Folklore plays an integral role in Caribbean culture. These stories have been told over generations all with slight variations from the original mainly due to the unreliability of word of mouth but still the essence of these stories remain the same. Caribbean folklore is predominantly of African origin, primarily west African culture however, there are also tales consisting of East Indian, Taino, Spanish and even European influences. Many supernatural figures in these tales have specific characteristics which can be traced back to African deities. These deities can either be religious or from traditions. The differences that divide them are very fine.
Folklore has been passed down through various mediums such as, music, dance, plays, festivals, jokes and spoken performances all as a form of storytelling. This can be seen in the traditional use of storytelling of ‘Crick Crack’ where there was a Compere who shouts “Crick!” while the audience responds “Crack!” and so the story starts.
Caribbean Folklore 