Paper short abstract:

In this presentation I will discuss about the utopic goal to experiencing freedom in the paradoxal act of "playing yourself" in the hyper-visibility, during the postcolonial mundane carnival of Trinidad-and-Tobago.

Paper long abstract:

The Trinidad-and-Tobago masquerade carnival is designed as a place of temporary, utopic, interracial communion that allows the simultaneous representation of 'self' and 'other' in the image of the marching person. The etymological origin of the word person - personare in Latin - means to masquerade. It indicates a performance of a temporary character "in becoming" which counteracts the visible desires to belong to a specific social status, and, conversely, it portrays an invisible mask through postures. In its contemporary form, however, carnival is characterized by the absence of masks. Its motto to "play yourself" is directly connected with the desire to "loosen up" through the act of playing in the parade. The paradox of persons marching in a masquerade without using masks allows for the embodiment of an invisible facade made of organic imaginary that superficially reflects ordinary identities. This entails a multi-layered experience of simultaneity in the globalized condition of the Trinidadian mundane society, popularly known as the post-colonial Caribbean 'happy nation'. The unseen mask exhibits the participants in their recognisable hyper-visibility and questions the reproducibility of social imaginations. Playing 'freedom' creates a liminal space, which puts players in a simultaneous between position with identity, confirmation-conformation and imagination. I argue that due to the elimination of masks popular interracial and inter-subjective ideals are both portrayed and challenged in a hyper visibility that enhances the public negotiation of class and racial categories in contemporary Trinidad-and-Tobago.