Hope Marquis takes 'Man Vibes' to Rototom

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Dr Donna Hope Marquis works as a senior lecturer in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus. However, in mid-August she spoke at a university of another kind and in another place, the Reggae University at the 18th Rototom Sunsplash Festival in Benicassim, Spain.

It was her second time at Rototom, as Hope Marquis had also participated in the final staging of the festival in Italy in 2009. Professor Carolyn Cooper, who also works at UWI, Mona, was part of the Reggae University this year as well.

'Ol dawg' syndrome

Hope Marquis said, "I went for more than an hour". Included in that time was about 15 minutes with Shaggy who Hope Marquis said spoke about the 'ol dawg' syndrome, with specific reference to his 2000 hit, It Wasn't Me.

That tied in neatly with Hope Marquis' 2010 book, Man Vibes: Masculinities in the Jamaican Dancehall, which she presented to the Reggae University audience. It was a responsive audience, Hope Marquis said, "I got a lot of interest. I got a lot of university students and people who research on the music."

It was also good for sales of the book, as Hope Marquis said the copies of Man Vibes which she carried were sold and there was interest in ordering online by persons doing work on gender and music. "There is a lot of interest by younger scholars," Hope Marquis said.

She pointed out that, "one of the things you find outside Jamaica is the grasp white Europeans have of the culture. They have spent a lot of time reading about it, understanding it, buying the books."

A map of the Rototom ground shows the Reggae University located some distance from the main stage, and the talks took place before the performances each evening. Rototom Sunsplash 2011 ran from August 18-27.

Comparing the incorporation of analysis into Rototom with the strictly entertainment focus of the typical reggae festival in Jamaica, Hope Marquis said, "we have developed a culture of music events that is basically around the music and entertainment side. I find that the focus is only on the main stage and allowing vendors to come in with products related to the main event."

With Bounty Killer in 2010 and Beres Hamond this year, Hope Marquis said, "At least Sumfest is honouring people on stage. I find it a useful thing. They are putting people on stage to do more than sing and dance and entertain."

Still, she pointed out that more could be done at Sumfest, as during the festival's days the venue is unused and there could be events outside of strictly entertainment.

Presenting her work at Rototom, instead of the accustomed academic-conference format, made a difference.

"You will bond with people in a way you would not at a conference. They are much more relaxed. You exchange business cards and contacts, you get a couple invitations to come and speak," Hope Marquis said.

Music is going elsewhere

However, just as much of Jamaican music has found very fertile soil outside Jamaica, Hope Marquis said "my concern is the next wave of Jamaican music is going elsewhere. They had a panel talking about Bob Marley which had no Jamaican. They are building that component to the festival, taking another part of our culture into the European space".

With the 2006 Inna De Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica and last year's Man Vibes to her credit, Hope Marquis is now working on another book and has two other manuscripts in the making, so "30 years down the line we have stuff we can look back on, when all this is gone. Oral culture is beautiful. When the people go it dies. We have to document the work."

"This cycle will not pass undocumented," she said.

She compared the Rototom Festival music experience to one in Jamaica that has gone. "This, for me, is Reggae Sunsplash, the one I knew," Hope Marquis said.