Page 173 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

158 Francio Guadeloupe

it” (Žižek quoted in Beasley-Murray 2003, 119). They were fine with the
Marriage of Christ and capital. They were willing to be fooled time and
again by big business and the political elites as long as they remained part
of capitalism’s privileged few. As long as they too could move. The sonic
architects just legitimized and gave legitimacy to the Babel that they
willingly construct.

Notes

1. The transformation of Christianity in popular culture thereby creating a char-
acteristically Christianized public sphere is not a unique Caribbean phenome-
non. See the work of Birgit Meyer (2004a) on the Pentecostalization of the
public sphere in Ghana, and also the work of David Chidester (2005) on the
prominent role of Christianity in the North American Culture Industry.
2. In Europe we are also witnessing the recognition and the acceptance of the
hyphen between Judaism and Christianity—Judeo-Christian—as a bridge.
This, however, is still a point of contention and was born after the Holocaust.
For an interesting discussion on the matter see Jean-Francois Lyotard and
Eberhard Gruber (1999) in discussion on the hyphen.
3. Dialectically we must remark that however ridden with power differences, pro-
cesses in the Caribbean also affected Western history. See Sidney Mintz’s
Sweetness and Power (1985) on the importance of sugar for the dietary needs of
British industrial workers and elites. Here we see an account of how production
and consumption are related and affect Western lifestyles and conceptions of
taste. See also C. L. R. James’ The Black Jacobins (1963 [1938]) on the impor-
tance of Haitian revolution in the evolution of the notion of human dignity
and inalienable rights of every individual.
4. This way of looking does not omit the idea of a particular spark of life, or, less
substantial, a possibly more enduring trace. However, as David Hume long ago
put it, we can say nothing sensible about this (1975[1758]). The moment we do
we are actually prioritizing a prior performance as being more real and endur-
ingly authentic. All we have to go by are performances, as we too are busy
performing.