
Our print media letter-writers of today qualify themselves to be described as correspondents, professional, prolific, provocative, analytical, etc, etc.
A few strive to represent causes; to advocate on behalf of others; a lesser few even to be libellous or inciteful. Hopefully, responsible, legal-minded editors are there.
My comments here have to do with Stabroek News’ really, really regulars. I’m guessing that some of the more political, activist writers awake early, go to their computers and daily fire off responses to previous-day letters and same-day issues.
Many seem determined to make manifest their Guyanese status and interest, even if they are resident in France, Dubai or Johannesburg. Great stuff! It’s obvious, easy to identify the more political surrogates. At election time, I often wonder what some of these campaigners would do without sympathetic editors and publishers.
I sometimes spare a thought too for the editors who deal with the more political or “professional” offerings. These editors have to be so shrewd! Why, you can even detect the publishers’ preferences and leanings sometimes. Just check the length of some letters and the frequency of certain writers. Ho-hum … In my naughtier moods, I sometimes wish to see the photographs of certain regulars. Guess why. Then, as I salute the 1986/87 Stabroek News as the pioneer of this freedom-of-expression, journalistic democracy, I challenge you to name seven of Stabroek’s regular, professional letter-writers.
Ponder…
*1) The late letter-writer/commentator Lorrie Alexander, after “falling-out” with me a bit would hint to the Editor-in-Chief of this ‘paper to drop my column. The thing is, his numerous letters would be very much longer than my offerings.
*2) The onions-and-potatoes trucks defy my puny efforts herein, moving to park by the Beautiful Promenade Gardens, eroding the parapets.
*3) Oh the two American Parties Campaign conventions. Yet I agree: Neither Democratic nor Republican ever mentions poverty among Americans. Just the Middle Class?
*4) Do you know that the APNU’S PNC has no luck with GECOM chairmen and the findings of Commissions-of-inquiry? More later.
Til next week
(Comments? allanafenty@yahoo.com)
