Severe Licking

A significant percentage of murders in Trinidad and Tobago result from partner-related violence, in particular, murder-suicides. Multiple government agencies along with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among them the T&T Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Shelter, the Rape Crisis Society of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Mizpeh Halfway House have attempted to provide interventions in an effort to reduced incidents of domestic violence. Concurrent with these efforts are public discussions about the appropriateness of, causes for, and ways to address domestic violence. One arena for public discourse is calypso, an indigenous musical genre. The artform of calypso evolved out of the African griot and French chantwell traditions and is often characterized as the voice of the people. Many calypso singers over the years have performed lyrics that have celebrated domestic violence as legitimate behavior for keeping women “in line.” Other songs decry this form of violence as something to be rejected by right thinking people in a modern society. This paper reviews several calypsos sung by both male and female artistes to consider how domestic violence is understood and framed in song, as a reflection of the society. The paper examines the “conversation” that emerges among these singers, in order to understand how the issue of domestic violence is addressed through gendered voices in an arena of entertainment.