'Tanti at de Oval'- Think Piece

This Think Piece focuses on the video Tantie Merle at de Oval by Paul Keens-Douglas. The story is told from a first person narration, where the narrator tells the tale of his aunt, Tanti Merle’s visit to The Queens Park Oval to watch an “important” cricket match between Trinidad and the Combined Islands, and Tantie Merle’s behaviour throughout. While humour constitutes the story’s central tone, it discretely entertains serious themes that speak to the social and historical issues of the Anglophone Caribbean. “The omnipresence of cricket from its importation by the British, the game’s pivotal role in Caribbean political economy, and its influence on Caribbean popular culture, puts the sport at the centre of Caribbean history and Caribbean collective identity.”[1] Thus, issues such as age, the author’s use of humour, Caribbean integration, pride and unity, and oppression and colonialism, are focused on in this paper.

Age is a significant issue addressed in Tantie at de Oval. Cricket is watched and played intently by men, women and children of all ages in the Caribbean. It is of great cultural significance and a source of regional and national pride. Thus, Tantie Merle’s drastic behaviour at the Oval and the crowd’s rapid response and participation in her rioting shows just how meaningful the game has become throughout the years. According to Linden Lewis, it was for years, one of the very few roads for working-class men in the Caribbean to attain social mobility.[2] Tantie Merle, coming from an older and wiser generation than her nephew, can understand and appreciate this meaning of cricket as more than just a sport. She sees the significance of the game as a memory of working-class struggle developed from years of colonial and racial resistance. This is why it was important for her to go to the Oval and be part

of the game in person instead of staying at home and listening or watching the game on the radio or television like the narrator wanted. It is in her...