| Purpose of Study. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the characteristics of the calypso to examine the possibility that the lyrics divorced from the musical content are separate and distinct means of mass communication carrying significant political and social messages to Trinidadian audiences.;Method. The investigation employed five methodological approaches: the self-administered questionnaire, an interview schedule, an unstructured interview, participant observation and message analysis. These methods studied the perceptions and behaviors of calypso audiences, the calypsonians' perception of their roles as communicators as well as the message content and structure of calypso lyrics.;Results. The results of the study proved that most Trinidadians perceive the messages expressed in the lyrics of the calypso; that the calypsonians perceive themselves as mass communicators; that the majority of patrons visit the calypso tents primarily to be entertained; that the non-patrons of the tents absent themselves because there is a conflict between the fitness of the messages expressed for family consumption and for consumption by people of various religious persuasions; that the audience's behavior at the calypso tent provides a good indication of its perceptiveness of the messages transmitted by the calypso, and that the qualities that most Trinidadians find outstanding in a calypso are the simplicity of the language and the timeliness and consequence of the messages expressed. These findings demonstrate that the calypso is a mass communication medium. |
