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LOCAL Thursday 29 June 2023

Aruba’s cultural and literary development: Then and now

(Oranjestad)—The Aruban that could have created
culture has seen many a cultural ambience, with
substantial developments only one way to generate
over the course of a cen- profit at the time for the sub
tury. With the introduction existence of Aruban fami-
of the Lago Refinery at the lies.”
turn of the 20th century,
followed by the breakout It wasn’t until the intro-
of the Second World War duction of the Lago Refin-
and the general incentive ery in San Nicolas in 1928,
for political independence that the island saw a small
during the mid-century, a boom in cultural manifes- compared to decades be- and with time and possibili- the United States and The
cultural identity on the is- tations and entertainment, fore. This was in response ties, local programs such as Netherlands. Nevertheless,
land began to take form as farmers left the ‘cunucu’ to local institutions estab- “Nos Tera”’ (“Our Land”) there also exists a strong
and have since developed (country) life to work in the lished in the 1940s for cul- started to pay more atten- cultural identity and tradi-
through international and refinery, which resulted in tural and literary growth tion to the Aruban culture tions that are exclusive to
local influences. Aruba acquiring a different on the island, but that did and worked to form a cul- the Aruban culture, often
economic pilar. Before this, not yet capture the atten- tural consciousness in the manifesting during tradi-
In the pre-industrial era of entertainment and cultural tion of the general public. community. The 1960s also tional celebrations, like Dia
the 19th century, much manifestations were mostly The 1950 brought with it a saw the rise of local authors di San Juan/Dera Gai (St.
could not be said about experiences by local par- boom of literary produc- and artists, who were more John’s Day), Dia di Himno
a cultural identity on the ishes and the island’s elite, tion on the island, like those comfortable in producing y Bandera (National Hymn
island. Still being a part who often partook in cul- of V.S. Piternella, as well works in our native tongue, and Flag Day), Camping
of a Dutch colonial terri- tural and entertaining ac- as migrant authors José Papiamento, but who also during Easter and much
tory at the same, as well tivities around the island, Ramón Vicioso y Rings Wil- produced works in Span- more. With the surge of
as not having political or like going to the movie the- liam Rufus, who have also ish, English and Dutch This social media in the last
economic autonomy (Cu- ater or coming together to contributed to the literary new phenomenon was in decade, artistic voices,
racao was the center of share poetry on Sundays development on the island. response to the interac- especially those of the
commerce, cultural life, after church. The literary movement was tion between economic younger generation, has
and political management further promoted by local growth, individual prosper- become even more preva-
of the Netherland Antilles Literary life broadcasters Voz di Aruba ity, cultural life and literary lent and easily accessible
at the time), the small pop- Throughout the 19th cen- and Radio Kelkboom, with expression. to the community of Aruba
ulation of Aruba consisted tury and up until the 1940s, their regular broadcast of through online platforms
mostly of farmers and fisher- there were also not much literary works. The 21st century such as Facebook, Insta-
men, tending to their crops trace of a cultural climate Nowadays, international gram and TikTok. q
and their cattle, or going for the cultural-literary sec- The 50s and 60s also saw the influence on our culture is Source: Historia di Literatura
out to fish to provide for tor on the island. Primary influence of international still prevalent, especially Arubiano: E Bida Cultural by
their family. As Quito Nico- education was introduced cultures, especially that of those from Latin America, J.R. “Quito” Nicolaas
laas states in his article His- on the island mid-19th cen- the United States. During
toria di Literatura Arubiano: tury, followed by second- this time, because of inter-
E Bida Cultural (Literary His- ary and higher education national influences as well
tory of Aruba: Cultural Life), around the late 30’s and as the continued prosperity
“during the pre-industrial 40’s. It wasn’t until the of the oil refinery, cultural
period, there were no sig- 1950s, with the introduction traditions in Aruba began
nificant economic activity of the E.R.N.A agreement to really take form and
in 1951 and the signing of become widespread, as
the Statute in 1954, which different worldly and local
allowed more space for concepts were introduced
and control over the eco- in the Aruban society. With
nomic and cultural devel- the establishment of local
opment of Aruba, that the television broadcast sta-
literary life on the island be- tion Tele-Aruba in 1963,
gan to grow substantially