Page 11 - aruba-today-20231221

a11
local Thursday 21 december 2023
Aruba’s cultural and literary development: Then and now

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