Page 11 - aruba-today-20240412

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local Friday 12 april 2024
Aruba’s cultural and literary development: Then and now

(Oranjestad)—The Aruban culture
has seen many substantial devel-
opments over the course of a cen-
tury. With the introduction of the
Lago Refinery at the turn of the 20th
century, followed by the breakout
of the Second World War and the
general incentive for political inde-
pendence during the mid-century,
a cultural identity on the island be-
gan to take form and have since
developed through international
and local influences. and entertainment, as farmers left life on the island began to grow television broadcast station Tele-
the ‘cunucu’ (country) life to work substantially compared to de- Aruba in 1963, and with time and
In the pre-industrial era of the 19th in the refinery, which resulted in cades before. This was in response possibilities, local programs such as
century, much could not be said Aruba acquiring a different eco- to local institutions established “Nos Tera”’ (“Our Land”) started
about a cultural identity on the is- nomic pilar. Before this, entertain- in the 1940s for cultural and liter- to pay more attention to the Aru-
land. Still being a part of a Dutch ment and cultural manifestations ary growth on the island, but that ban culture and worked to form a
colonial territory at the time, as well were mostly experienced by local did not yet capture the attention cultural consciousness within the
as not having political or econom- parishes and the island’s elite, who of the general public. The 1950 community. The 1960s also saw
ic autonomy (Curacao was the often partook in cultural and enter- brought with it a boom of literary the rise of local authors and art-
center of commerce, cultural life, taining activities around the island, production on the island, like those ists, who were more comfortable
and political management of the like going to the movie theater or of V.S. Piternella, as well as migrant in producing works in our native
Netherland Antilles at the time), coming together to share poetry authors José Ramón Vicioso y tongue, Papiamento, but who also
the small population of Aruba con- on Sundays after church. Rings William Rufus, who have also produced works in Spanish, English
sisted mostly of farmers and fisher- contributed to the literary devel- and Dutch. This new phenomenon
men, tending to their crops and Literary life opment on the island. The literary was in response to the interaction
their cattle, or going out to fish to Throughout the 19th century and movement was further promoted between economic growth, indi-
provide for their family. As Quito up until the 1940s, there were also by local broadcasters Voz di Aru- vidual prosperity, cultural life and
Nicolaas states in his article Historia not much trace of a cultural cli- ba and Radio Kelkboom, with their literary expression.
di Literatura Arubiano: E Bida Cul- mate for the cultural-literary sec- regular broadcast of literary works.
tural (Literary History of Aruba: Cul- tor on the island. Primary educa- The 50s and 60s also saw the influ- The 21st century
tural Life), “during the pre-industrial tion was introduced on the island ence of international cultures, es- Nowadays, international influence
period, there were no significant in the mid-19th century, followed pecially that of the United States. on our culture is still prevalent, es-
economic activity that could have by secondary and higher educa- During this time, because of inter- pecially those from Latin America,
created a cultural ambience, with tion around the late 30’s and 40’s. national influences as well as the the United States and The Nether-
only one way to generate profit at It wasn’t until the 1950s, with the continued prosperity of the oil re- lands. Nevertheless, there also ex-
the time for the sub existence of introduction of the E.R.N.A agree- finery, cultural traditions in Aruba ists a strong cultural identity and
Aruban families.” ment in 1951 and the signing of began to really take form and traditions that are exclusive to the
It wasn’t until the introduction of the Statute in 1954, which allowed become widespread, as different Aruban culture, often manifest-
the Lago Refinery in San Nicolas more space for and control over worldly and local concepts were ing during traditional celebrations,
in 1928, that the island saw a small the economic and cultural devel- introduced in the Aruban society. like Dia di San Juan/Dera Gai (St.
boom in cultural manifestations opment of Aruba, that the literary With the establishment of local John’s Day), Dia di Himno y Ban-
dera (National Hymn and Flag
Day), Camping during Easter and
much more. With the surge of so-
cial media in the last decade, ar-
tistic voices, especially those of the
younger generation, has become
even more prevalent and eas-
ily accessible to the community
of Aruba through online platforms
such as Facebook, Instagram and
TikTok. q

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