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local Friday 19 January 2024

Aruba’s cultural and literary development: Then and now

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