‘And I remember many things … Folklore of the Caribbean’ is still relevant

AFTER EMANCIPATION in 1838 the peasantry class emerged out of the former enslaved people. Some people were established in free villages, from which cheap labour was supplied for the plantations that still thrived from the legacy of slavery. It was the planter class versus the peasant class, the Church and government versus the laity, the haves versus the have-nots.

While the privileged were living the lives of British people, peasants, in their own time and space created their own ethos and developed their own mindsets and attitudes towards the planter class. Aspects of their lives were imitations of the colonialists, but generally theirs was a different universe in which they came up with their own meanings and explanations of their own existence.

The peasants and the laity were invariably the have-nots. They struggled and eked out an existence through subsistence farming, job work, domestic work, just about anything to earn a living and to survive. They improvised for what they didn’t have, and subconsciously developed a culture that was passed down through generations. Through the oral tradition people tell their stories and life lessons, making sure that they are preserved.

And in 1992, Christine Barrow compiled and edited And I Remember Many Things … Folklore of the Caribbean of which a blurb on the back cover says, “This delightful collection of stories, remembrances, myths, legends and traditional practices vividly brings to life the rich heritage of ‘olden times’ much of which is unfamiliar to today’s youth. The selections speak of reverence for old traditions, the importance of good manners, neighbourliness and respect for the aged, for parents and those in authority.”

This 52-page paperback by Ian Randle Publishers Ltd, and illustrated with charcoal sketches by Wendy Donawa targets adults and children to share with them the lifestyle and stories of people of yesteryear, a nostalgic journey down memory lane. The stories were collected by Gracelyn Cassall, Theodore Daniel, Vanessa Greaves and Dorothy Martin.

In the brief introduction, written in March 1992, Barrow says, “Caribbean children today are growing up in a world of television, ‘fast food’ and ‘ready-mades’, a world dramatically different from that of their grandparents. The purpose of this collection is to preserve some of the heritage for them and for the generations yet unborn.”

It is 32 years since then, and the world has changed even more dramatically. It is the age of nanotechnology in which people live on social media and are creating content that for the most part has absolutely nothing to do with folktales and lifestyles of yesteryear, not to mention artificial intelligence (AI), which is now pulling the world into a vice-like grip.

The conversation is not about how our forbears used to live. The post-Emancipation and post-Independence sentiments are now shut tight in the books of history. It now about getting rich to become a space tourist, and using AI to create a better and easier life, much easier and lucrative than that of our ancestors.

But, in order for our children to move forward they need to go back and fetch it, using history to inform the present and the future. For, these stories are still relevant to how we bring up our children, how they relate to one another, and with their elders, especially in these days when many of them tend to: be disrespectful; feel entitled; have little regard for authority; be unable to deal with situation outside of their comfort zones, etc.

“When my parents were bringing me up, I couldn’t meet a big person out there and answer “Yes” or “no” the way I see children doing now. I was telling a little boy that the other morning. He came along with me and he was answering “yes” and “no”. So I told him that “yes” and “no” is really English, but “yes sir” and “yes ma’am” is respect. That was respect in my day, that was the style,” Barrow writes.

“My mother was poor and she had no help with us. We had to work very hard. While she was at work, we had to go to the pasture and pick pig food or look for the cattle. And when the weather was dry, we had to carry water for the cattle to drink, up the hill, morning and afternoon.When we got back,we had to sweep the yard every afternoon. It’s true. Whatever she sent us to do we had to do it. She was a very strict mother. We couldn’t just go anywhere. We had to obey her. She told us many stories about how her mother had trained her.

These excerpts from ‘ Manners’ and ‘ Hard work’, respectively, clearly saying the stories in this volume are still relevant, as indiscipline, laziness, lack of good manners and social skills are major contributing factors to the social ills that have pervaded the entire country. And I Remember Many Things gives you flashbacks to days long gone, flashbacks that might just be useful to the AI generation.