British West Indian Folk Drama and the ‘Life Cycle’ Problem

Abstract

There is a strange contradiction in studies on British folk drama. On the one hand, remarkable work has been done in bringing together the numerous records of traditional dramatic performances from Great Britain (and more recently, from Ireland and Newfoundland') and in analysing them in terms of the distribution of traits on a thoroughly empirical basis.2 On the other hand, there is a continuing adherence to the explanation of these dramas as vestiges of some archetypal 'life-cycle play', through which it is argued, the tradition-oriented peasantry once expressed its agrarian vision of the totality of man's experience in the seasonal cycle and in the interdependence of life and death. It is this interpretation of British folk drama which I would like to confront in this paper, for if these plays are viewed from the perspective of performance, they reveal other recurrent preoccupations on the part of the folk. Though there seems to be little doubt that seasonal passage has consistently provided the major metaphorical reference for seasonal festivities, there is nevertheless great doubt in my mind that the year was ever viewed as the totality of passing seasons, or that the interdependence of life and death was the dominant theme of these festivities. Also, there does not seem to be any evidence for the existence of any 'original folk drama' involving this total life-cycle perspective; rather, there is a great deal of evidence to the contrary. We have reports from a great many peasant com-