The Celestial Sounds of Steelpan: A compendious revelation about the relationship between culture and the church in Trinidad and Tobago.

Abstract

In this dissertation, I explore the use of steelpan in the Seventh-day Adventist community and the Full Gospel Association in Trinidad and Tobago. Through ethnographic research, as well as my personal experience growing up in the SDA church, I examine how these congregations have tended to stigmatize the steelpan for its association with carnival, and how this prejudice relates to a variety of cultural and political issues--including national identity, African retention, class prejudice, colonialism, racialized histories, and the influence of North American culture. I aim to understand how Christian steelbands like the Maranatha Steelband, Pangelics Steel Ensemble, Mount D'or Gospel Steel Orchestra, Nazarene Steel Orchestra, and Pans of Praise Steelband were able to circumvent the rejection of the instrument in their communities. I argue that musical activists and certain church leaders are––in effect––resisting and subverting legacies of colonialism that continue to impact Afro-Trinbagonian communities as they assert the power of the instrument as a legitimate vehicle to worship of God.