The Complexities of Carnival Identities in Earl Lovelace’s The Dragon Can’t Dance

If one were to identify three elements of Caribbean society that are integral to the region’s identity, they would be creole, calypso, and carnival. All three are interrelated but it is the latter, Carnival, that has shone a spotlight on the Caribbean and its people, through its adoption and reimagination in wider international spaces. In this paper, I look at Earl Lovelace’s landmark novel, The Dragon Can’t Dance, and discuss the way in which the three principal Afro-Trinidadian male characters construct their identity through the medium of Carnival. With changes to Carnival, these characters struggle to define themselves in relationship to a society and festival that is in flux. The novel is a detailed look at the way in which disenfranchised men seek to gain power through performance. It is also a reminder that today, as in 1979 when the novel was first published, the issue of identity and what it means to be Trinidadian, Caribbean and male is something the region continues to grapple with