Genre in World Englishes

Calypso (or ‘Kaiso’) as a form of artful oral performance has a long history in Trinidad and has been explored from the perspectives of its historical development (Rohlehr 1990), its importance as a political and social commentary (Regis 1999), as well as its significance as a form of oral literature (Warner 1985). Rooted in West African tradition of praise and complaint songs, the format developed in the 19th-century post-emancipation Carnival context. While the genre has undergone many transfo