01947nas a2200217   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001400043653001100057653001100068653001300079653001000092653002000102100001700122245010400139856015400243300001200397490000700409520129300416022002001709                                       d10aCaribbean10aFrance10aUNESCO10aheritage10aMusic10aPostcolonialism1 aJerome Camal00aPutting the drum in conundrum: Guadeloupean gwoka, intangible cultural heritage and postnationalism  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84928409818&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2015.1028959&partnerID=40&md5=c93fa98ccc866ca91376fe74387ba670  a395-4100 v223 aSince 2004, Felix Cotellon, the president of the centre for traditional music and dance on the island of Guadeloupe, has spearheaded a grass roots campaign to see gwoka inscribed on the UNESCOs list of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanities. The move has been surprising, even controversial. Gwoka, a drum-based music and dance, has been used as a symbol of Guadeloupean cultural identity and resistance against French colonialism since the late 1960s. Moreover, Cotellon has had a long association with separatist activism. However, because Guadeloupe remains a French overseas department without a seat at the UN, the petition to add gwoka to the ICH list had to be sponsored by the French state. Following a successful bid, gwoka is now listed as representative of the culture of a French region. In this article, I draw from my ethnographic work as well as my own involvement in the committee that drafted Guadeloupes application to trace the complex network of individuals, who are shaping gwokas transformation from weapon of national resistance to symbol of humanitys cultural diversity. I argue that these individuals shape and operate within a zone of awkward engagement that allows for the emergence and expression of a postnationalist political subjectivity.  a13527258 (ISSN)