Page 164 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

The Sonic Architects of a New Babel 149

Figure 6.2 A reveler celebrating multinational conviviality on a 37 square mile
rock. Photo by Pedro de Weever.

As I speak to my friend and others at the venue about DJ Shadow’s
performance, I am told that the reason they like him so much was that
even during his most damning critique of the political establishment, he
is positively seeking to promote unity among all SXMers. The words one
of these persons uses is “he know bout life,” meaning he knows life is a
give and take. Life in this Caribbean world that is structured by capital
is about being able to detect and accept difference, to critique inequali-
ties, and yet construct commonalities. Constructing provisional com-
monalities is what allows one to move in a way that secures and opens up
tomorrow.
If the logic of life in a world where Capital seems inescapable is move-
ment—movement of the world moving in a nonsynchronous synchronic-
ity, then this leads to a recognition of the tower of Babel that is SXM

society.
To engage with one another in this Babelesque society, every SXMer is
compelled to perform various social selves in order to build temporary
bridges of commonality. The constant construction, privileging, and can-
celing out of these performances to fit the occasion leads many SXMers to
conceive of themselves as containing multiple identities and conflicting
forces.