A Quarterly of Criticism and Review i^^^^^^^^fcEjfc $15

Books in ReviewKaplan's elaborate but rickety theoreticalframework will form a foundation forfuture feminist scholarship and theory.Caribbean Word PowerChristian HabekostVerbal Riddim: the Politics and Aesthetics ofAfrican-Caribbean Dub Poetry. Rodopi US$44.00Pamela Mordecaide Man: a Performance Poem. Sister Vision $10.95M. Nourbese PhilipShe Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks.Ragweed $11.95Reviewed by Brenda CarrChristian Habekost blends a formalist andcultural studies approach to engage the"word, sound, power" aesthetic of African-Caribbean dub poetry and provide a correctivefor a critical problem he diagnosesat the outset of Verbal Riddim. That themusical press has given the dub mediumattention, while the academic press has typicallydismissed it is symptomatic of thechallenge posed by a hybrid cultural formin which spoken word lyrics are oftenaccompanied by reggae rhythms in a liveperformance context. Habekost's answer isa "methodological pluralism" comprised ofcomplex engagement with relevant culturespecificpolitical, social, and aesthetic contexts,as well as "old-fashioned" closereading. This is an important interventionfor those sceptics who see formalism andtheory as incompatible approaches. It isalso appropriate for a volume that appearsas #10 of the Cross/Cultures series. TheWestern reader is not naturally an ideal orcompetent reader of dub poetry. We neednew forms of cultural literacy for cross-culturalencounters.In his close readings, Habekost models asound working method for reading dubpoems in light of a sound/performance aesthetic.He is meticulously attentive to multiple"versions" of dub poems—printed,recorded, and live performance. This iscontextualized within a useful cultural historyof dub, including protagonists, majorevents, times, and places, along with introductionto relevant cultural frameworkssuch as the Jamaican popular music scene,dance-hall DJ talkover, Rastafarianism, andthe evolution of Jamaican patois as a legitimateform of English. Kingston, Jamaica,London, England and Toronto are threemetropolitan centres where dub poetry hasflourished since the early 1980's. Key playersin the international dub scene includeJamaicans Oku Onuora and Mutabaruka;Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jean Binta Breeze,and Benjamin Zephaniah from England;and Lillian Allen, Clifton Joseph, and AhdriZhina Mandiela, each of Toronto.My quibbles with Habekost are small.There is a hint of unexamined culturaltourism in Habekost's references to the"exotic beats" of Reggae, to the "blackenigma," and to Oku Onuora's prison biographyas a "spectacular adventure story."Despite Habekost's careful attention tocontext, some of his social assumptionsprovide a cautionary tale for how difficult itis to undo centuries of self/other conditioningin Western colonial history.Habekost's book could have used some ofthe dynamic "verbal riddims" of themedium under study. It is somewhat plodding,repetitive, and cumbersome in itsweighty citations. However, it exemplifiesan ethical undertaking to engage dub as aserious art form. Habekost upholds theneed for the ongoing expansion of dubpoetry's repertoire and range in order for itto continue as a living, changing medium.This is true of all poetry; it must keep anear to the ground, an eye to the street,reflecting the pulsing and changing lifeconcerns of the communities to which itgives witness.While Jamaican Pamela Mordecai's deMan: A Performance Poem and Tobagoian136