Rastafari Literary Art

Although observers of Rastafari often concentrate on reggae music, and not without good reason, many do so at the expense of examining the movement’s growing presence in literary art. ¹ Here I correct this oversight by tackling two early novels and then by taking up several modern stories. First, I consider how Roger Mais (Brother Man; 1954) and Orlando Patterson (The Children of Sisyphus; 1964) locate locksmen at the center of their fictions. ² In Mais’s story, Bra‘ Man stands out as a Christ-figure, the agent of ‘peace an‘ love’ in an unfriendly world, and in Patterson’s story, Brother Solomon comes across as a poignant, heart-rending soothsayer. Contrasts in characterization notwithstanding, both novels come together to help situate Rastafari on the world’s cultural map. Second, I build on the work of Mais and Patterson by surveying selected fiction from the past three decades, focusing on two genres, drama and the novel, which jointly explore what we might call the varieties of Rastafari religious experience. Authors in this part of the chapter include Edgar Nkosi White; Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah, who also looks back on her life and art in an interview; Masani Montague; N. D. Williams; Jean Goulbourne; and, Geoffrey Philp. A brief, religious reading of Philp’s Benjamin, My Son (2003) shows how the story blends literary artistry with sociological acumen to create a laudable textual successor to Brother Man and The Children of Sisyphus. Throughout the chapter I explain these novels’ social and political context and thus trace change over time in Rastafari. To that end, an interview with Philp concludes the chapter.