Music in the Caribbean in the 18th and early 19th centuries

In the Caribbean of the 18th and early 19th centuries, music could be heard in many different contexts: at dance events, in church, in private homes, on the plantations, in the theatre, in taverns and even on ships. Listening to and playing music, dancing to it and writing about it all took place against the backdrop of the political developments of the time and were shaped by the colonial mindset that emerged in the 18th century. Who was permitted to participate in which musical practices, for example, was subject to a strict racial hierarchy. This postdoctoral research project aims to investigate musical life within this complex, politically charged space: What did the everyday musical world of the Caribbean sound like? Who was involved in which musical practices? How was music adapted and received depending on (political) contexts and spaces? Travel accounts, journals, administrative records, letters, libretti and similar sources will be drawn upon for this analysis, with a key objective of the project being a critical methodological engagement with this source material, which is almost exclusively colonial in nature.