Abstract:
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Steelpan is more than an instrument of music or the embodiment of Trinidadian inventiveness, pan has come to represent a useful instrument of psychotherapy. Dr. JD Elder suggests that pan is "…the objectification of man's psychological tendency to react with hostility to psychic dissatisfaction and social status deprivation." Panmen were able to sublimate their feelings of hostility towards society by "beating" the pan to tune it or to make musical notes out of it. Elder's statement is discussed throughout the article. |