Many Guyanese now refer to the period of July and August as summer. The term has weaved its way into our lexicon, with no thought about climatology, meteorology or astrology it seems. A season is characterized by special climatic conditions and summer is the time that is hottest in those countries that experience four seasons. In the Northern hemisphere, summer begins in June and ends in August. It begins with the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year, and occurs between June 20th and June 22nd. The summer solstice occurs when the path of the sun is farthest north in the Northern hemisphere or farthest south in the Southern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere summer occurs between December and February, with the summer solstice occurring on December 22nd. Many spiritually enlightened people reflect, meditate, strategise and plan during the summer solstice for it is a time of light and, therefore, awakening.
Guyana is a tropical country, which means that our climate is warm or hot throughout the year. The period many are now referring to as summer is no different from most of the remaining ten months. But Guyana is significantly influenced by American culture and referring to July and August as summer is another result of that.
Some believe that Guyanese referring to the July and August period as summer began in the early 2000s, with the Hits and Jams event Jamzone. Like in many other parts of the world, many people are on vacation during July and August and children are on a break from school. However, labelling our activities summer school, summer camp, summer jam or summer sale, are all reflections of the spirit of imitation that thrives in Guyana. It may seem strange or even idiotic to the rest of the world for a tropical country that knows neither winter, spring nor autumn, to refer to a specific period as summer when nothing changes significantly in the climate. Perhaps those who insist on imitating believe it is progressive in the steps towards worldwide integration and development.
Though winter does not come here, we have experienced cold and dark times throughout the history of our country that can largely be attributed to colonisation, politics and racism. (Admittedly over the years weather patterns have been slightly changing which are likely a result of climate change. For example, we are now in July and still experiencing significant rainfall.)
What may eventually happen if we continue to be imitators is that we may lose much our cultural identity and nothing unique to Guyana will remain outside of nature.
Another example of the spirit of imitation is the steady hosting of J’ouvert. For the upcoming Emancipation celebrations, a time of pride and celebration for Guyanese of African descent, there are plans to host J’ouvert. For Emancipation, there are usually folk festivals, lectures and soirees. A soiree is a mixture of drumming, libation, dancing and incantations. With soirees and folk festivals around, do we really need to add J’ouvert to the Emancipation mix? But also, is it really J’ouvert that occurs here?
I have written about the advent of J’ouvert in Guyana and its connection to Mashramani and now carnival. What we are calling J’ouvert in Guyana is just another fete with the addition of water and paint. There are foreigners who have looked at our version of J’ouvert and laughed at the poor imitation. Many will argue that in time it will get better. I will argue that in time it will simply attract more revellers, but the essence of J’ouvert will still evade us because culturally it is not ours. We often complain about the disrespect we have encountered from Caribbean territories, but how can we be surprised at their disrespect for us when we are constantly imitating them?
J’ouvert is derived from the French ‘jour overt’ and means daybreak. In Trinidad and Tobago, it marks the start of the two-day carnival. J’ouvert, in its truest form, is cultural and rich with symbols and folklore. In the early days, creatures from Trinidad’s folklore, such as Soucouyant, which is basically the same as our Ol’ Higue, Papa Bois, which is the father or keeper of the forests, and La Diablesse, which is a devil woman, featured the pre-dawn masquerade. Today, when J’ouvert is celebrated, many portray devils covered in blue or red paint, mud and oil. Characters, such as Dame Lorraine, which is similar to our Mother Sally in masquerade and was basically an imitation of the rich plantation owners’ wives, and Pierrot Grenade, which is a jester, are portrayed.
It is believed that originally these characters were used by the Africans to mock the slave-masters, particularly since they were initially not allowed to join in carnival as it was for the elite planter class.
Having an Emancipation J’ouvert makes sense when one considers the history of it. However, it is not Guyanese history and with the plethora of activities we already have and the fact that the J’ouvert we see here are not intended to reflect on history or honour traditions, what is the significance other than feting and money making?
Why are Guyanese such imitators? Perhaps one of the reasons is that for a long period there was little focus on our arts and culture. And still. We have a generation that seems to care not about the preservation of our culture, perhaps because the previous generation failed them. With the exposure to especially the American life—through television and the internet and also the influence of relatives who reside in the USA—many desire to experience the way of life that they believe is more appealing and superior to ours. This is also why many try to speak the American twang even though they may have never visited the country or lived there. This is also the reason we are referring to July and August as summer and some are also now celebrating holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Imitating our Caribbean neighbours, we now have carnival and one of the justifications is to attract tourists. Even though Guyana has been ranked the number one destination for eco-tourism in the world. But eco-tourism is not feting and still nobody imitates us. Maybe with the changes that are coming our way with the imminent oil industry they will eventually want to imitate us.
Guyana is at a significant point in our history. The change has already begun with the influx of foreigners. It is an opportune time to share with the rest of the world what is unique to us. We should be promoting eco-tourism fervently. We should be building and working on preserving our arts and culture. Our ‘summers’ should be enlightening and awakening the rest of the world to who we are as a people. The trajectory of our struggles should not reflect a people still lost, oppressed and unimaginative, but liberated and proud to celebrate what we have to offer to the rest of the world without having to imitate or replicate.
