Carolyn Cooper CD (born 20 November 1950) is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

Mona, Jamaica Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, approximately eight kilometres from Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugarcane plantation, it is the site of a reservoir serving the city of Kingston and the main campus of the Univers ...

. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assistant professor at

Atlantic Union College Atlantic Union College (AUC) was a private Seventh-day Adventist college in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1882. The college closed in 2018 due to accreditation and financial problems. From 1933 to 2018, AUC was a four-year ...

South Lancaster, Massachusetts South Lancaster is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Lancaster and close to the Town of Clinton in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,894 at the 2010 census. Geography South Lancaster is located a ...

. In 1980, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she continued to work until her retirement as a professor in 2017. Also a newspaper journalist, Cooper write a weekly column for the ''

Sunday Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

''.

Biography

Early years and education

Carolyn Joy Cooper was born in 1950 in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...

, to parents who were members of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. In 1968, she was awarded the Jamaica Scholarship (Girls). She attended the

University of the West Indies, Mona The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English (B.A. English) in 1971. She was awarded a

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...

fellowship to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, in 1971 to study for her master's degree in English, which was followed by the completion of her PhD at the same institution in 1977.

Academic career

In 1980, Cooper was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies, where she taught courses on Caribbean, African-American and African literature, as well as popular culture. She was instrumental in establishing in 1994 the Reggae Studies Unit at the University of the West Indies, Mona, which has hosted numerous public lectures and symposiums featuring reggae/dancehall artists and other practitioners in the music industry in Jamaica and internationally such as Lady Saw,

Vybz Kartel Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976), better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall recording artist, composer, record producer, and entrepreneur. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss". As summarize ...

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair f ...

Tony Rebel Patrick George Anthony Barrett (born 15 January 1962), better known by his stage name Tony Rebel, is a Jamaican reggae deejay. Career Born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, Barrett was initially a singer, appearing as Papa Tony or Tony Ranking in ...

Ninjaman Desmond John Ballentine (born January 24, 1966), better known as Ninjaman, and sometimes as Don Gorgon is a Jamaican dancehall deejay and actor, known for his controversial and pro-gun lyrics and his stuttering and melodramatic style. In 2017, he ...

, Louise Frazer-Bennett, Christine Hewett,

Tanya Stephens Vivienne Tanya Stephenson (born 2 July 1973),Lim, Ann-Margaret (2004)All Woman: Tanya Stephens", ''Jamaica Observer'', 3 May 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2010

Gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the r ...

and

Queen Ifrica Ventrice Morgan (born 25 March 1975), better known by the stage name Queen Ifrica, is a reggae singer and disc jockey from the hills above Montego Bay, Jamaica. She is the daughter of ska musician Derrick Morgan but was raised by her mother and ...

. Cooper founded the annual Bob Marley Lecture in 1997. The Reggae Studies Unit has also convened academic conferences, including in 2008 the Global Reggae Conference,Carolyn Cooper biography
The Leslie Center for the Humanities, Dartmouth College. the plenary papers for which are collected in ''Global Reggae'' (2012), edited by Cooper and published by the

University of the West Indies Press The University of the West Indies Press (or UWI Press) is a university press that is part of the University of the West Indies. References External linksUniversity of the West Indies Press Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or n ...

. With Dr Eleanor Wint, Cooper co-edited ''Bob Marley: The Man and His Music'' (2003), a selection of papers presented at the 1995 symposium that marked the reggae icon's 50th birthday. In 2017, Cooper retired from being professor of literary and cultural studies at UWI. Selected presentations by her are held at UWI Archives.

Writing and media work

Cooper is the author of the books ''Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the "Vulgar" Body of Jamaican Popular Culture'' (1993) and ''Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large'' (2004), as well as numerous articles, book chapters, conference presentations and plenary lectures. A well-known media personality in Jamaica, she is a weekly columnist for the ''

''. In the 1990s, she co-hosted a television show, ''Man and Woman Story,'' with Dr Leahcim Semaj for the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. She also co-hosted a public affairs programme, ''Question Time'' on CVM Television, and, more recently, ''Big People Sup'm'' on PBC Jamaica. Cooper is a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Le ...

Selected works

Books

* ''Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the "Vulgar" Body of Jamaican Popular Culture'' (1995) * ''Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large'' (2004)

Books edited by Cooper

* ''Bob Marley: The Man and His Music'' (2003), with Eleanor Wint * ''Global Reggae'' (2012)

Articles

* "Loosely talking theory: Oral/Sexual Discourse in Jamaican Popular Culture", ''The CRNLE Reviews Journal'', 1, 1994, pp. 62–73. * "Lyrical Gun: Metaphor and Role Play in Jamaican Dancehall Culture", '' The Massachusetts Review'', Vol. 35, Issues 3 & 4, 1994, pp. 429–447. * "Race and the Cultural Politics of Self-representation: A View from the University of the West Indies", ''

Research in African Literatures ''Research in African Literatures'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering African literary studies. It was established in 1970 and is published by Indiana University Press. The editor-in-chief is Kwaku Larbi Korang ( Ohio Sta ...

,'' 27, 1996, pp. 97–105. * "Ragamuffin sounds: Crossing over from reggae to rap and back", ''

Caribbean Quarterly ''Caribbean Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies on the culture of the Caribbean. It is published for the University of the West Indies by Taylor & Francis. It was established in 1949. The editor-in-chief is ...

'', Vol. 44, nos 1 & 2, 1998, pp. 153–168. * "'West Indies plight': Louise Bennett and The Cultural Politics of Federation", ''Social and Economic Studies'', 48, 1999, pp. 211–228. * "Punany Powah", ''Black Media Journal'', 2, 2000, pp. 50–52. * "Enslaved in Stereotypes: Race and Representation in Post-independence Jamaica", '' Small Axe,'' 16, 2004, pp. 154–169. * "Not Even One Token Woman!", ''

Stabroek News The ''Stabroek News'' is a privately owned newspaper published in Guyana. It takes its name from ''Stabroek'' , the former name of Georgetown, Guyana. It was first published in November 1986, first as a weekly but it later changed to a daily prin ...

'', 21 February 2011. * "UWI celebrates 50-plus years of teaching fi wi literature", ''The Gleaner'', 6 June 2021.

Awards

Association of Commonwealth Universities The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is t ...

Academic Exchange Fellow,

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, September–October 1993 *The ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'' listed Cooper as sixth in their list of "The 10 Best-Dressed Men & Women of 2011". *

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') ...

in the rank of Commander (CD), August 2013, "for outstanding contribution to Education"."The Arts Play Big Part In This Year's National Honours"
''The Gleaner'', 7 August 2013.

References

External links

* * * Jérémie Kroubo Dagnini
"An Insight into Jamaican Music: Interview with Carolyn Cooper"
sx salon (''Small Axe''), 27 October 2010. Interview conducted on 27 November 2006.
Mona Online Research Database.

"Carolyn Cooper - Interview (Smile Jamaica) February 6 2019"
YouTube.
"Big Tingz A Gwaan: Wan Taak Wid Carolyn Cooper Pt. 1 , An Interview with Carolyn Cooper Pt. 1"
YouTube, 6 April 2021. * Lennox Aldred
"Carolyn Cooper – pioneer of Jamaica’s literary & musical culture"
Women of Distinction, ''The Gleaner'', 25 April 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Carolyn 1950 births 20th-century Jamaican women writers 20th-century Jamaican writers Commanders of the Order of Distinction Cultural critics Jamaican academics Jamaican columnists Jamaican literary critics Jamaican non-fiction writers Jamaican television people Jamaican women academics Jamaican women columnists Jamaican women journalists Jamaican women writers Literature educators Living people People from Kingston, Jamaica University of the West Indies academics University of the West Indies alumni University of Toronto alumni Women literary critics