MASCULINITY AND THE DANCE OF THE DRAGON - READING LOVELACE DISCURSIVELY

The exploration and examination of the construction of masculinity is increasingly emerging as an integrated part of the study of gender in society in general, and in the Caribbean in particular. We are constan tly in search for new sources of material which tell us about the ways in which men construct their masculinity in Caribbean society. In thi s paper I draw on the imagery and ideas provided by the literary text. I interrogate the novel The Dragon Can't Dance, written by Trinidadia n novelist Earl Lovelace. The writer uses the metaphor of the dragon, the costume donned by the main protagonist Aldrick in the yearly Carni val masquerade, as a mask which disguises the need for Aldrick to conf ront his own masculinity under poor, urban conditions in Trinidad. In the struggles and confrontations between urban working-class men and w omen in the community of Calvary in Trinidad, the novelist teases out the different constructions of masculinity in the various characters h e portrays. I explore the novel, focusing particularly on the ways in which this construction is embedded in the struggles over issues of id entity, ethnicity, reputation and honor. While the novelist is clearly able to read into the mind of the male in society, his renditions of the female are not so incisive. However, this is not a shortcoming as the women, though not as well-rounded characters in the novel, play ke y roles in the definition and shaping of masculinities. This reading o f the novel illustrates that the literary text suggests itself as a cr itical site for further explorations of the illusive data on gender an d especially that on masculinity.