The Dragon Can't Dance

1979 novel by Earl Lovelace

The Dragon Can't Dance (1979) is a novel by Trinidadian author Earl Lovelace, his third to be published. Set in Port of Spain, the novel centres on the life of Aldrick Prospect, a man who spends the entire year recreating his dragon costume for Carnival. Aldrick's interactions with other people who live in his neighbourhood (including Fisheye, a local hoodlum, and Pariag, a rural Indian who moves to the city to get away from his familial heritage) form the backdrop for their individual struggles for self definition in a society dominated by its racial divisions and colonial legacies. The story culminates with Aldrick and Fisheye, along with a small number of followers, hijacking a police van and taking two police officers hostage. The events surrounding the hostage taking, and the aftermath of the event, lead the reader on a journey through the colonial psyche, and expose the deep seated problems of a society that still has not reconciled itself with its colonial past and racial divisions.

Recorded history of Trinidad began when Christopher Columbus arrived on 31 July 1498. Trinidad was inhabited by Amerindian peoples of the Arawak group, who had lived there for many centuries, and by Island Caribs who had begun to raid the island long before 1498 and had established settlements by the end of the sixteenth century. After its discovery by Columbus the Spanish began to settle on the island and the production of tobacco and cocoa began during the seventeenth century, but because they lacked the essentials for economic development and shipping, the capacity to develop a productive base was crippled; Spain failed to develop the productive industrial and commercial base necessary to maintain an empire. "Along with the immigration of diverse cultural communities came more stratified social hierarchies. As early as 1779, Roume de St Laurent held the office of alcalde extraordinario of the cabildo. Those who sat on the cabildo, were without exception wealthy white land owners and slave holders whose politics were royalist and conservative, men committed to the preservation of slavery and white ascendancy." The Indians were imported to Trinidad the stable and manageable labour force which, the sugar planters believed, had been lost to them since the full emancipation of the blacks." "The system was established in such a way that male Indians who had lived in Trinidad for 10 years could be granted 10 acres of Crown lands in commutation of all claims to a free return passage to India", "Indians were considered to be deceitful, prone to perjury, and abnormally fond of litigation." Integration of blacks and whites was frowned upon, which allowed for the reinforcement of the repression of the black people and community. The effects of racism are evident throughout Lovelace's novel, namely through his portrayal of Miss Cleothilda (the "queen"). She is the only mulatto woman of the Calvary Hill, and as such, has declared herself as being above the other residents of the Hill. When she begins to date Philo, a black man, the other residents of the Hill begin to see Miss Cleothilda in a new light: as humble and as an equal to everyone else. In 1865 the American civil engineer Walter Darwent discovered and produced oil at Aripero, Trinidad. Efforts in 1867 to begin production by the Trinidad Petroleum Company at La Brea and the Pariah Petroleum Company at Aripero were poorly financed and abandoned after Walter Darwent died of yellow fever. In 1893 Mr. Randolph Rust, along with his neighbour, Mr. Lee Lum, drilled a successful well near Darwent's original one. By early 1907 major drilling operations began, roads were built and infrastructure built. Annual production of oil in Trinidad reached 47,000 barrels by 1910 and kept rapidly increasing year by year. The production of oil marked the beginning of the globalization and investment of capital in Trinidad, a theme that is apparent throughout The Dragon Can't Dance and is the source of much conflict of the novel.

In the novel The Dragon Can't Dance, author Earl Lovelace expresses several reoccurring themes that illustrate fundamental psychological losses, which the characters are trying to rediscover and re establish on a personal, and community level. Aldrick and his compadres are striving to find meaning and locate connectedness in something other than their involvement in the Carnival experience that occurs annually in their city of Port of Spain. In spite of their efforts, their multi generational lack of roots and culture prevent them from developing productive attachments. This undermines their sense of identity on a personal and societal level. The first theme that emerges is characters longing for acceptance. Pariag [the Indian] feels this way about moving to a new location to be part of a bigger group and community. This in turn makes him feel more worthwhile. Pariag says, "The main reason he [Pariag] had come to the city to live was so that he could join up with people, be part of something bigger " Pariag wanted to experience a sense of belonging. He correctly understood that only through new relationships could his life feel more meaningful. The second theme is the call for unity and power to the people. In a desperate attempt to ignite a sense of raison d'être within the people of his community, Aldrick, Fisheye and the other men highjack the police van and drive crazily though the town center and shout: "We are the People's Liberation Army. Today we are calling our people to come out, to rise up and take power! Rise and reclaim you manhood, people! Rise up!" These young men are trying to inspire unity and meaning within a community that had been disconnected from its cultural roots for hundreds of years. Another theme is the search for self identity. Near the end of the book, Aldrick questions his identity. He thinks to himself, "What was he [Aldrick] without the dragon? Who was he? What was there to define himself? What would he be able to point to and say: This is Aldrick?" Without a history or culture to relate to, Aldrick represents a vast number of people of Trinidad who are at a loss in terms of their identities. He is searching for his roots or some clue that will direct him homeward. Lastly, the theme of power struggles for recognition plays a large part of this novel. For example, Miss Cleothilda feels threatened by the prospect that Sylvia might be taking over the "queen" or head woman position on the Hill. "It didn't take Miss Cleothilda long to discover that a new situation had begun to exist in the Yard, a situation that she felt threatened her position as 'queen' it was Sylvia if she [Sylvia] became ambitious, the Yard could have a new 'queen'. Miss Cleothilda began making readjustments." When Miss Cleothilda's core identity of what makes her human or the 'queen' is at risk, a struggle to survive sets in. Recognition is paramount. Since the opportunities for expressing self worth and intrinsic value are so limited on Calvary Hill (and Trinidad overall), even minor roles within the community become critical to people, especially if they have been alienated and marginalized. All of these themes are interwoven and indicative of a primary absence of fulfilling attachment, which serves as the lynchpin to identity. Attachment is developed through fertile relationships that act as conveyances of our history and culture. With the systematic, long term destruction of the memory of Trinidad's past, the identity and self worth of its people are set adrift.

In The Dragon Can't Dance, the hope for personal and community transformation is at the heart of the novel. After researching numerous analyses of the novel, several significant and more profound meanings appear to rise to the surface. These deeper meanings consist of the importance of "performativity" as it relates to cultural resistance, the strategy of the performer (or the lack thereof), and the viability of transformation available to individual or group identities when no adjustment is made to fit in with current day norms or standards. As with other post colonial populations, Trinidad's society represents a culture of resistance in response to the tyranny of slavery and colonialism in general. Although this expression of resistance is prevalent and observable in daily life, it is especially evident during Carnival and its performances where large audiences are in attendance. According to Nadia Johnson, "the performativity of Trinidad's carnival becomes an outward expression of Calvary Hill's need to transform their social conditions. The characters respond to and resist their social conditions through their individual performances during the carnival season: Fisheye's steel band performance, Aldrick's dragon dance, and Philo's calypsos". If transformation of identity is the goal, then it is critical to assess which performances are effective in contributing to the transformation. Mawuena Logan, in her article "Postcoloniality and Resistance in Earl Lovelace's The Wine of Astonishment and The Dragon Can't Dance" refers to Frantz Fanon, who describes "the postcolonial subject" as being in a "zone of nonbeing, an extraordinarily sterile and arid region, an utterly naked declivity, but – where an authentic upheaval can be born a liminal space". Performing one's way out of this liminal space and transforming identity into an "aggregated or consummated" form is a complex process that requires time, but the reward is true freedom. Our first performer, Fisheye, chooses to use his steelband music as his "agent of cultural resistance in Carnival". Most critiques and reviews of The Dragon Can't Dance have proven to be positive. "Aside from a few review notices of his first two novels, Earl Lovelace had received little critical treatment until the publication of The Dragon Can't Dance. Since the appearance of that work, it has become one of the most highly acclaimed contemporary Caribbean novels". Many critics comment on Lovelace's use of unconventional local Trinidadian style and dialogue, describing it as difficult at times to follow, but generally his style is said to be poetic, all consuming, and informative. One blogger, Hazel, who has a substantial following of her review blog, gave The Dragon Can't Dance a five (out of five) star review and had to say about the book: "I had forgotten how stunning this book is. On this rereading, I found the prologue, on poverty and futility, so poignant and painful that I was minded to desist, and pick up something light and insubstantial instead. I persisted and am rewarded with an engaging narrative of the stories of individuals; the ripening girl destined for whoredom; the vigorous young man seeking to release his energy in warfare; the frustrated artist, with a single annual outlet for his creativity; the outsider, seeking to be seen, to be recognized." "I am not doing Lovelace and his novel justice. But I recommend it highly, to mature readers who appreciate lyrical writing, and do not require a happy ending. It may take some time, as well to adjust to the dialogue which is in Trinidadian dialect." "A wonderful work, filled with insight, depth, and truth." "Caribbean writer Lovelace, whose Salt won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, returns with a story (first published in England in 1979) that offers a defining and luminously sensitive portrait of postcolonial island life." "Kaleidoscopically colorful characters and a faithful ear help make this quest for personhood one of Lovelace's best works."

Lovelace's literary work emerges from his personal life experiences with diverse social groups in different areas of Trinidad and Tobago and reflects the difficulties of having to negotiate an independent present with a colonial past. While the author currently dedicates much of his time to advocating for reparations to be made to descendant slaves, the legacy of his writing continues to resonate within Trinidadian society in the efforts to rebuild a positive sense of identity in the Caribbean. Lovelace acknowledges this notion as a sense of "personhood", through which each individual whatever their social, cultural, or racial status can be an active participant in the creation of identities. While most of the plot in The Dragon Can't Dance takes place in Port of Spain, many of its characters are migrants from rural areas that attempt to create individual lifestyles in the unsettling and dislocated slums of Calvary Hill. The migrant nature of these characters is a clear reflection of Lovelace's diverse experiences throughout his native country. After being fired from a job at the Guardian, one of Trinidad's local newspapers, Lovelace took a job as a forest ranger in Valencia. Here, he would accompany and supervise laborers who ventured into the forest, which helped him develop an appreciation for the locals: "the real advantage to staying was getting to know the place and the people intimately. And this helped me to develop a love and respect for ordinary people and to want, although I did not necessarily think so, to tell their stories, to establish their validity and their values". After Valencia, he accepted a post as an agricultural officer in the remote village of Rio Claro, where he noted that "the whole culture of Trinidad unfolded". Lovelace felt as if he was able to become deeply immersed in a culture where he would "see stick fighting and go and sing with the drummers for the stick fights". Lovelace notes that within the groups that came to occupy these spaces, Africans were the only ones not allowed an ethnic space in which they could maintain the religion and culture they had come with, since cultural and religious forms that were considered to be African, were banned at one point or another. Therefore, Africans had to find ways of bringing religion and culture into ways that were legitimate. Carnival would become one such space because it was a legal and legitimate festival and what now seem to be independent activities like calypso, stickfighting, or carnival characters, were actually linked to a deeper cultural and religious sentiment. Lovelace also highlights the importance of calypso in his novel. He notes that even though calypso and drumming were previously banned, they were both powerful forces within society as they were linked to Carnival, which was also seen at the time as "a relic of barbarism and the annual abomination and so on". Having calypso identified with bacchanal meant that calypso was linked and limited to the bacchanal season of Carnival: "Once upon a time the entire Carnival was an expression of rebellion. Once there were stickfighters who assembled each year to keep alive in battles between themselves the practice of warriorhood born in them; and there were devils, black men who blackened themselves further with black grease to make of their very blackness a menace, a threat." Lovelace hopes that his work will help create an environment that will break the residual impasse of the colonial hangover. Drawing back from his idea of "two spaces", the ethnic space and the creole space, he argues that Africans have poured a lot of themselves into that creole space because they were denied a legitimate ethnic space, which thus provides them with the opportunity and responsibility of seeing that this space is made into a real meeting place for all.