Carnival signs in Oeteldonk: reading the parade

During carnival, it is tradition to ridicule the elite and their politics on a local and global scale with homemade artefacts and outfits. To exemplify globalization in local carnival, last year some participants stereotyped Mexicans, whereas another participant who was literally dressed as a red brick wall, stretched her arms to hug the surprised public. 

Living in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, or Den Bosch, or Oeteldonk, semiotics from carnival seem to be everywhere. I went out to explore their meaning and found inclusion and exclusion, while this festival is supposed to be about equality. The question that came to mind is how is carnival to be read by analyzing semiotics in the Oeteldonk parade? Is carnival playful and innocent or full of meaning and relevant for today?

Oeteldonk

Carnival almost magically takes place between New Year and Easter, before the Lent and Easter, six weeks after the first full moon in the New Year, so on a different date every year.  Paintings show that carnival has been a popular feast since the Middle Ages when people celebrated spring had sprung and fertility of land, animals, and man returned. Oeteldonk stems from its geological condition and history (donk = sandy hill; oetel is agreed to allude to frog): a sandy place found in a swampy area outside the town. In Oeteldonk, it all officially begins on a Sunday with a holy mass in St Jan’s cathedral, attended by many individuals, groups of friends, and music bands, in colorful outfits. After the blessings, people go out for breakfast or try and find a place in the streets where the parade of Prince Amadeiro, d’n Peer, and other officials of the Oeteldonk play pass by, some in traditional 19th century horse and carriage. 

In the parade of mostly male officials, local individuals and smaller groups parody and ridicule events on local, global, or national scale, translated in carnival fun. Carnival is an upside down festival with many old habits, starting with attire. Farmers (or people from outside Den Bosch) dress as citizens in black coats, whereas the citizens wear smocks, red neckerchiefs, all with long red white yellow scarfs. The mayor of the town hands in the keys to the representative of the farmers. Other habits are stretching from transportation (horse and carriage, or for some a wooden hobby horse) to even medieval practices in food (pea soup with pumpernickel and bacon) and drinks (beer and brandy), dress (smock and black coat) and symbols (colors, emblems) to the language used. The vernacular language of Den Bosch is spoken, best understood if the written is spoken out loud. Of course, with that G pronounced in a softer manner. Furthermore, this fancy and sophisticated town is referred to as durp or village since the official beginning of the play Oeteldonk in 1882.

For the imagined community of Oeteldonk carnival is a relevant popular festival, linked to church, medieval guilds, and geography, embedded in society with a steady local support through all strata. The aim is to celebrate equality and include all groups of people.  Yet the Oeteldonkse Club, the organizing committee, has rather strict rules on behavior and appearance recently, when attire requirements were published and the 11 Geboden or Commands. Is that an inclusive or exclusive measure? Members of the Oeteldonk diaspora return to their durp every year for this festival, drinking beer and brandy in their peasants’ smock covered with emblems of past years, while music bands entertain, including Hard en Gemeen or Loud and Mean, the all women band in which I play.

Upside down

Carnival as an upside down festival of equality is typically promoting deviant and rebellious behavior, with both outsiders- people dressed as clowns and the like, and insiders- the ones properly dressed in smocks or black coats and all the right colors. They are the public or clubkes, music bands or groups of friends who perform an act in the parade in which a lot of time and energy is put, based on an event in the past or future. There seems to be an unorthodox way of living of many people who celebrate carnival: they show fun, enthusiasm and creativity in their daily life. Rebels can be found in mini plays by people dressed in a specific way holding signs to explain. A sign is not addressing everyone in the same way, it is best understood by those who recognize the deeper meaning, who speak the same language so to say. So, the ones who made the sign for the parade in Oeteldonk were inspired by events in their regular daily lives, recognizing the meaning of that event for their sign, addressing other insiders who are amongst the public watching the parade. Sometimes, the more difficult to recognize the meaning of the sign, the better, for it takes some time to read aloud what is written.

Languages

Looking at the Oeteldonk signs, it seems that globalization is as much a part of local society as Oeteldonk culture or local language. Society responds to things happening and the global scale is not very important, it has become part of the view on their world, only a bit expanded, due to that very globalization that makes things move faster. So, in Oeteldonk, to parody or ridicule, the written signs contain the vernacular language of Den Bosch and/or Brabandish, pointing to the time of the event, regardless of the place where that event took or takes place.

Symbols

I found the meaning of the most catchy symbol, namely the combination of colors red, white and yellow, present in flags, emblems, banners, and attire, meant to represent catholicism, as the Church appropriated medieval carnival. While red and white refer to the checkered flag of the province of Noord-Brabant, yellow and white allude to the Pope. Also, red represents fire, love and blood, yellow (or gold) richness and purity, and white (or silver) wisdom. The first time these colors are found in a carnival setting, though in a different order, is in Pieter Brueghel’s senior 16th century painting ‘The battle between carnival and Lent’. There is proof that carnival in Den Bosch is celebrated for over 550 years.  

Symbols in the parade

In the 2017 carnival in Oeteldonk, on Sunday, 26 February, during the arrival of officials, there were participants in the various music bands, groups of friends, individually, or as public, watching. Some people in the parade were wearing a mask of the face and hairdo of Donald Trump. This I found too easy, it was obvious what it was about, thus not funny enough. I was looking for homemade signs, when a group of people dressed up as Mexicans showed up, or so they stereotypically appeared, playing a trumpet with a sign attached to it: Trumpet. They were wearing colorful ponchos, stick-on drooping moustaches and large hats (picture 1), with fingerless Oeteldonk red white yellow gloves, holding an inflatable cactus. Suddenly D’n Oeteldonkse Knuffelmuur (Oeteldonkse Cuddly Wall) (picture 2) stretched her arms to hug people in the public, while another group carried a big sign saying Mexicanen vergimmes welkom (Mexicans very welcome) (picture 3) that was a frame in which people could put their head to have their photo taken against a backdrop of stereotypical Mexican silhouettes, and red white yellow colors.  

These groups of people passed by in a rather high pace and I only managed to take these three pictures. Although I searched for them later on to ask about their ideas when making the costumes, I could not find them in the enormous crowds, so I have to describe, analyze and interpret on my own, without their help to explain. One year later, editing this article, the same topics are still in the news. 

Trumpet

In the linguistic landscape it is not only about describing semiotic signs, Blommaert & Maly (2016) see it as both analysis and interpretation of these signs in three ways: roughly pointing backwards to the ones who produced the sign; forward to the addressees; and sideways at the specific emplacement of the sign among the others.  

Trumpet: the sign consists of one word, handwritten in upper cast with a capital T at the beginning. The sign is attached to a small children’s trumpet, not making a very musical sound, and the sign is twice as big as the trumpet. Due to the way it is written with the capital T, it points the name of the president of the United States: Donald Trump, pun intended in English. When it comes to the direction of the arrows, the sign is first directing backward to carnival groups who conceptualize and produce artefacts for a parade in which they make fun of the elite here by naming the obvious: a trumpet. Second, it refers to Trump’s promise to his voters to build a wall between Mexico and the US to prevent illegal mobility between the two countries. Playing a fake trumpet indicates that Trump may be fooled by these very Mexicans, as they make the fake music (or illegal actions) he responds to (which may be fake news). The sign is directing forwards to the public gathered along the streets to watch the parade, to illustrate what stereotypically Mexican people could look like: people seeking attention for their case. The sideways directing arrow adds to the theme of 2017 carnival ‘Oeteldonk, daor zit meziek in’ or ‘Oeteldonk, there’s music in it’, as if this group were a Mexican mariachi band, in which a trumpet plays an important role, as this instrument does in carnival.

Knuffelmuur or cuddly wall 

D'n oeteldonkse knuffelmuur or cuddly wall Instagram @taylorswift

Knuffelmuur or cuddly wall: the sign D’n Oeteldonkse Knuffelmuur is handwritten in upper cast and attached to the participant’s outfit of red cloth decorated as if it were bricks, probably attached to a firm frame inside to maintain the shape of a rectangular. A smiling face and two arms stick out, ready to hug someone from the public. It is written in Brabandish language, where D’n translate to The. The backward arrow points to a wall between two countries to hinder migrants entering a country, in particular Mexican into the US. A knuffelmuur or cuddly wall is a wall filled with hot water tubes to make it warm and comfortable to sit or lie against, sometimes used in health care. The forward arrow points to a group of people who mean to show that a wall between countries might as well be a cuddly wall, warmly welcoming immigrants. Also, a cuddly wall is opposite to a paywall (as used on the internet) meaning it is not all about the money, it is also about empathy for those who live in less prosperous circumstances. The sideways arrow directs to the general excitement and fun in the parade for this rather big wall actually hugs people.  Also, as it is connected to the other figures; together (with the next ones) they are an ensemble of meanings.

Mexicanen vergimmes welkom or Mexicans very welcome 

Mexicanen vergimmes welkom: on the sign it says in vernacular language that Mexicans are vergimmes (= heel erg, hartstikke) very welcome, in a hand painted upper cast in different sizes. This is mixing languages Dutch and Brabandish in a style as if it were a local newspaper’s headline. The huge sign is carried around by two people and is meant as a carnival’s attribute where the public can stick their head in, around which silhouettes are painted of a man and woman, to be photographed as Mexican people. The sign points backwards to medieval times when during fairs or carnivals people were punished in a schandblok or pillory, where their heads and hands were locked, and the public could scold or spit upon them. The arrow is pointing forward to Mexican (illegal) immigrants who are a target for scolding by president Trump. Finally, the sideways arrow is directing the signs who invite the public to come forward and be part of the Oeteldonk parade by participating in a fun moment, with yet a serious notion that people are very vulnerable when their head is stuck in the hole.

In all three signs, although with few words, not more than three per sign, the language is used in the ‘right’ way, in English as well in Brabandish and the language of Den Bosch. The vernacular languages are applied according to its language norms, or at least how they are perceived during Oeteldonks carnival when they are the most important languages, also used in writing and speech by the Oeteldonkse Club. On their website, Facebook page Oeteldonks Féésbuukske, Twitter, and Instagram the Oeteldonkse Club presents itself in that vocabulary. Other semiotic signs are the colors red white yellow present in emblems, to be found on the gloves with short fingers, especially designed for musicians so they can play and keep their hands warm.

Fun and innocent or full of meaning and relevant

The tradition of mocking the elite and past or future events is still recognizable at present and makes carnival a meaningful and relevant festival. In the case of Oeteldonk, the local, geographical world becomes more and more connected to the global world due to education and mobility, they become interconnected. The way how Mexican culture is shown (large hats, colorful ponchos, long dresses and black drooping moustaches) shows mobility and legitimacy of the owner(s) of this attire, for these accessories may be obtained in Mexico, as well as their knowledge of stereotyping and cultural appropriation of Mexicans. The meaning of presenting, or framing, Mexican identity this way is to show they are people with only some differences, who are scolded by a powerful outsider, i.e. Trump, thus providing another twisted, upside down perspective to the public, typically of carnival. 

Possibly, it shows that globalization is put forward as a threat in an exaggerated way. Thus, exclusion happening on a large scale in the US, also happens on a smaller scale in Europe, in the Netherlands, in the city of Den Bosch. Exclusion is experienced when carnival insiders scold the outsiders, as seen by true Oeteldonkers who are HGGT (Born Here No Tourist, or Hier Geboren Ginne Toerist) or wear ‘true’ Brabandish red and white checkered emblems, since Oeteldonk carnival is discovered by tourists, who are dressed as clowns, strawberries, cows and what not, and are said to notably even drink differently. Rules of conduct, the 11 Geboden or Commands set out by the Oeteldonkse Club may be compared to rules found in public buildings, in transportation, schools, sports, work places, and are a sign of times and meant as a measure of inclusion: when you know the rules you can easily be part of the action. In Den Bosch society, people who celebrate carnival can participate in all kind of events organized beginning November 11 (the lunatic date). It is a common sight to see old and young people walk in groups to attend a Boerenbal, a dance or Oetelkonzert, the concert where the audience is situated on stage and the professional classical orchestra in the hall.  So, if you are still interested in carnival after this, do come to Oeteldonk and see for yourself.  You are vergimmes welkom!

References

Blommaert, J. and Maly, I. (2016). Ethnographic linguistic landscape analysis and social change: A case study. In Arnaut, K., Blommaert, J., Rampton, B. and Spotti,M.  Language and Superdiversity. New York: Routledge.