DestiNation
Jérôme Camal · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2014
“Could a situation be envisaged in which tourism in regions with histories of western domination is not interpreted as neocolonial” (Carrigan)? This chapter presents the Festival Gwo Ka, held annually in Sainte Anne on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, as a site where tourism challenges colonial relations. Created in 1988 as an extension of a soccer tournament organized by a local separatist activist, the gwoka festival is the longest-running music festival in Guadeloupe and affords a unique opportunity to study the intersection of cultural tourism and anticolonialist activism. The chapter illustrates that the festival shows the nation both “at” and “in play” (Sheller and Urry). For one week in July, Guadeloupeans gather in Sainte Anne to celebrate their heritage and challenge France’s continued political dominance, with closing night carefully scheduled to conflict with Bastille Day celebrations. This essay also offers a corrective to previous studies of music and dance festivals in postcolonial zones that have tended to focus on state-sanctioned presentations of local traditions for the entertainment of international visitors. In this sense, the Festival Gwo Ka challenges us to conceive of music touristics broadly in order to fully grasp the complex range of mobilities and power relationships involved.