Strangers in Paradise: Trevor, Marley, and Me: Reggae Music and the Foreigner Other

Abstract

The “immigrant” position calls forth a sense of “strangeness” as a constructed Other. What happens when the self is experienced as a limited, hybridized version of the self one might otherwise be, with opportunity to shape one’s identity? Intersubjectivity is conceptualized as a generative, developmental space in which the “I-ness of me” locates fertile ground for such a project. How do analyst and patient negotiate mutual experiences of alienation in a shared culture of origin, as they encounter experiences of foreignness in a foreign land? As with relational spaces, the construct, “immigrant” is positioned as a thing in itself—a transitional space—in which Otherness might be interrogated. The work of crossing boundaries at the meeting points of race and class is discussed, as two Jamaicans, embedded in the power of Reggae music, engage in psychoanalytic, and socio-political “talk.” Or, is it that we dance?

¹ A lamellophonic instrument rooted in African culture. It is a wooden music box, or thumb piano, with a circular hole for sound in front, center. Rectangular metal tines of various lengths, tuned for variation in pitch, are placed vertically across the hole. These are plucked by the musician who sits on the box. Rhumba boxes maintain the bassline of the music.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The first words of the paper’s title, “Strangers in Paradise,” are from Kismet (Borodin, 1953).

Notes

¹ A lamellophonic instrument rooted in African culture. It is a wooden music box, or thumb piano, with a circular hole for sound in front, center. Rectangular metal tines of various lengths, tuned for variation in pitch, are placed vertically across the hole. These are plucked by the musician who sits on the box. Rhumba boxes maintain the bassline of the music.

² Mento: Traditional African/Jamaican folk music with European influences. Instruments include acoustic guitar, banjo, maracas, hand drums, bamboo saxophone, harmonica, fiddle and the rhumba box. Mento richly describes the geographical landscape and provides one critical means of transmitting messages and bearing witness to the rich and complex lives of the people. As dance music, mento offers joyful opportunities for escape from the drudgeries and pain of daily life.

³ J. Wray and Nephew began operation in Jamaica in 1825, nine years before Emancipation. Their distillery is located in the old Appleton sugarcane Estates (which opened in 1749). They are internationally known distillers, blenders, and bottlers of Jamaican rum. Their overproof rum (63% ABV, or alcohol by volume) is favored among white rum connoisseurs.

⁴ By “America,” I mean, of course, the United States. But from the perspective of the potential migrant, “America” often embodies a symbolism as large as the word itself projects.

⁵ “Ganja” or “herb” (marijuana). Although illegal in Jamaica, Rastafarians justify its sacramental value with Biblical verses (e.g., Psalm 104:14, KJV). Ganja, they argue, frees the spirit, opens the mind, and promotes peace, happiness, community, and closeness to Jah (God).

⁶ The Wailers (1970).

⁷ Actually, planter rule was officially dissolved in 1866, following the infamous Morant Bay Rebellion (1865), in which rebel leaders, fighting for adult suffrage and representation in government, were assassinated without due process. Jamaica became a Crown colony, although it would not be until 1944 that Jamaicans were afforded voting rights. “The central issues remained what they had been under planter rule: property and color” (Sherlock & Bennett, 1998). Of interest, according to Jamaican sociologist, Orlando Patterson (cf. Gladwell, 2008, p. 278), Jamaican Jews and coloreds had, since 1826, enjoyed full rights of citizenship, including the right to vote. Sherlock and Bennett (1998, p. 7) reported this to have occurred in 1829 for Jews and later, in accordance with the 1831 Act, for coloureds and blacks “of free condition” (p. 229). Note that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on 1 August, 1834!

⁸ West African derived form of sorcery, or folk magic, practiced “secretly” in some Jamaican communities.

⁹ A fast, syncopated rhythm, with drums emphasizing the second and fourth beats in a 4/4 framework, acoustic guitar and piano stressing “the up of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beats” (Chang & Chen, 1998, p. 30), and horns and saxophones completing the instrumental ensemble.

¹⁰ Historically, ska is divided into three periods: The First Wave (Jamaica, 1950s), The English 2Tone Second Wave (1970s), and The Third Wave (1980s; popularized in the United States, 1990s). Ska remains popular in other regions (e.g., Japan, Australia, South America).

¹¹ Marley’s lyrics taken from Emperor Haile Selassie’s address to the United Nations (October, 1963).

¹² While I recognize the complexity inherent in that one word, “apology,” in this context, I present the dialogue between Trevor and me as it emerged in the moment. I believe that for him (and for me), the word itself placed us on a different plane of intersubjective relating that, it seems to me, had been building between us. Trevor’s shocked response to my apology relates to his sense that I dared to recognized his subjectivity and to validated his suffering openly. I thank Dr. Neil Altman (personal communication, February, 2014) for raising and discussing this important issue with me.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cleonie J. White

Cleonie J. White, Ph.D., is a Fellow, Supervisor, and Faculty at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. Dr. White is Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at the Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, NYU. She is a supervisor and faculty at the Stephen Mitchell Center for Relational Studies. Dr. White maintains a private practice in NYC.