In this brilliantly evocative ethnography, Francio Guadeloupe probes the ethos and attitude created by radio disc jockeys on the binational Caribbean island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten. Examining the intersection of Christianity, calypso, and capitalism, Guadeloupe shows how a multiethnic and multireligious island nation, where livelihoods depend on tourism, has managed to encourage all social classes to transcend their ethnic and religious differences. In his pathbreaking analysis, Guadeloupe credits the island DJs, whose formulations of Christian faith, musical creativity, and capitalist survival express ordinary people's hopes and fears and promote tolerance.

About the Author

Francio Guadeloupe is Assistant Professor at the Radboud University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, Research Fellow at the Royal Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, and Extraordinary Research Fellow at the University of Saint Martin.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Map of Saint Martin and Sint Maarten
Map of the Caribbean Islands

Introduction: A New Jerusalem in the Caribbean Sea
1. So Many Men, So Many Histories: The History That Matters to the Islanders
2. Performing Identities on Saint Martin and Sint Maarten
3. Christianity as a Metalanguage of Inclusiveness
4. Clarke's Two Vitamin Cs for Successful Living
5. DJ Shadow's Prescription for Rastafari Individuality
6. The Hip-Hop- and Christian-Inspired Metaphysics of DJ Cimarron
Conclusion

Notes
References
Index

Reviews

“Chanting Down the New Jerusalem is a welcome addition to the anthropological literature of Christianity, capitalism, and nationalism.”
— Religion & Society

“Incisive and vibrant. . . . [Guadeloupe’s] ethnographic work has unearthed very interesting ways in which the residents of this bi-national Caribbean island read scriptures and signify upon same as they re-craft and re-tell their history . . . for the ears of tourists. . . . The people of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin in all of their diversity and complex negotiating certainly came alive on every turn of a page.”
— Black Theology

“A first-rate study notable for its straightforward treatment of issues surrounding national identity, tourism, and development.”
— Church History Stds In Christiany And Culture

“A rich, vivid and colourfully written ethnography.”
— Suomen Antropologi: J Finnish Anthro Soc

“An original contribution to the study of Caribbean religions.”
— New West Indian Guide / NWIG

"In this brilliant, evocative, and invigorating book, Francio Guadeloupe brings us to the island not as tourists but as guests, welcoming us into the homes and home-truths of a Caribbean world in the making. In the process, he helps us understand the intimate yet mediated rhythms of personal subjectivity and social collectivity that are at work and at play in making meaningful worlds. As a result, this book makes a major contribution to the study of religion and culture in the Caribbean and in the world."—David Chidester, author of Authentic Fakes: Religion and American Popular Culture

About the Book

About the Author

Table of Contents

Reviews