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local Friday 17 May 2024
Aruba’s cultural and literary development: Then and now

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

Source: Historia di Literatura
Arubiano: E Bida Cultural by
J.R. “Quito” Nicolaas