Jamaican Culture

Jamaican Culture And Jamaican Traditions

Jamaican culture can be aptly described as the Jamaican human activity within different aspects of everyday life that relate to Jamaican traditions. Jamaican culture can be divided into several sectors or sects, usually called Jamaican aspects of culture.

Origin: Jamaican culture is defined as the origin of its entire population. The Jamaican culture is mixed as most of the society is ethnically diverse. There are several nations and peoples, the majority are African, then Indian and Chinese, then the minority being European. There is a North American contingent but they did not contribute to the origin and main stream Jamaican society.

Traditions: Jamaican traditions assist in defining the culture of the society. Jamaican traditions are ritualistic acts that are carried out over a specific period of time or at a specific event. This is very prevalent in Jamaican society and is fundamental in defining Jamaican culture. The most popular Jamaican traditions are for most national holidays, such as Christmas cake, Sorrel, pudding at Christmas time, Fried fish, lent at Easter time and other national holidays. Rituals such as the famed Nine Night after the death of a loved one are a popular Jamaican tradition that characterizes the Jamaican culture.

Cuisine: Jamaican cuisine and cooking is an important aspect of cultural embodiment. The foods and the recipes make a culture richer. The Jamaican culture has been enriched by superb Jamaican foods such as Jerk Chicken Recipes, Jerk Pork and the infamous Red Stripe Beer. It is foods such as these that help to define Jamaican culture.

Religion: Another key indicator and unifying aspect Jamaican culture. Jamaican has developed a unique type of religion. The primary type called Pocomania which was a blend between European Christianity and African religious practices, the secondary is Rastafarianism. This religion is practically by a small amount of people in the country, hence is not really a unifying aspect but gives Jamaican culture through religion its uniqueness and hence requires mention.

Music: Reggae and its derivatives such as dance hall, rock steady are key for the development of Jamaican culture. This music has its origins in Jamaica and cannot be claimed by any other nation. The captivating type of music has led to a growing following. The music has an upbeat aspect to it’s with constant rhythmic beats.

Art and Clothing: Jamaican Art and Clothing are both very important in defining Jamaican culture. Jamaican art has steeped in the depicting Jamaican everyday life. This has manifested it self in sculptures, paintings, collage and craft works. This is a direct shift from the more abstract type of European art and even the African more morbid types of art that focus a lot on history. Jamaican art culture at most does not focus on history. Jamaican clothing does reflect culture. Though Jamaican clothing and fashion is not as popular as European and African clothing it is defined by the use of primary colors and the popular use of cotton because of the tropical climate.

Folk Lure: This is yet to be aptly recognized as a part of culture. Folk lure can often be cited as a part of Jamaican tradition however folk lure is stories and ballads passed down through the generations. However this is not really the case but folk lure and happenings are carried through in dance and drama which fall under ‘other arts’ another corner stone of culture.

Other Arts – Jamaican dance, drama and speech in culture. Primarily Jamaican culture is depicted in dance by folk music, dancing kumina, the quadrille and other Jamaican dances which tell stories of the history of Jamaican sending the message to the young through dance. This technique has kept even to this day with dancehall reggae and the many dances and dancers such as Gerald ‘Bogle’ Levy a popular Jamaican dancer of the new era that passed in 2006. Jamaican speech is defined as patois. Though this is actually incorrect as patois is really broken English and French, Jamaica really speaks broken English. The distinct accent of a Jamaican almost embodies the Jamaican culture. There is another great aspect to the arts and culture as the speech or language carries in both, music and art. Jamaica culture is unique not just to the Caribbean, but to the world and the Jamaican Diaspora has carried the Jamaican culture worldwide. It is reported that there is at least one Jamaican living in every country in the world, a most admirable feat and a huge benefit for Jamaican traditions. 

Download Jamaican Cooking Made Easy Third Edition