C'Bean Audio Review

Jessyka Gabriel

Dr. John Campbell

Caribbean Civilisation

26th September, 2014.

‘Tantie at de Oval’

Paul Keens-Douglas, a Trinidadian born author, storyteller and humourist, can easily capture his audience in his story, ‘Tantie at de Oval’ (1992), with his colourful language and expressions. The story is written in first person and features a main character, ‘Tantie’ Merle, who is visiting from St. Vincent. The story is set in the capital of Trinidad, where the two characters, the narrator and ‘Tantie’, are going to a crucial cricket match between Trinidad and the Combined Islands at the Queens Park Oval. In this piece, the writer discusses and highlights certain elements of Caribbean life, such as the dialectal language, the bond, and also the competitive camaraderie, created between allies by cricket, the significance of food, and minor references to topics such as ‘mas’, stratification and obeah.

The piece is written in Trinidadian dialect and provides a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere for listeners. Keens-Douglas uses various literary techniques to create intense expressions and emphasizes Tantie Merle’s conduct in preparing for the match, as well as during the match. Repetitions like “up and down, and up and down”, onomatopoeic expressions such as ‘Brap!’ to describe the sound of the cricket ball hitting the wicket, and metaphors such as “tension in ‘de place like steel”, are added for emphasis and to give more vivid descriptions of the happenings in the story.

Apart from these techniques, the playwright uses the rich and colourful dialect, Trinidad Créole, to fashion a light and humorous tone while giving the audience a taste of the Caribbean tongue. The writer appreciates this style of writing as it is informal, however, it still educates on the unique dialect of Caribbean people. As stated by Edward Kamau Brathwaite, “créole society was born out of acculturation and interculturation.” Simply, it is the merging of cultures which results in...