Vanessa Rendon Black Musics in Latin America 2/1/11
Blackness is infused in Caribbean/Latin American music through the creation of creolized music, which constitutes a fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, that represents the national spirit and character of numerous Caribbean countries. Creolized music symbolizes a “weapon of the weak” by disguising African-derived practices and beliefs that were not accepted in the past. Through oral tradition, Caribbean music narrates black history, including stories involving issues of dominance, resistance, cultural contact, and adaptation. Additionally, it describes the values, aspirations, and experiences of black people in the Caribbean.
Blackness is also present in Caribbean religious musics, specifically in songs particularly associated with communities of African descendants and Afro-Caribbean religions, such as the Cuban Santería and the Haitian Vodou. African-derived musical characteristics, such as collective participation, an emphasis on rhythm, the combination of repetition and variety in instruments and lyrics, and lyrics sung in West African languages clearly express the presence of blackness in Caribbean music. Although blackness is present in Caribbean music, it is also absent in different ways. The adaptation of European musical styles eroded African practices. The dominant language of Caribbean countries, Spanish, also diminished the influence of African languages. In addition, the Catholic Church weakened the beliefs of African-derived religions in the Caribbean.
When talking about the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, it is easy to simply call it creolized and be done with it. It is much harder to definitively point out many ways in which black, indigenous, and European influences are present in current day music from these areas. In order to see how blackness is present in contemporary music, it is easiest to enumerate each of the three groups (blacks, indigenous Americans, and Europeans) contributions to this music. The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America have probably contributed the least to modern music in the area, having been wiped out fairly early on with the discovery of the Americas by the Europeans. The Amerindians and their musical culture survive in only a few scant villages of little to no impact. When considering “blackness” in modern music of the area, there are many specific music traditions that can be linked with certainty back to tribes in Africa. One such feature is collective participation, meaning the involvement of everyone in the community in musical events. This can be seen specifically in religious music where there is both communal involvement and rhythmic/lyrical roots to music from Africa. Another distinctly black contribution to the music of Latin America and the Caribbean is an emphasis on rhythm and the relative prominence of polyrhythm. This is most easily seen in two or three part musical “cells” such as the tresillo or quintillo, which figure widely in nearly all modern musical styles in the area. The final distinctly black characteristic of modern Latin American and Caribbean music is the call and response format; forms of which can be seen in the Gwoka and the Bomba dances in which the dancer challenges (calls) the drummer who then meets the challenge (responds) with a more complicated improvised rhythm. In general these sum up the “black” elements of modern music of the area. Elements that are easily traced back to European culture include chordal harmony, formal structure to the music, ensemble orchestration, music notation, and especially social dances such as the contredanse and the quadrille. All these elements have blended, become creolized, and become something altogether unique that is expressed in many different forms as the music of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Edie Leghorn Professor Quintero Black Musics in Latin America and the Caribbean January 30, 2010 Blackness is present in Latin American and Caribbean music in that elements of music traditional to Africa survived within both free black and slave communities in the New World. Such music has been changed considerably from its original forms due to the influence of European and Amerindian music, among others, and this has resulted in the development of distinct Caribbean/Latin American musical forms. The fusion resulting from the prolonged interface between European, African, and indigenous cultures is referred to as creolization, and creolized music thus describes most music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Although the degree and variety of African influence can differ significantly from island to island, and from genre to genre, vocal call and response, collective participation, and emphasis on rhythm indicate an African influence. As Robin Moore notes, “The cultural influences of Africa are of special interest in the Caribbean,” in part due to the large number of inhabitants with some trace of African descent. Retaining vestiges of African music within the new forms of music being blended and created has in some ways been a means by which to assert cultural and ancestral identity and pride. Despite the perpetuation of African musical characteristics in many musics of the Caribbean, blackness is also absent from these musics in some respects. To varying degrees, African culture was repressed by the colonizing powers, some of whom saw the traditions of their slaves as barbaric and primitive. Such was particularly true within British colonies, where the plantations were ruled by whites who enforced “rigid cultural repression” (Manuel, 12). In contrast, the Spanish displayed much more tolerance for the practices of their African slaves. Such variant attitudes on the part of the colonizers accounts in part for the degree to which vestiges of African music are present in different regions of the Caribbean and Latin America. Also, despite the clear presence of African influence, a “negrophobic ideology” (Manuel, 12) has caused some to try and deny the existence of African musical elements within the music of the Caribbean and Latin America. Theses “obscurantists” falsely attribute these musical elements to being of Taino –a native indigenous group – descent. Original African tradition neither survived in pure form nor was completely originated; thus in Caribbean/Latin American music, blackness is both absent and present. It is this “incomplete” survival of African musical form and tradition that facilitated the development of new and creolized forms of music, as the remnants of African culture that did manage to cross the Atlantic with slaves and resist oppression fused with elements of the other races and musical traditions it encountered.
Using the term blackness to mean characteristics of African culture,Caribbean and LA musics have characteristics of "traditional" African music. For example, some religious music can be traced back to Africa, some having the same melody others the same lyrics. The structure of the music is also similar in its emphasis on rythm, collective participation, and call and response. However, blackness is absent in that the Caribbean and LA have not always accepted their African roots because it came with a negative connotation. The idea of blackness as an active part of the creation/foundation of Caribbean and LA culture was not always present.
Music making can be linked to issues of social inequality, poverty, racism, political subjugation, and gender inequality. The “civil rights movement and Black Power movement represent examples of particular racial projects in the US that have both affected notions of race and led to particular kinds of music making” (Manuel, 11). According to Manuel, the large communities of free blacks in Cuba and elsewhere were able to respond to the civil rights movement and Black Power movement by forming socioreligious clubs and maintaining cultural independence—they performed traditional musical practices in doing so. Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music through the encounter between Africans, Europeans and indigenous peoples. Significant African influence throughout the Caribbean and Latin America has been made evident through vocal call and response, collective participation, and an emphasis on rhythm. The Caribbean people combine premodern African and New world features in the Caribbean arts. The British colonial areas experienced a long period of isolation from Africa; thus, neo-African practices weakened. The high population of slaves in plantation colonies was “subject to rigid cultural repression and could exert little cultural influence on local whites”, which also weakened neo-African practices (Manuel, 12). Overtime, melodies and texts have changed, performers reflect on new social realities, and most practitioners do not speak African languages fluently. Because of this, some meaning is lost in the translated words. These are only some of the ways in which blackness is absent in Caribbean and Latin American music.
Blackness is in many ways present in Carribean/Latin American music. One of the more obvious ways in through historical roots - many Carribean nations have cultural heritages derived from slave colonies populated by people with African ancestry while others were partially composed of free black populations. Regardless, while external influences played an important role in shaping music in this region, the musical chacteristics that define this genre of music can be in large part traced back to many of the ideals brought from African culture and also the struggles of the black diaspora. Because they lacked tangible power to combat harships like oppression and other injustices, much of their feelings and stories had to be expressed through song and dance. What we can hear in the music represents parts of their history and stories and also the fruition of their dreams and their pride in their culture. However, reflecting back on the external influences, European powers traditionally were responsible for much of the changes in their culture and thus effected a shift toward non-blackness in their music in certain ways.
Blackness is represented in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean through the struggle of representation and acknowledgement, the practices of improvisation, and the dynamics of relations between people of the region. It is interesting that “African-ness “ was/is so strongly frowned upon in the region; many people of African descent minimize their association with the continent. At the same time, however, Moore asserts that the music promotes their national pride. The creolization of music represents both the presence and lack of blackness. In adapting instruments to play European melodies, blacks are essentially recreating distinct aspects of European culture. The tone of creolized culture, “innovative and traditional, dynamically fresh yet grounded in local experiences” (MHC, 21) serves as a manner to bolster the influence of all people, not just the powerful. In this way, it is possible to assert the distinctiveness of blackness and represent the struggles and interactions particular to this group. Furthermore, the similarity of basic patterns of melodies serve to unite peoples of different African heritage otherwise unable to communicate with one another because of distinct experiences and locations.
Creolization could have occurred merely between indigenous and European cultures and music forms. African rhythms and traditions were included in this process, exerting their influence, thus fundamentally changing the result. At the same time, however, the mere fact of mixing negates any of the cultures that may have contributed to the form to a large extent. European and African lose their distinction by becoming fundamentally intermeshed and united. This music form, although heavily influenced by African traditions, no longer merely represents African values or traditions, but the traditions of a particular people at a certain instance in time. As a result, the music and its meaning are constantly changing to match the ebb and flow of the people and cultures exchanged on the various islands of the Caribbean and regions of Latin America.
Elizabeth Humphrey Black Musics in Latin America Professor Quintero
Blackness can be found throughout certain types of music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. When discussing religions like the Santería and Haitian Vodou, which can be traced directly to Africa, they still use some of the West African language used in some of the songs (CC pg. 6). Some Spanish and Portuguese colonies even acknowledged the fact that Africans had their own culture; in some cases they were themselves allowed to acknowledge and embrace it. Blackness also had to deal with not only tracing your roots back to Africa, but also tracing the musical styles back as well. You could tell if a certain culture had some form of African interaction by how their music sounded: did they have some call and response included in the song, was rhythm a dominant aspect, and/or was syncopation present? (CC pg.8) Musically, blackness was represented pretty well. However, racially that was not always the case. Negrophobia seemed to be present in certain societies such as in the Dominican Republic, where having some sort of African heritage was considered embarrassing to some (MHC 18). Some, for example Afro-Puerto Ricans tend to associate themselves more with their mother country, than that of which their heritage is comprised. With creolization present in the Caribbean, musically and culturally, a sense of blackness might not be as present. With the blending of many different ethnicities and cultures, it is hard not to just create something new that will define this culture that has been made (MHC 19). In these creolized areas, in order to acknowledge the blackness that is present in this culture, you have to acknowledge the other cultural roots as well.
The representation of ‘blackness’ in the introductory chapters is present in the explanation the Caribbean peoples struggle through slavery and colonization. Understanding the history of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean allows the reader to recognize the ways in which the people used the power of music to promote unity and to encourage strength through slavery and oppression (representing the ‘blackness’). Blackness is also represented in the music created by creolized cultures. Despite differences in language, religion, and culture, Afro-Caribbean’s were able to share the experience of slavery and oppression through musical expression. As stated in Music in the Hispanic Caribbean, the legacy of colonization and slavery, creolization and hybridity, the diaspora, movement, and continuous musical exchange are reasons for the existence of Caribbean music. A characteristic of much Afro-Caribbean music is collective participation. There is a strong linkage between the performers and the “consumers” through movement, singing, clapping, dancing, and drumming. Collective participation dancing has been a continuous inspiration to music and dance across the globe. From line dancing, ‘contredanse’, the swing movement and ballroom dancing to even more modern group dancing and music by step teams and performances like “Stomp.” Some of the most popular music in the twenty-first century traces directly back to the music of indigenous Caribbean and Latin American people –reggaeton. The innovative rhythms, layering of beat patterns and ‘call and response’ characteristics of Latin American and Caribbean music continue to inspire and enrich music across the globe.
On a simple level blackness is found in the music of Latin America because much of Latin America’s roots can be derived from the African slave trade that populated the Caribbean islands. Today, music is a phenomenon that brings cultures and communities together. Peter Manuel discusses what it means to be a musician in a Caribbean culture and how it can be seen as a more significant profession than a doctor. Furthermore, blackness is seen in the creolization of music. Robin Moore explains how creolized music or “music that fuses distinct cultural elements from Europe, Africa or elsewhere,” has become the primary musical form that represents the nations and spirits of the Caribbean. Moore goes on to say that while Latin American music is not necessarily African music, “few would take issue describing it is African-derived. In terms of the music itself, blackness can be found in the rhythm of Latin American music. “African music is rich in melody, timbral variety, and even two and three part harmonies” writes Manuel but rhythm, specifically polyrhythm is what is most prominent in Caribbean music. Blackness can be seen in the heritage, culture, and music of Latin America. Music helps to tie together the different ethnicities of the region and the black influence is an integral part of it.
Music in Latin America is defined by its creolized nature. That is, Latin American music is a blend of the different racial and cultural groups that preside there. This music is a combination of African, European, and Indigenous elements all combined into one and thus creates a form of music that is new and different. Due to this hybridization of culture, blackness in terms of African culture is not isolated in its own form of music. Elements of the African culture are included in this creole music but do not emerge as a singular African music form. In this way, blackness is certainly present in Latin American music. Many elements of Latin American music can be traced directly to Africa (Manuel 6). For example, many African religious musical traditions are present in Latin American music today. Also, elements of call and response, and rhythmic cells like tresillo and cinquillo are African derived. In these ways, African culture has had a prominent influence on the creolized music of Latin America.
However, this fusion of music has caused the original African musical practices to be diluted (Manuel 7). These practices have been diluted by the European styles with which they’ve been mixed. Blackness is also absent because of the adaptions that African peoples have experienced. It is common for displaced peoples to abandon their cultural practices for those of the dominant ethnic group in their new society (Moore 15). In this way, Africans have embraced the new culture of Latin America and somewhat deserted their own. Also, those who are partially African refer to themselves as “mulatto” which they consider a very distinct category, not to be confused with “black” (Moore 17). In these ways, it is clear that a pure African culture and heritage does not exist in Latin American music. Blackness is somewhat forsaken at the expense of the culturally blended music that presides in Latin America.
Blackness is certainly an integral component of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean music. However, what “blackness” consists of by American standards is quite different from what it constitutes to Latin American and Caribbean inhabitants. Such inhabitants often choose not to identify themselves with Africa, but rather with the mixture of races and ethnicities that they feel more appropriately defines their people. Black Latin American and Caribbean natives certainly incorporate elements of African culture into their identities, but such elements are fused with European and, to a lesser extent, Amerindian influences. Many scholars attribute the term “creole” to this complex identity, and the creolization that largely defines Latin American and Caribbean culture translates directly into those areas’ musical practices. Much of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean music is comprised of a combination of African and European elements; although some less modern music of this area contained significant Amerindian influence, such influence largely died out at the onset of European colonization. In any case, Latin American and Caribbean music contains varying degrees of African and European influences. Some genres of music much more heavily incorporate African-derived elements, such as call and response mechanisms and emphases on rhythm, while others employ more European influence, such as particular melodies, harmonies, and social dances. While blackness is present, then, in many contemporary Latin American and Caribbean musical forms, it is rarely the sole contributor, and sometimes only a secondary component. However, given many European (particularly British) colonizers’ historical dismissal of African-derived music forms, the fact that those forms still maintain a significant presence in Latin American and Caribbean music suggests that many inhabitants, while perhaps not identifying as black, found African music to be an important component of Latin American and Caribbean music overall. The preservation of African-derived music forms also represents the history of struggle that many black Latin American and Caribbean people faced during the process of European colonization.
here is no doubt that "blackness" is present in music of the Caribbean and of Latin-America. Africa is associated with "blackness", as the majority of people from this continent have the American definition of black skin. One of the ways that "blackness" is seen in Caribbean and Latin-American music is through song lyrics. In religious songs to the "Orichas", deities of Santería, one hears the words "moyuba" and "iba laye e". Blackness is transmitted to this music through language derived from Africa. Further, music from the Caribbean was influenced heavily by the Atlantic Slave Trade. Black Music is thus present in this part of the world, as the music in the Caribbean has African elements. Also, Cuban music contains instruments that are directly adopted from African Culture. Therefore, blackness is seen in Cuban music. For example, the Cuban drum called an "enkomo" that one hears "La comparsa" is derived from percussion instruments from Nigeria and Cameroon. Music in Latin-America would not be as rich without the black influences from Africa. African music seems to be an integral part to Latin-American music.
Robin Moore and Peter Manuel both describe the ways in which Caribbean music shows a combination of both African, European, and Caribbean influence. She notes that most of the music begins with mostly an African influence, but overtime, due to slavery, creolization, and adaptation it has changed and personalized itself to each Caribbean island/country. However, the African influence still remains. For example, the Merengue’s instrumentation and style clearly show African descent, but the music also reflects European traditions such as Spanish lyrics and dancing as a couple. However, Moore discusses the true meaning of race and says that “the important point is that music’s racialized associations derive their meanings from the societies of which they are a part and from ongoing notions of and debates about race” (p. 14). Here we can see that there may not be one uniform influence “blackness” that is reflected throughout all of Caribbean music. Rather, it is much more complex because each society defines its own meaning of race, which is then reflected throughout their music.
In order for blackness to be present in music, I feel that the values of blackness must truly originate from the color of ones skin, and not necessarily topics of the culture that they lived in. It is not enough to say that African traditions of music have spread to Latin American and the Caribbean, because that is a statement of culture, and not specifically blackness. However, there are other ways to express the presence of blackness in music. For example, blackness is present in Latin American and Caribbean music when the topics of slavery and oppression are discussed in the lyrics and portrayed in the music. These issues originate directly from the color of individuals skin, and thus reflect blackness in the most literal sense of the term. Along with this base topic, several aspects of the music itself developed to also reflect blackness in Latin American and Caribbean music. Another large characteristic of blackness in music is a heavy reliance on rhythm. While music still has melodies and harmonies of varying complexity, most music is based around a more complicated rhythm that defines the genre. In many modern American music genres, there is usually one drummer, and sometimes one extra percussionist. However, in most of these Latin American and Caribbean musics, bands consist of several percussionists, creating a very resounding percussion and rhythm section to music. Also, the concept of musical call and response is prominent in many forms of music. This can be in the form of drummers or other musicians who improvise off on another as well as vocalists who sing or chant musical phrases back and forth. These traditions and values originated among black cultures and spread to distant lands, where they were then incorporated into the local music scenes. Now, the characteristics of blackness have spread into the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as many other lands and cultures.
Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean can be traced from the African slave trade. Blackness can be seen in the heritage, culture, and retention patterns that have their roots in Africa(Manuel, 6). Creolized cultures are an important representation of Blackness. Religion, language, and culture are all a part of the Afro-Caribbean’s experience of slavery through music. Understanding the history of people through music gives the reader a vision of the power music holds. Music was a form of expression used to promote unity and strength within these communities. The structure of the music is similar in the emphasis of rhythm, call and response, and collective participation. African music is rich in melody and trimbal variety, but rhythm is what distinguishes songs and genres and commands the focus of the performers and listeners attention. Call and response is suited to communal performance in general, it is found in many types of Afro-Caribbean music. For example, Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou are associated with Afro-Caribbean religions and communities with descendants from Africa. (Moore, 10). The practice of collective participation encourages active participation such as dancing, singing, clapping, or playing instruments. In these ways music connects people and it is evident that the African culture has had great influence in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean. However Blackness is not present in all of the Caribbean and Latin America because of the negative connotation that follows.
Blackness is present in Caribbean/Latin American music through its historical roots. Due to the effects of slavery and creolization the African American influence on Carribean/ Latin American changed and adapted itself to each individual island in the Caribbean. Cuban and Puerto Rican music are similar due to their roots, yet each has its own unique sound that has developed over time. As discussed by Moore for many African Americans their personal style of music is not only a reflection of self but also a symbol of their pride for their country as well as their heritage. Through musical expression the Caribbean natives were able to share past experiences, a large part of which has to do with the oppression from slavery, amongst each other. The creolization of the various languages, religions, customs, and cultures established music as a venue for African Americans in the Caribbean to learn from each other and develop links from country to country.
Religious musics in Latin America and the Caribbean have many of the most obvious indications of ties to African music. Not only do the themes and stories behind this type of music correlate with many religious traditions in Africa, but they share techniques with the region as well. Characteristics such as the language of the lyrics, collective participation, call and response, and the rhythm of the songs are all indicators of “blackness”. At the same time, there are elements in Caribbean and Latin American music that are certainly much more European than black. Many instruments as well as the chordal harmonies and formal structures of music can be traced back to Britain, France, and Spain rather than Africa.
Yet, I feel that it’s very difficult to identify the presence/absence of “blackness” in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean due to the fragmented nature of the development of the area. Such an integral part of Caribbean and Latin American music is the integration of European and African techniques to create a product completely unique from either starting material. In reference to the Caribbean Moore notes, “creolized music…has come to symbolize their national spirit or character in everyday discourse” (9). Creolized music is the fusion of various cultural musical elements, and it can be said to symbolize the musics of the area because Latin America and the Caribbean developed in a very fragmented and culturally diverse manner. Geographically speaking, the islands are separated from each other leading to the development of distinct cultural and musical practices. Additionally, the fact that the areas were colonized by Europeans added to the sense of cultural discrepancies. While areas such as Cuba and other settler colonies had very diverse populations and thus have music with a very obvious African influence, Jamaica and other plantation colonies were stifled by European rule consequently eliminating many indicators of blackness in their musics. The Caribbean and Latin America are such culturally diverse regions I feel that it is difficult to talk about the presence of blackness in the area as a whole, since it is much more prevalent in some areas than others.
Laura Connolly The music of Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved out of a fusion of indigenous music, European and African influences. Many regions of Africa are represented in Latin America and the Caribbean. The traditional styles of music from Africa have a lasting effect on the music scene in Latin America and the Caribbean and provides the base from which this music is born. Features like call and response in communal music and the evolution of traditional drums to new steel drums plays a role in the trends of modern Afro-Caribbean music. Many African influences have been found in the rhythms like the habanera rhythm, derived from sub-Saharan Africa and is found throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (MHC 9). Even though Afro-Caribbean music is diversified, that is also a sign of its African roots as African music is a collective participation which comes from numerous regions in Africa. Blackness has been absent in that these groups of people have been isolated by geography and language which has caused the original influences from Africa to play a lesser part in music. It as if there has been a white washing effect due to the mainstreaming practices that have evolved from creolization and persecution by different cultures (MHC 21). Because there have been pressures to deny their ancestry traditions have been lost in order to ensure differentiation from the past. Blackness has been diluted from Latin American and Caribbean music; the music has taken on a life different from its origins. With the blending of cultures, however, music of Latin America and the Caribbean has kept parts of its ancestry while taking flight and evolving to new forms. While the original influences may no longer play as large of a part in the constructs of current music, blackness is still present and allows Latin American and Caribbean music to be a rich and widespread culture.
Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music as many aspects of West African traditions are reflected in the Music. For example, Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou songs have lyrics that are in West African languages. Although these cultures do not speak African languages, the lyrics reflect the influence African religious traditions had on aspects of Caribbean and Latin American culture. Blackness is also reflected in the ways in which collective participation takes place between performers and the audience in both Caribbean and Latin American music. The call and response, another figure of African music is also present in the music of the Caribbean and Latin America. Repetition and emphasis on rhythm, figures frequently present in African music have also carried over. Many of the instruments such as African drums linked to the Yoruba people of the Niger Delta are also present in Caribbean and Latin American. -----Neama Said
Blackness is present in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean as the millions of slaves brought to the Americas have influenced modern music. While most songs are not traditional African songs there is evidence of Caribbean music that can be traced to Africa and have been influenced by the interaction with different cultures. Many different types of afro-music are seen in countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic as well. The differences in demographics lead to many different types of music with varying degrees of fusion with African culture still present in today’s Latin American and Caribbean Music.
Blackness is very present in the authors' numerous references to Africa and being of African descent. Thus many Latino and Caribbean musics are phenotypically brown. Several of the instruments are derived from and have direct linkages to countries on the African continent.Some of the music found across the islands also exhibit ties to West African ethnic groups such as the Yoruba. In MHC particularly the author describes "particular rhythmic cells" believed to derive from the Kongo. However, I think it is important to note that in these instances it appears that "blackness" is not clearly defined, but directly linked to race. Whether or not the authors are understand "blackness" as a culture or something else may add more means of including blackness in Latin American and Caribbean musics. So far "blackness" seems more like influences of brown-skinned people from the continent of Africa.
Creolization has ultimately woven a web of African, or traditionally black, and European cultures. The hybridization of music as a part of this creolization has made it difficult to quantify exactly how much “blackness” is present in today’s musical pieces. While we see specific examples of African technique in Latin American and Caribbean music, such as call-and-response and emphasis on rhythm, traditional European techniques are also apparent. In this manner, the people of this region have through their music both asserted their historically oppressed “blackness” and also adopted the new methods of music they were introduced to during the colonization of the area. In this melding of old and new through music, some argue that elements of “blackness” are lost to the European components.
The ambiguity of “blackness” in Caribbean and Latin American music is a reflection of the way in which people define themselves racially. As Moore notes, many people “may feel more ‘Puerto Rican’ than ‘Afro-Puerto Rican,’” and it is therefore difficult to put specific labels on the people of the Caribbean and Latin American and their culture (Moore 27). In the same manner, the music created in this region is not distinctly African or European, but rather is Puerto Rican or Cuban, for example. This new genre of music has become a means of expression for a population that has blended African and European influences to create a unique, original culture.
There is an undeniable African influence on the music of Latin America and the Caribbean. The recipient of over 4 million African slaves during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Caribbean has a long history of African influence (Moore 27). As Moore notes, specific rhythmic cells common in Caribbean music have been traced to their likely African origins (6). Moreover, there are certain musical characteristics of the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, such as collective participation, an emphasis on rhythm, and the prominence of vocal call and response, that have direct parallels with musical practices in parts of Africa (Manuel 6-9).
The presence of “blackness” in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean is a more difficult concept to state without qualification, however, because blackness encompasses many different facets of identity, including race, ethnicity, history, and culture. In the U.S., African-derived music would be instantly linked with “blackness”; however, “blackness” in Latin America and the Caribbean has a different history and connotation than in the U.S. As Moore writes, “The complex histories of racial blending the Caribbean have led, perhaps understandably, to different ways of thinking about race from those that exist in the United States” (16). Someone identified as black in the U.S. may choose to identify as mulatto or as a member of some other racial group in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Despite the difficulties in classifying “blackness”, movements in the 20th-century, such as the negritude movement in the early 1900s and the influence of the civil rights and Black Power movement in the 1970s, demonstrate the link between African and “black” identity in a way that moves beyond mere skin color classification (Manuel 16, Moore 25). “Blackness” is definitely present in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, but determining when exactly it figures in is not as clear-cut as determining when there is an African influence on that same music due to the underlying issues of identity and culture.
Blackness underlies the fundamental components of Caribbean/Latin American music and has had perhaps the most influential effects on the path that C/LA music has taken over the past centuries. Moore cites the African “Diaspora” as central to the powerful influence that African music has had in the Western world. Diaspora, as Moore explains, is defined by “(1) the movement or displacement of populations, (2) notions of a shared homeland that displaced groups recognize as having left behind, and (3) a degree of boundary maintenance that they retain in social and cultural terms from others”. The Caribbean is one of the places that this Diaspora is most visible. During the Atlantic slave trade, millions of African slaves were displaced to the Caribbean islands and brought their music with them. While the islands were colonized by European powers, and therefore Caribbean music incorporates European qualities as well, African musical elements and styles are apparent across the board.
It is true that, as the slaves were displaced from Africa and relocated to Latin America, some of the “richness of these original music cultures was lost…but much was retained”. So while some of the purest components of African music were lost in translation, many fundamentals of African music were successfully incorporated to create new Latin American styles.
Blackness is both present and absent in the Caribbean and Latin American music. Certain parts of music in the Caribbean and in Latin America can be traced directly to African roots. African slaves, who were transported as a form of labor by the Europeans after they decimated the indigenous populations in the areas of the Caribbean and Latin America that they colonized, brought various parts of the music from their culture. The religious music in these areas, including Vodou and Santería, have African roots. However, even in some religious music of the Caribbean and Latin America have faced European and American influences and subsequently been altered or mixed. Other parts of blackness that are present in the Caribbean and in Latin America include the several basic features of African music that continue to be present in many Caribbean and Latin American music today. These features include the cyclical form, repetition, and the dense sound created by multiple parts going on at once that make it hard to tell one from the other. The polyrhythms, interlocking parts, and ground and elaboration parts also are parts of “blackness” present in Caribbean and Latin American music. One of the most significant ways in which blackness is present in Latin America and Caribbean music is through the emphasis still placed on communal participation. In many music forms in the area, the entire community is expected to participate, whether by singing, clapping, dancing, or instrument playing.
Some blacks try to deny their ancestry and instead try to identify themselves with Indians. Thus, some parts of blackness are hidden in the Caribbean and Latin America. In addition, colonization by Europeans caused for certain parts of blackness to be denied and either mixed or replaced with more European style music forms and instrumentation. It is therefore a mixture of African, European, and Caribbean elements. Thus, this creolization of music can be seen as both a way in which blackness is present and absent in the Caribbean and Latin America music.
The degree to which “blackness” is present or absent in the music of Latin America is up for debate. However, it is undeniable that Sub-Saharan African music is a major influence on many genres of music found in Latin America, particularly Caribbean music. Because of the separation of African slaves in the slave colonies of the Caribbean, there was an intermixing of many Sub-Saharan influences on music such as collective participation, which essentially meant the musical involvement of everyone in a given community, the emphasis on rhythm, and call and response. In addition, there was a mixture of African music and European music. This combination of music in the New World has been dubbed as “creolization”. The result of this “creolization” was the inevitable loss of many components of the traditional African music. It is important to note the different opinions on race in the Caribbean. While Haitians may be proud of their African roots, Dominicans have traditionally frowned down upon “blackness”. Many people within the Caribbean, specifically Dominicans, would rather not associate themselves with Africa although they are of some African descent. Because it is very difficult to specifically define “blackness” within the context of music in Latin America, we are left to only make simple connections between what we know is definitively African in origin and what has been formally recognized as African in descent by those who play the music.
Brendan McDermott Upon a close examination of the music and culture of the Caribbean, blackness and aspects of African heritage can be seen in many of its most important features. Creolization is a very important part of the culture of the Caribbean as it is the blending African, European, and even native Amerindian customs together to give us a unique Latin American culture. For such a small part of the world the music of the area has spread to every corner of the globe with tremendous popularity all as a testament to the success of the blending of cultures. As Europeans enslaved Africans and brought them to the Caribbean many Africans tried to hang on to their culture and music as a way normalizing their life. Some creolized music even contains African languages. Collective participation is an African trait that made its way to the New World as whole communities participate in the music. Polyrhythm is a feature of multiple rhythms playing at the same time and it also has roots in Africa. Communal call and response performances and an emphasis on building a piece based on repetition also both come from Africa Many of the most common Caribbean rhythms such as tresillo, cinqillo, and habanera have their roots in Africa. The term “dispora” ties in to this as it is the idea of a displaced people who shared a prior homeland and their ability to maintain a boundary around their culture. While the Caribbean was creolized, Africans were still able to preserve much of their culture. One argument on the amount of blackness is Latin American music rests on the idea that that the English colonies allowed very little African culture to survive while the Catholic colonies of the French and Portuguese were much more tolerant of the African culture and music. This could be an explanation for the diversity and differences between the music of the Caribbean islands. Yet while the amount of African influence may vary from island to island what is clear is that blackness has a very strong presence in the culture of the Caribbean.
There is certainly a great degree of African influence and blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the fact that some communities deny their African roots and the fact that Caribbean Currents mentions Chinese influence on Caribbean culture demonstrates how unique and individualistic the regions are. More emphasis is put on individual communities, like the cabildos, and on the changing tastes of the times than on precedent or origin of their practices. The Caribbean people pick and choose facets of European and African culture according to their unique needs. From reading the introductions I think that the Caribbean possesses its own unique multi-faceted cultures. Its creolization of influence from around the world makes it accessible to the rest of the world.
There are however, a great many things that seem to draw directly from the African parts of the world. I especially admire their philosophy of collective participation where everyone in the community joins in on the musical and reverie. This, I think, is quite indicative of the black nature of their music. I think its very nice to believe in the music that's within each and all of us and to have everyone join together in celebratory music. That is a direct link to the blackness of the Caribbean.
One form of blackness is in religious syncretism like Santeria. The saints of European Catholicism are worshipped and celebrated with distinctly African traditions.
Also, their emphasis on rhythm and their use of drums is an obvious facet of their blackness.
All in all, Latin America and the Caribbean are their own individual entities, and they have roots coming from all sorts of places. Their blackness is expressed in religious and musical forms or sometimes completely denied.
Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music to the extent that certain elements of traditionally African music can be identified in it, but that essentially it is a mix of all the different cultures that come together in the Caribbean and Latin America. For example, it is easy to identify elements of traditional black music in Latin American and Caribbean music: collective participation, emphasis on rhythm (especially syncopation), call and response, and the repetition of certain musical cells (Manuel). Therefore it is clear that blackness is present in this kind of music. However, this presence becomes complicated when one considers that musical factors from other cultures contributed to the formation of this music. This mixing of European, African, and Indian cultures to create an entirely new culture is called creolization and this process is demonstrated in Caribbean and Latin American music. But although it is necessary to recognize the presence of all these sources, it is equally evident that this music entirely different from them. It is a new kind of music that has not only combines these, but also has developed and changed over time in the Caribbean and Latin America. Therefore, one can also see that blackness is absent in Caribbean and Latin American music to a certain extent. Also, the process of creolization happened to different degrees in each part of the Caribbean and Latin America because of the varying degrees of leniency of slaveowners. For example, French and Iberian slaveowners were much more lenient toward their slaves than were others and allowed their slaves to retain much of their original culture. This caused there to be more of a presence of blackness in music because the traditions of the Africans were not silenced or subordinated to those of the Europeans. Also, I don’t think that blackness can be represented as a whole all-encompassing entity that is present in the same ways in all Caribbean and Latin American music. Different musical traditions came from different parts of Africa and so it seems that blackness would have different expressions in music. The music of the Yoruba was not exactly the same as that of the Kongolese and these variations affected the certain elements or perhaps the “type” of blackness that was present in music.
If blackness means people of Africa, then blackness is a main component of music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Free blacks in Cuba formed cabildos (socioreligious groups), which allowed them to maintain cultural independence. Specifically, the African tradition of polyrhythm is heard in Afro-Cuban and Haitian religious music. Song texts of Cuban Santeria and Haitian vodou music has been discovered in West African languages. Santeria music is said to be derived from Africa because of its repetoire and its clear ties to African communities. Tresillo, cinquillo and habanera rhythms are present across music forms in the Caribbean. These rhythms come from the Bantu- Kongo tribes, located in present day Angola and the Congo. While music did change when coming to the Caribbean from Africa, Africans kept their tradition of drumming alive despite adopting European stringed and wind instruments. Today, features of African music such as emphasis on rhythm, call and response, and repetition are seen in many forms of music from the Caribbean. If "blackness" refers to Africans, blackness plays a major part in music from the Caribbean and Latin America.
Calla Hastings The presence of blackness in Caribbean and Latin American music is indisputable. The influences of African heritage on the rhythms and sounds of this genre can and have been clearly documented. While these African traditions were not simply picked up and transported to the Caribbean the influences of African heritage have been central in establishing and shaping the music that subsequently developed in the region. While blackness on a whole might be present, it is important to remember that certainly not all traditions of African heritage can be found in Caribbean and Latin music today. Many have been lost because of the culturally destructive forces of slavery and through the racial prejudices that followed. That is not to detract though from the fact that African roots can be seen through the retention of broad level themes such as collective participation, call and response patterns, and a heavy emphasis on rhythm. Centuries of slavery had a complex effect on these African roots. While the culture and traditions of slave communities were overwhelmingly suppressed and the racial prejudices that fallowed were equally oppressive, some regions such as those occupied by Spanish and Portuguese colonists were far more likely to allow slaves to retain their culture. Therefore regions occupied by the Spanish and Portuguese have far more prominent African influences in their music then their British counterparts.
Yet these African influences have clearly evolved both as unique traditions and as traditions evolving in conjunction with other cultural influences. Traditions have not remained stagnant but some have rather evolved in the Caribbean into what has been coined as "neo-African". While not influenced by European tradition, this genre of music has taken on a different form than its African roots. While varying degrees of African influences exist what has ultimately occurred in the vast majority of regions is creolization, the combination of cultures into a new Caribbean culture. Both African and European traditions and styles have melded into a new genre. Thus African roots in general are very present in today's Caribbean music but exist in conjunction with the recognition of European influences. It is this combination of direct influences and mutual cultural evolution that have made blackness ever present in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean.
There is certainly an absence of blackness in Latin American and Caribbean musics. At the same time there is also a significant presence. Moore states that "musics in [the United States and Caribbean] have developed through a similar process involving the fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere" (4). It is in the considerable influence of European musics on Caribbean/Latin American music where we find various instances were blackness was lost and perhaps replaced by common European (Spanish, British, and/or French) musical practices. The social repercussions of slavery in the United States and Caribbean also played a role in repressing African musical expression at the time (e.g. particular groups of slave owners disallowing slaves to practice cultural/ musical traditions).
As for the dominating presence of blackness, I will also point to the effects that slavery had--that is, the combinations of various African musics by the bringing together of slaves from different ethnic backgrounds. Moore points out that those of African descent living on the Caribbean islands share a "common experience of domination by foreign powers", and as a result the islands experienced a "gradual emergence of new cultural forms in the context of forced slave labor" (5). In other words, their shared history has translated into a shared musical style. Common African instruments, for example, can be found on virtually every island because of the expanse of slavery throughout the islands. Large portions of the Caribbean are of African or mixed African descent, and the term African [music] is used very broadly here because not all of the slaves placed in one area/ one island were necessarily from the same region in Africa. Manuel explains this very clearly: "Slave communities usually combined people from different African regions and ethnic groups, whose musical traditions tended to blend accordingly" (7).
The presence of blackness in the Caribbean, or the degrees to which the common cultural/musical customs of both past and modern Africa are found in the musics of Latin American and Caribbean islands vary considerably all across the region. However, blackness IS present as black communities have exerted an incredible amount of musical influence from the first moments they spent as slaves. Several common sociomusical characteristics of African music found in the Caribbean include: collective participation, emphasis on rhythm, and call and response. The emergence and popularity of creolized music (musical mixture of distinct African and European cultural elements) also demonstrates that the presence of blackness in music has grown into a significantly well known and sought-after genre of music in all of these regions.
“Skin shades of all colors are represented, making clear that ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino’ are not terms that correspond to a single look (MHC 1).” Within both of the readings “blackness” is very present, as the authors both speak about Africa, and how many of the instrumentations within Caribbean music are directly and distinctly derived from countries on the African continent. There is a connection to “rhythmic cells” believed to be associated with the Congo (Africa) that aides in blurring the lines of what is noticeably African and what is Caribbean and Latin American influences within the music. Within the readings, I feel like the authors really refer to “blackness” as more of an influence from people with darker skins of Africa, and I think that this has directly to do with how people in the Caribbean and Latin America define themselves racially. Moore says, “additionally, not all Afro-Caribbean residents identify as a distinct group--- they may feel more ‘Puerto Rican than Afro-Puerto Rican’, for instance--- or may not conceive of Africa as their homeland (MHC 27)”. My question with this sentiment, which cannot necessarily be answered with the reading, is why some people disregard this connection to Africa? Moore notes African influence as a precursor to Caribbean/Latin American music, but through slavery, creolization, and variation overtime, the music has become distinct and personal to each region in the Caribbean; while the African influence continues to permeate the music. A good example can be seen in the Merengue, where the instrumentation is clearly reflective of African traditions, while the lyrics and dance techniques are more of a reflection and representation of European ideals.
After the readings one can start to see that the term "blackness" can be portrayed in many different ways. Describing someone as black can have different meanings depending on who is talking, where they are from, and the way they have been brought up. However I believe that "blackness" is present in Latin American and Caribbean music in a number of different ways. I think it is present in the sense that Latin American and Caribbean music stems from peoples cultures. songs were sung that praised the deities and ancestor spirits but this was true of many different races not just blacks. Music started out as a way to tell stories and pass down traditions in many cultures not just black culture. However Moore states that repertoire containing African influences has dominated all forms of commercial music making in the caribbean for at least a century and a half. This shows that "blackness" clearly does play a role in the music of the caribbean.
Music was also an important part of life for slaves. Many enslaved backs found music was a good way to continue to practice their culture as well as pass on stories. It was a way for blacks to get together and express emotion, while continuing culture. Since whites belittled and outlawed black culture music was a way to get around this. The slave trade contributed greatly to latin american and caribbean music. Music is a way to express values, experiences, and aspirations of people. So we see that blackness definitely plays a big part in latin american and caribbean music however many different races and cultures play a role not just blacks. Music is a way for different cultures to express feelings and ideas and music in latin america and the caribbean is so vast and comes in so many different forms that it could not have all come from one place. So many different forms of music are present, and have roots in many different cultures, including black culture.
Blackness is very present in Caribbean and Latin American music. With the transfer of millions of African Americans to the area from either slave trade of immigration, they were able to bring their musical traditions with them. It is said that "there are many specific features of Caribbean music that can be traced directly to Africa" (CC p. 6). Through such outlets as "creolized" music and diaspora, the various races in the Caribbean and Latin America for the most part have been able to blend there music together and keep some of their ancestral traditions. Religion has played a key role in keeping African music prevalent in the Caribbean and Latin America, but more importantly the music itself has been able to keep blackness alive. African music traditionally holds a very strong rhythmic pattern with repetition and various instruments playing at one time making a very unique sound.
African music brings about the aspect of communal participation. As we have seen in the first two classes, music is an experience for people in the Caribbean and Latin America. It is a chance to gather as a community and celebrate the music that ties all its people to their ancestral roots. This is again where blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music. There is constant debate over what blackness actually refers to, whether it be skin tone or more of the cultural aspect of the people who came to the Americas from Africa. Either way in the music in the Caribbean and Latin America, there is undoubtably a strong connection to the African music that was brought to the area generations before.
Reaction question: How is blackness present and/or absent in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean?
The discussion of “blackness” as an attribute of the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean is a very complex topic. It is interesting to learn about the dynamic of the Caribbean Islands, with a majority of the populations being “black” or of African decent, which certainly does add a theme of blackness to the music. As pointed out in the Caribbean Currents book a good deal of the blackness of the music comes from religious elements. Cultural traditions such as collective participation certainly add to the blackness because within this tradition groups come together and create music that has origins of their ancestors that have been passed down orally. Black music has specific elements such as rhythmic cells that have become popular and are now found in a variety of musics such as rock, R&B and rap. This type of recognition has thrust Caribbean music onto the international music scene and these beats often come from origins dating back to Africa in the Kongo basin. Finally, it is important to recognize that the process of creolization combines a variety of cultures and musical aspects to create a diverse type of music. There are definitely elements of blackness still present in these musical collaborations such as the instruments and beats but they tend to be more diverse in their make-up. To discuss how blackness is absent in the music’s of Latin America and the Caribbean it is often necessary to review the history of different islands. On islands that experienced more cultural oppression, their music tends to have less blackness and be more Europeanized. It is also important to note that even recently many cultures have not been receptive of musics and culture containing black elements. The negritude movement of the 1930s and ‘40s did much to discredit such foolishness and to force Eurocentric elites to acknowledge and accept the African heritage in their national cultures. This type of attitude definitely takes away blackness from some musics. It is also important to note that there are different degrees of creolization, depending on the history and relationships the African immigrants had with the Europeans so some musical types tend to display more Europeanness than blackness. A good example of this is the merengue, which includes the use of the accorion which was originally used in Italy and Germany and was brought to this music through the process of creaolization. Factors such as these definitely add elements of culture to the music’s of Latin American and the Caribbean but they do sometimes take away from the “blackness,” it all very much depends on the adaptability verse oppositionality of the land and the people.
Music is a cultural phenomenon that has the ability to morph and adapt among nations, absorbing different aspects of different groups of people. The musics of Latin America and the Caribbean show how the impact of other cultures can positively and negatively impact the music. Blackness is present in this music because of the story that is told through the music, a tradition that started with the Atlantic Slave Trade “which contributed fundamentally to the development of Caribbean music” (MHC 13). Some even argue that slaves helped “fashion their own culture” (CC6) The experiences that these people have gone through are conveyed through such music, including more recent events, such as the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement. A very large amount of the musics from Latin America and the Caribbean is made up of African derivations. This presence is felt in different types of musics from these places, from the reggaeton, which is not only “evident in certain older forms of African-derived music found in the Caribbean”, but the “most popular Hispanic Caribbean genre among younger listeners since the late 1990s” (MHC 8) to African-derived religious music. “The most often noted feature of African music is its emphasis on rhythm” (CC 8); this characteristic is commonly found in African ensemble music, distinguishing it from other forms of music. Overall, African and blackness influence is certainly felt in this music, seeing as these influences have “dominated all forms of commercial music making in the Caribbean for at least a century and a half” (MHC 9).
Though there is certainly a strong presence of blackness in much of the music of Latin American and the Caribbean, over the years some absences have been felt as far as these influences go. Much of the music is written in African languages that are no loner well known, and therefore cannot be fully translated. Possible meanings and black influences are lost from the music during translation, along with some of the words. In addition, European influence has made its way into the music, through the instruments, scales, lyrics and melodies. When the Europeans enslaved, they “belittled” and even ignored the cultural expressions of the Africans, particularly music. European influence dominated the Africans’ culture, to the point that displaced Africans had no choice but to adapt their cultural and musical styles to those of the Europeans.
Many different characteristics of Caribbean and Latin American music stem from traditional African roots. Some of these features include call and response in the vocal parts, collective participation, in which many people participate in the playing or clapping or dancing of music, and rhythmic repetition (rhythmic cells). Among rhythmic cells that are believed to have come from African Origin are the trecillo, cinquillo, and habanera rhythms. The dissemination of these different African attributes came about primarily from the slave trade.
The extent to which traditional black/African features were incorporated into the Caribbean and Latin America depended largely on the repression of slave culture in different countries, as well as on the populations of free and enslaved blacks. In countries where slave African culture was shunned, traditional "black" music practices were discouraged and eventually fizzled out. Other countries promoted cultural expression, and elements of black music and European or other styles fused together to create different musical forms more or less tied to its African heritage. Cuba, for example, whose people embrace black culture, have created musical forms that preserve Neo-African culture. In contrast, European influences are generally more prevalent in countries that reject black heritage, such as the Dominican Republic. In certain types of Caribbean music, one might perceive a lack of black features. With the creolization of different cultures, the distinction between black and non-black music has become unclear. The many different styles of musics that come out of the Caribbean and Latin America all display a certain percentage of black heritage, although the percentage may vary because of various factors.
Before observing where blackness is present and/or absent in music in the Caribbean and Latin America, one must first determine what it means for something to be black. Because we are dealing with music, the answer must be more than just a shallow description of skin color. Blackness in this case involves history and culture. For something to be black must it be something developed or created by Africans? If this be the case, examples of call and response, emphasis on rhythm, and the general communal/improvisational nature of the music to are aspects of Blackness. However, is something that is “neo-African” (CC p. 7) still “black”. If this be the case, then blackness is present in all the before mentioned manners as well as new ways, particularly in terms of lyrical context. Few songs contain lyrics directly descended from Africa, but many contain religious lyrics that come from slaves who believed in Christianity combined with some African/Caribbean beliefs (ie. Yemaya). Regardless of where one sets the line between black and creole, there is some (changes in lyrics/context) but relatively little lack of presence of “black” musical aspects. In my opinion, there are instead additions and modifications to the music from creolization. For example, ostinato comes from European influx in the music, and though it may suggest European influence in the music(along with other more technical music aspects) it does not necessarily take away from its “blackness”, except maybe decreasing the room for improvisation.
Samantha Bonnel Black Musics in Latin America & The Caribbean
I would argue that it's falsely dichotomous to say blackness is either present or absent in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean, but rather, is both to varying degrees.
Much of the music in these regions have worked, through oral tradition, to preserve black culture and history, which were compromised by an increasing European influence , the oppression of blackness during times of slavery, the pursuant lack of contact between these regions and Africa, and creolization. Undoubtedly, many of the elements of African music are still evident - collective participation, repetition, polyrhythms, certain percussive instruments, and even some dialects. Both Manuel and Moore note that many songs, particularly those of the African-derived Santeria religion in Cuba and Haitian Vodou are performed by African descendants and still retain some of the African lyrics. The traces of African influence/origin are found in even contemporary music from these regions, demonstrating that blackness is present, and in some areas like Haiti and Cuba with large free black populations, is celebrated and even thriving.
But it is, too, important to acknowledge that the potency of "blackness" has been diluted. Both authors note that the aforementioned factors complicate the tracing of specific characteristics to Africa and thus, complicate labeling this music as black music - as it incorporates so much more. Moore further explains the example cited above, noting that the practitioners of Santeria don't speak African languages fluently, and might not even know the translation of the lyrics they sing. Furthermore, in some countries, like the Dominican Republic, African heritage is stigmatized. In this way, the presence of blackness is still present in elements like ostinatos and call and response, but is absent in the way people define themselves and their music. The use of African-derived elements in music has perpetuated blackness, but moreover, allowed for the adaptation and divergence of its image to be multifaceted and to take on many forms: being performed by people who may not identify (or be identified) as black, and fusing with the traditions of other cultures.
Blackness is present in the musics of the Caribbean in many different forms. It is important to recognize that Caribbean culture is comprised of many other cultures, which historians call creolization. Thus, musical forms in the Caribbean have developed through the fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. The most popular genres of music include merengue, reggae, and salsa. Particular rhythmic cells such as the tresillo, cinquillo, and the habanera are believed to be of Kongo origin. Pieces have been performed by enslaved Africans and their descendents for centuries, and evidence of African culture is still obvious in Caribbean music. Thus, where there are signs of African culture, blackness is evident as well. However, there is another side to the argument because Caribbean music is also influenced by European styles. Thus there is also a sense of whiteness in different forms of music, such as songs that are played at Catholic masses. As mentioned earlier, creolization is very important to Caribbean music. A popular piece called “La comprasa” is a semiclassical composition by a white Cuban based on Afro-Cuban folklore. This makes it hard to decipher between blackness and whiteness, but it is clear that both are prevalent in Caribbean music.
Blackness in Latin American and the Caribbean stems largely from the millions of African slaves who were brought to Americas. Influenced by their new surroundings, their hardships, and their new instruments, their music has evolved immensely since their days on their indigenous land. The “creolization” that is a result of the cultures interacting helps explain how the music evolves. Native black music’s that were brought to the Americas have undoubtedly developed facets that diminish or dilute the amount of black influence present; however, it would be wrong to infer an absence of blackness in any Latin American or Caribbean Music, because the black culture has had a profound effect on the other cultures present there as well. For example, when Manuel states, “European influence is obvious in many melodies and the use of the Spanish language, but in other respects the rumba is essentially neo-African,” (CC 15) he depicts how blackness can be present in a creolized version of music, while also demonstrating how other cultures have affected the song. Music in the Latin America and the Caribbean is the result of a cultural melting pot. Some cultures have more weight than others, yet all are present. Moore explains this melting pot effect as a “heterogeneity of expression”, meaning no uniformity within the music. Regardless of the level of blackness present in these music’s, countries have learned to embrace their diverse roots and heritage.
Blackness in Caribbean music is observable due to creolization. Creolization is the formation of a new culture because of the prolonged encounter of two or more cultures. Much of Caribbean and black culture traditions center around music, which makes music a big aspect of creolization. In the Caribbean traditions stem from Africa, indigenous people, and Europe, which makes this area filled with cultures from all over the world. One such culture is black African culture. African influences are observed through out Caribbean music. Religion, language, and general music principles in the Caribbean come from African tradition. Some notable general principles include collective participation, repetition, and an emphasis on rhythm. Although, African culture plays a significant role in the Caribbean music scene a lot of black tradition and culture has been removed. Caribbean music lost much of it's African roots when black slaves were forced across the Atlantic and enslaved in North America. Some slave owners were not tolerant of black traditions and they died out. Another reason blackness is absent in Caribbean music is because there a lot of white influence. This can be seen in many of the dances such as the quadrille and the contradanse.
The concept of “blackness” when understood as direct descent from a specific or collective African culture is obviously reflected in certain aspects of Latin American music. Manuel tries to emphasize that the mother-continent itself presents a diverse musical tradition, which poses some problems in pinning the label “African” on specific musical (and cultural) examples. However, some broad tendencies are shared: collective participation, call-response structures, and an emphasis on the rhythmic instead of the melodic. In some cases even the lyrics are (Cuban music commonly features Yoruba lyrics). Contrarily, Manuel presents the possibility that in some ways these surviving traits easily coincide with some European musical tendencies, which calls into question their “blackness”(13). However, through our Civil-Rights Movement lens we can also consider “blackness” a strictly racial and, therefore, innately socio-political: its mere presence, in music or national idendity, is a testament to its resilience and its use as a protest against Eurocentrism and slavery. Robin Moore is quick (and right) to emphasize that the “black/white” paradigm doesn’t function in the Latin America, and especially not in the Caribbean, as North Americans have historically understood it. Furthermore, as illustrated by Manuel’s explanation of the Tannebum hypothesis among others, the degree of “blackness” that was permitted to flourish culturally and artistically varied from island to island, depending on the tolerance and nationality of its colonizer. Even in the same country, acceptance or rejection of “blackness” fluctuated depending on the current revolutionary agenda, emancipation laws, dictatorship, or foreign occupation. In this way, the blanket understanding of “blackness” is even more skewed. Still, Manuel references St. Lucian poet Derek Wolcott as he reflects, “in time the slave surrendered to amnesia. That amnesia is the true history of the New World.” This mentality challenges many claims to “blackness” perceived as preserved ethnicity brought from Mother Africa, if this amnesia led to the selection, obliteration, and melding of various ethnic musical traditions. It instead speaks to the narrative of creolization, and especially the hyper-acculturation experienced in the crossroads of the Caribbean. Blackness can in that way interpreted and perceived as the lack of preservation of ethnic memory, and the fight to keep anything “African” alive, even if that requires melding various slave mother-cultures with each other and with European influences. Maybe, then, the creolization and resulting “presence of absence of blackness” is not so much “amnesia” as it is a “self-concious hybridity”(Manuel, 15). An anonymous Trinidadian asserts, “I’m glad that the British banned our traditional drumming, because it inspired us to invent the steel drum”(17). The invention and “reinterpretation” of various African ethnicities for the sake of their survival is the very concept of “blackness” itself.
Blackness is present in almost all music types of Latin America and the Carribean. Genres found in any geographic area are generally a combination of influences from the different cultures living there. Therefore, since much of the population is African, the music that comes out of these regions can be traced back to Africa. This includes rhythmic forms, percussion instruments, collective participation, and even some songs from religious ceremonies such as Santeria and Vodou. Lyrics often include words from different African languages too. The music in the Carribean and Latin America can also be seen as influenced from difficult parts of the world such as Europe and Spain; however, there always exists a strong element of blackness. Although people in this region generally don’t identify themselves with “Africanness”, it is hard to deny that “Africanness” isn’t saturated in the music. Music often changes and is shaped by the different cultures surrounding it. These different elements of music combine and evolve organically within a region. Here, they will always be rooted in African tradition and have unique characteristics like call and response, rhythmic repetition and percussion sounds that make music in the region so special.
Blackness is present in LA and Carrribean music because it is created by so called black people. The music orginating from Africa has its on latin, native, and reggae spin to the music that is created to it. The instruments the artist play today are the same used in Africa hundreds of years ago. The tempo and speed of the song is redone over and over again throughout the years. For example The Bomba played by Puerto Ricans has been revised to the musicans taste. This so called black music has begun to migrate to north America where America has put their culture towards the black music. Black music has been herd and played around the world. It will be present in the South American countries till the world ends. Aldults teach their children and they teach their children. Blacks take pride in thier music so much they have many festivals throughout the year. I think this kind of music will be the last to every die down because so many people cherish and appreciate Black music.
Mackenzie Schleicher Black Musics in Latin America 2/2/11
Yelvington discusses two scholars with very opposite opinions on the origins of New World black cultures. The African American sociologist E. Franklin Frazier argued that there is “no reliable evidence that African culture has had any influence on its development” (Yelvington 229). He argued that African slaves in the US should be viewed as disadvantaged Americans because they were stripped of their cultures in the enslavement process. In opposition to Frazier’s argument, Euro-American anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits strongly believed that Africanisms still exist in the New World Negro culture—some Africanisms managed to survive the disgrace of slavery. Specifically, Herskovits felt that “the disparaging of ‘the Negro past’ and cultural heritage on the part of the dominant society sustained racism and the oppression of African Americans” (Yelvington 229).
From what we have discussed in class, I would agree more with Herskovits. In class we learned about how music making can be linked to issues of social inequality, poverty, racism, political subjugation, and gender inequality. The civil rights movement and Black Power movement represent examples of particular racial projects in the US that have both affected notions of race and led to particular kinds of music making. Yelvington mentions how “macro work has sought to describe the position of blacks within national structures of racism, discrimination, human rights violations, as well as the advent of new black social movements” (Yelvington 247). In class we have also learned about vocal call and response, collective participation, and an emphasis on rhythm in Latin American and Caribbean musics. The Caribbean people combine premodern African and New World features in the Caribbean arts, which leads me to believe that Herskovits is correct. These examples provided in class serve as evidence that Africanisms still exist in New World Negro culture and have endured the hardships of slavery.
Vanessa Rendon
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America
2/1/11
Blackness is infused in Caribbean/Latin American music through the creation of creolized music, which constitutes a fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, that represents the national spirit and character of numerous Caribbean countries. Creolized music symbolizes a “weapon of the weak” by disguising African-derived practices and beliefs that were not accepted in the past. Through oral tradition, Caribbean music narrates black history, including stories involving issues of dominance, resistance, cultural contact, and adaptation. Additionally, it describes the values, aspirations, and experiences of black people in the Caribbean.
Blackness is also present in Caribbean religious musics, specifically in songs particularly associated with communities of African descendants and Afro-Caribbean religions, such as the Cuban Santería and the Haitian Vodou. African-derived musical characteristics, such as collective participation, an emphasis on rhythm, the combination of repetition and variety in instruments and lyrics, and lyrics sung in West African languages clearly express the presence of blackness in Caribbean music. Although blackness is present in Caribbean music, it is also absent in different ways. The adaptation of European musical styles eroded African practices. The dominant language of Caribbean countries, Spanish, also diminished the influence of African languages. In addition, the Catholic Church weakened the beliefs of African-derived religions in the Caribbean.
Ben Hill-Lam
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, it is easy to simply call it creolized and be done with it. It is much harder to definitively point out many ways in which black, indigenous, and European influences are present in current day music from these areas. In order to see how blackness is present in contemporary music, it is easiest to enumerate each of the three groups (blacks, indigenous Americans, and Europeans) contributions to this music. The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America have probably contributed the least to modern music in the area, having been wiped out fairly early on with the discovery of the Americas by the Europeans. The Amerindians and their musical culture survive in only a few scant villages of little to no impact. When considering “blackness” in modern music of the area, there are many specific music traditions that can be linked with certainty back to tribes in Africa. One such feature is collective participation, meaning the involvement of everyone in the community in musical events. This can be seen specifically in religious music where there is both communal involvement and rhythmic/lyrical roots to music from Africa. Another distinctly black contribution to the music of Latin America and the Caribbean is an emphasis on rhythm and the relative prominence of polyrhythm. This is most easily seen in two or three part musical “cells” such as the tresillo or quintillo, which figure widely in nearly all modern musical styles in the area. The final distinctly black characteristic of modern Latin American and Caribbean music is the call and response format; forms of which can be seen in the Gwoka and the Bomba dances in which the dancer challenges (calls) the drummer who then meets the challenge (responds) with a more complicated improvised rhythm. In general these sum up the “black” elements of modern music of the area. Elements that are easily traced back to European culture include chordal harmony, formal structure to the music, ensemble orchestration, music notation, and especially social dances such as the contredanse and the quadrille. All these elements have blended, become creolized, and become something altogether unique that is expressed in many different forms as the music of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Edie Leghorn
ReplyDeleteProfessor Quintero
Black Musics in Latin America and the Caribbean
January 30, 2010
Blackness is present in Latin American and Caribbean music in that elements of music traditional to Africa survived within both free black and slave communities in the New World. Such music has been changed considerably from its original forms due to the influence of European and Amerindian music, among others, and this has resulted in the development of distinct Caribbean/Latin American musical forms. The fusion resulting from the prolonged interface between European, African, and indigenous cultures is referred to as creolization, and creolized music thus describes most music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Although the degree and variety of African influence can differ significantly from island to island, and from genre to genre, vocal call and response, collective participation, and emphasis on rhythm indicate an African influence. As Robin Moore notes, “The cultural influences of Africa are of special interest in the Caribbean,” in part due to the large number of inhabitants with some trace of African descent. Retaining vestiges of African music within the new forms of music being blended and created has in some ways been a means by which to assert cultural and ancestral identity and pride.
Despite the perpetuation of African musical characteristics in many musics of the Caribbean, blackness is also absent from these musics in some respects. To varying degrees, African culture was repressed by the colonizing powers, some of whom saw the traditions of their slaves as barbaric and primitive. Such was particularly true within British colonies, where the plantations were ruled by whites who enforced “rigid cultural repression” (Manuel, 12). In contrast, the Spanish displayed much more tolerance for the practices of their African slaves. Such variant attitudes on the part of the colonizers accounts in part for the degree to which vestiges of African music are present in different regions of the Caribbean and Latin America. Also, despite the clear presence of African influence, a “negrophobic ideology” (Manuel, 12) has caused some to try and deny the existence of African musical elements within the music of the Caribbean and Latin America. Theses “obscurantists” falsely attribute these musical elements to being of Taino –a native indigenous group – descent. Original African tradition neither survived in pure form nor was completely originated; thus in Caribbean/Latin American music, blackness is both absent and present. It is this “incomplete” survival of African musical form and tradition that facilitated the development of new and creolized forms of music, as the remnants of African culture that did manage to cross the Atlantic with slaves and resist oppression fused with elements of the other races and musical traditions it encountered.
Using the term blackness to mean characteristics of African culture,Caribbean and LA musics have characteristics of "traditional" African music. For example, some religious music can be traced back to Africa, some having the same melody others the same lyrics. The structure of the music is also similar in its emphasis on rythm, collective participation, and call and response.
ReplyDeleteHowever, blackness is absent in that the Caribbean and LA have not always accepted their African roots because it came with a negative connotation. The idea of blackness as an active part of the creation/foundation of Caribbean and LA culture was not always present.
Music making can be linked to issues of social inequality, poverty, racism, political subjugation, and gender inequality. The “civil rights movement and Black Power movement represent examples of particular racial projects in the US that have both affected notions of race and led to particular kinds of music making” (Manuel, 11). According to Manuel, the large communities of free blacks in Cuba and elsewhere were able to respond to the civil rights movement and Black Power movement by forming socioreligious clubs and maintaining cultural independence—they performed traditional musical practices in doing so. Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music through the encounter between Africans, Europeans and indigenous peoples. Significant African influence throughout the Caribbean and Latin America has been made evident through vocal call and response, collective participation, and an emphasis on rhythm. The Caribbean people combine premodern African and New world features in the Caribbean arts.
ReplyDeleteThe British colonial areas experienced a long period of isolation from Africa; thus, neo-African practices weakened. The high population of slaves in plantation colonies was “subject to rigid cultural repression and could exert little cultural influence on local whites”, which also weakened neo-African practices (Manuel, 12). Overtime, melodies and texts have changed, performers reflect on new social realities, and most practitioners do not speak African languages fluently. Because of this, some meaning is lost in the translated words. These are only some of the ways in which blackness is absent in Caribbean and Latin American music.
Bo Wang
ReplyDeleteBlackness is in many ways present in Carribean/Latin American music. One of the more obvious ways in through historical roots - many Carribean nations have cultural heritages derived from slave colonies populated by people with African ancestry while others were partially composed of free black populations. Regardless, while external influences played an important role in shaping music in this region, the musical chacteristics that define this genre of music can be in large part traced back to many of the ideals brought from African culture and also the struggles of the black diaspora. Because they lacked tangible power to combat harships like oppression and other injustices, much of their feelings and stories had to be expressed through song and dance. What we can hear in the music represents parts of their history and stories and also the fruition of their dreams and their pride in their culture. However, reflecting back on the external influences, European powers traditionally were responsible for much of the changes in their culture and thus effected a shift toward non-blackness in their music in certain ways.
Christina Pindar
ReplyDeleteBlackness is represented in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean through the struggle of representation and acknowledgement, the practices of improvisation, and the dynamics of relations between people of the region. It is interesting that “African-ness “ was/is so strongly frowned upon in the region; many people of African descent minimize their association with the continent. At the same time, however, Moore asserts that the music promotes their national pride. The creolization of music represents both the presence and lack of blackness. In adapting instruments to play European melodies, blacks are essentially recreating distinct aspects of European culture. The tone of creolized culture, “innovative and traditional, dynamically fresh yet grounded in local experiences” (MHC, 21) serves as a manner to bolster the influence of all people, not just the powerful. In this way, it is possible to assert the distinctiveness of blackness and represent the struggles and interactions particular to this group. Furthermore, the similarity of basic patterns of melodies serve to unite peoples of different African heritage otherwise unable to communicate with one another because of distinct experiences and locations.
Creolization could have occurred merely between indigenous and European cultures and music forms. African rhythms and traditions were included in this process, exerting their influence, thus fundamentally changing the result. At the same time, however, the mere fact of mixing negates any of the cultures that may have contributed to the form to a large extent. European and African lose their distinction by becoming fundamentally intermeshed and united. This music form, although heavily influenced by African traditions, no longer merely represents African values or traditions, but the traditions of a particular people at a certain instance in time. As a result, the music and its meaning are constantly changing to match the ebb and flow of the people and cultures exchanged on the various islands of the Caribbean and regions of Latin America.
Elizabeth Humphrey
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America
Professor Quintero
Blackness can be found throughout certain types of music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. When discussing religions like the Santería and Haitian Vodou, which can be traced directly to Africa, they still use some of the West African language used in some of the songs (CC pg. 6). Some Spanish and Portuguese colonies even acknowledged the fact that Africans had their own culture; in some cases they were themselves allowed to acknowledge and embrace it. Blackness also had to deal with not only tracing your roots back to Africa, but also tracing the musical styles back as well. You could tell if a certain culture had some form of African interaction by how their music sounded: did they have some call and response included in the song, was rhythm a dominant aspect, and/or was syncopation present? (CC pg.8)
Musically, blackness was represented pretty well. However, racially that was not always the case. Negrophobia seemed to be present in certain societies such as in the Dominican Republic, where having some sort of African heritage was considered embarrassing to some (MHC 18). Some, for example Afro-Puerto Ricans tend to associate themselves more with their mother country, than that of which their heritage is comprised. With creolization present in the Caribbean, musically and culturally, a sense of blackness might not be as present. With the blending of many different ethnicities and cultures, it is hard not to just create something new that will define this culture that has been made (MHC 19). In these creolized areas, in order to acknowledge the blackness that is present in this culture, you have to acknowledge the other cultural roots as well.
Courtney Colantuno
ReplyDeleteThe representation of ‘blackness’ in the introductory chapters is present in the explanation the Caribbean peoples struggle through slavery and colonization. Understanding the history of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean allows the reader to recognize the ways in which the people used the power of music to promote unity and to encourage strength through slavery and oppression (representing the ‘blackness’).
Blackness is also represented in the music created by creolized cultures. Despite differences in language, religion, and culture, Afro-Caribbean’s were able to share the experience of slavery and oppression through musical expression. As stated in Music in the Hispanic Caribbean, the legacy of colonization and slavery, creolization and hybridity, the diaspora, movement, and continuous musical exchange are reasons for the existence of Caribbean music.
A characteristic of much Afro-Caribbean music is collective participation. There is a strong linkage between the performers and the “consumers” through movement, singing, clapping, dancing, and drumming. Collective participation dancing has been a continuous inspiration to music and dance across the globe. From line dancing, ‘contredanse’, the swing movement and ballroom dancing to even more modern group dancing and music by step teams and performances like “Stomp.”
Some of the most popular music in the twenty-first century traces directly back to the music of indigenous Caribbean and Latin American people –reggaeton.
The innovative rhythms, layering of beat patterns and ‘call and response’ characteristics of Latin American and Caribbean music continue to inspire and enrich music across the globe.
Steven Borukhin
ReplyDeleteOn a simple level blackness is found in the music of Latin America because much of Latin America’s roots can be derived from the African slave trade that populated the Caribbean islands. Today, music is a phenomenon that brings cultures and communities together. Peter Manuel discusses what it means to be a musician in a Caribbean culture and how it can be seen as a more significant profession than a doctor. Furthermore, blackness is seen in the creolization of music. Robin Moore explains how creolized music or “music that fuses distinct cultural elements from Europe, Africa or elsewhere,” has become the primary musical form that represents the nations and spirits of the Caribbean. Moore goes on to say that while Latin American music is not necessarily African music, “few would take issue describing it is African-derived. In terms of the music itself, blackness can be found in the rhythm of Latin American music. “African music is rich in melody, timbral variety, and even two and three part harmonies” writes Manuel but rhythm, specifically polyrhythm is what is most prominent in Caribbean music. Blackness can be seen in the heritage, culture, and music of Latin America. Music helps to tie together the different ethnicities of the region and the black influence is an integral part of it.
Charlotte Beach
ReplyDelete1/31/11
Music in Latin America is defined by its creolized nature. That is, Latin American music is a blend of the different racial and cultural groups that preside there. This music is a combination of African, European, and Indigenous elements all combined into one and thus creates a form of music that is new and different. Due to this hybridization of culture, blackness in terms of African culture is not isolated in its own form of music. Elements of the African culture are included in this creole music but do not emerge as a singular African music form. In this way, blackness is certainly present in Latin American music. Many elements of Latin American music can be traced directly to Africa (Manuel 6). For example, many African religious musical traditions are present in Latin American music today. Also, elements of call and response, and rhythmic cells like tresillo and cinquillo are African derived. In these ways, African culture has had a prominent influence on the creolized music of Latin America.
However, this fusion of music has caused the original African musical practices to be diluted (Manuel 7). These practices have been diluted by the European styles with which they’ve been mixed. Blackness is also absent because of the adaptions that African peoples have experienced. It is common for displaced peoples to abandon their cultural practices for those of the dominant ethnic group in their new society (Moore 15). In this way, Africans have embraced the new culture of Latin America and somewhat deserted their own. Also, those who are partially African refer to themselves as “mulatto” which they consider a very distinct category, not to be confused with “black” (Moore 17). In these ways, it is clear that a pure African culture and heritage does not exist in Latin American music. Blackness is somewhat forsaken at the expense of the culturally blended music that presides in Latin America.
Danielle Orchant
ReplyDeleteBlackness is certainly an integral component of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean music. However, what “blackness” consists of by American standards is quite different from what it constitutes to Latin American and Caribbean inhabitants. Such inhabitants often choose not to identify themselves with Africa, but rather with the mixture of races and ethnicities that they feel more appropriately defines their people. Black Latin American and Caribbean natives certainly incorporate elements of African culture into their identities, but such elements are fused with European and, to a lesser extent, Amerindian influences. Many scholars attribute the term “creole” to this complex identity, and the creolization that largely defines Latin American and Caribbean culture translates directly into those areas’ musical practices.
Much of contemporary Latin American and Caribbean music is comprised of a combination of African and European elements; although some less modern music of this area contained significant Amerindian influence, such influence largely died out at the onset of European colonization. In any case, Latin American and Caribbean music contains varying degrees of African and European influences. Some genres of music much more heavily incorporate African-derived elements, such as call and response mechanisms and emphases on rhythm, while others employ more European influence, such as particular melodies, harmonies, and social dances.
While blackness is present, then, in many contemporary Latin American and Caribbean musical forms, it is rarely the sole contributor, and sometimes only a secondary component. However, given many European (particularly British) colonizers’ historical dismissal of African-derived music forms, the fact that those forms still maintain a significant presence in Latin American and Caribbean music suggests that many inhabitants, while perhaps not identifying as black, found African music to be an important component of Latin American and Caribbean music overall. The preservation of African-derived music forms also represents the history of struggle that many black Latin American and Caribbean people faced during the process of European colonization.
here is no doubt that "blackness" is present in music of the Caribbean and of Latin-America. Africa is associated with "blackness", as the majority of people from this continent have the American definition of black skin. One of the ways that "blackness" is seen in Caribbean and Latin-American music is through song lyrics. In religious songs to the "Orichas", deities of Santería, one hears the words "moyuba" and "iba laye e". Blackness is transmitted to this music through language derived from Africa. Further, music from the Caribbean was influenced heavily by the Atlantic Slave Trade. Black Music is thus present in this part of the world, as the music in the Caribbean has African elements. Also, Cuban music contains instruments that are directly adopted from African Culture. Therefore, blackness is seen in Cuban music. For example, the Cuban drum called an "enkomo" that one hears "La comparsa" is derived from percussion instruments from Nigeria and Cameroon. Music in Latin-America would not be as rich without the black influences from Africa. African music seems to be an integral part to Latin-American music.
ReplyDeleteMichael Hendrickson
ReplyDeleteRobin Moore and Peter Manuel both describe the ways in which Caribbean music shows a combination of both African, European, and Caribbean influence. She notes that most of the music begins with mostly an African influence, but overtime, due to slavery, creolization, and adaptation it has changed and personalized itself to each Caribbean island/country. However, the African influence still remains. For example, the Merengue’s instrumentation and style clearly show African descent, but the music also reflects European traditions such as Spanish lyrics and dancing as a couple. However, Moore discusses the true meaning of race and says that “the important point is that music’s racialized associations derive their meanings from the societies of which they are a part and from ongoing notions of and debates about race” (p. 14). Here we can see that there may not be one uniform influence “blackness” that is reflected throughout all of Caribbean music. Rather, it is much more complex because each society defines its own meaning of race, which is then reflected throughout their music.
Aggie Kelly
ReplyDelete1/31/11
In order for blackness to be present in music, I feel that the values of blackness must truly originate from the color of ones skin, and not necessarily topics of the culture that they lived in. It is not enough to say that African traditions of music have spread to Latin American and the Caribbean, because that is a statement of culture, and not specifically blackness. However, there are other ways to express the presence of blackness in music. For example, blackness is present in Latin American and Caribbean music when the topics of slavery and oppression are discussed in the lyrics and portrayed in the music. These issues originate directly from the color of individuals skin, and thus reflect blackness in the most literal sense of the term. Along with this base topic, several aspects of the music itself developed to also reflect blackness in Latin American and Caribbean music.
Another large characteristic of blackness in music is a heavy reliance on rhythm. While music still has melodies and harmonies of varying complexity, most music is based around a more complicated rhythm that defines the genre. In many modern American music genres, there is usually one drummer, and sometimes one extra percussionist. However, in most of these Latin American and Caribbean musics, bands consist of several percussionists, creating a very resounding percussion and rhythm section to music. Also, the concept of musical call and response is prominent in many forms of music. This can be in the form of drummers or other musicians who improvise off on another as well as vocalists who sing or chant musical phrases back and forth. These traditions and values originated among black cultures and spread to distant lands, where they were then incorporated into the local music scenes. Now, the characteristics of blackness have spread into the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as many other lands and cultures.
Rodolfo Edeza
ReplyDeleteBlackness in Latin America and the Caribbean can be traced from the African slave trade. Blackness can be seen in the heritage, culture, and retention patterns that have their roots in Africa(Manuel, 6). Creolized cultures are an important representation of Blackness. Religion, language, and culture are all a part of the Afro-Caribbean’s experience of slavery through music. Understanding the history of people through music gives the reader a vision of the power music holds. Music was a form of expression used to promote unity and strength within these communities. The structure of the music is similar in the emphasis of rhythm, call and response, and collective participation. African music is rich in melody and trimbal variety, but rhythm is what distinguishes songs and genres and commands the focus of the performers and listeners attention. Call and response is suited to communal performance in general, it is found in many types of Afro-Caribbean music. For example, Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou are associated with Afro-Caribbean religions and communities with descendants from Africa. (Moore, 10). The practice of collective participation encourages active participation such as dancing, singing, clapping, or playing instruments. In these ways music connects people and it is evident that the African culture has had great influence in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean. However Blackness is not present in all of the Caribbean and Latin America because of the negative connotation that follows.
Blackness is present in Caribbean/Latin American music through its historical roots. Due to the effects of slavery and creolization the African American influence on Carribean/ Latin American changed and adapted itself to each individual island in the Caribbean. Cuban and Puerto Rican music are similar due to their roots, yet each has its own unique sound that has developed over time. As discussed by Moore for many African Americans their personal style of music is not only a reflection of self but also a symbol of their pride for their country as well as their heritage.
ReplyDeleteThrough musical expression the Caribbean natives were able to share past experiences, a large part of which has to do with the oppression from slavery, amongst each other. The creolization of the various languages, religions, customs, and cultures established music as a venue for African Americans in the Caribbean to learn from each other and develop links from country to country.
Rebecca Centanni
ReplyDeleteReligious musics in Latin America and the Caribbean have many of the most obvious indications of ties to African music. Not only do the themes and stories behind this type of music correlate with many religious traditions in Africa, but they share techniques with the region as well. Characteristics such as the language of the lyrics, collective participation, call and response, and the rhythm of the songs are all indicators of “blackness”. At the same time, there are elements in Caribbean and Latin American music that are certainly much more European than black. Many instruments as well as the chordal harmonies and formal structures of music can be traced back to Britain, France, and Spain rather than Africa.
Yet, I feel that it’s very difficult to identify the presence/absence of “blackness” in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean due to the fragmented nature of the development of the area. Such an integral part of Caribbean and Latin American music is the integration of European and African techniques to create a product completely unique from either starting material. In reference to the Caribbean Moore notes, “creolized music…has come to symbolize their national spirit or character in everyday discourse” (9). Creolized music is the fusion of various cultural musical elements, and it can be said to symbolize the musics of the area because Latin America and the Caribbean developed in a very fragmented and culturally diverse manner. Geographically speaking, the islands are separated from each other leading to the development of distinct cultural and musical practices. Additionally, the fact that the areas were colonized by Europeans added to the sense of cultural discrepancies. While areas such as Cuba and other settler colonies had very diverse populations and thus have music with a very obvious African influence, Jamaica and other plantation colonies were stifled by European rule consequently eliminating many indicators of blackness in their musics. The Caribbean and Latin America are such culturally diverse regions I feel that it is difficult to talk about the presence of blackness in the area as a whole, since it is much more prevalent in some areas than others.
Laura Connolly
ReplyDeleteThe music of Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved out of a fusion of indigenous music, European and African influences. Many regions of Africa are represented in Latin America and the Caribbean. The traditional styles of music from Africa have a lasting effect on the music scene in Latin America and the Caribbean and provides the base from which this music is born. Features like call and response in communal music and the evolution of traditional drums to new steel drums plays a role in the trends of modern Afro-Caribbean music. Many African influences have been found in the rhythms like the habanera rhythm, derived from sub-Saharan Africa and is found throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (MHC 9). Even though Afro-Caribbean music is diversified, that is also a sign of its African roots as African music is a collective participation which comes from numerous regions in Africa.
Blackness has been absent in that these groups of people have been isolated by geography and language which has caused the original influences from Africa to play a lesser part in music. It as if there has been a white washing effect due to the mainstreaming practices that have evolved from creolization and persecution by different cultures (MHC 21). Because there have been pressures to deny their ancestry traditions have been lost in order to ensure differentiation from the past. Blackness has been diluted from Latin American and Caribbean music; the music has taken on a life different from its origins. With the blending of cultures, however, music of Latin America and the Caribbean has kept parts of its ancestry while taking flight and evolving to new forms. While the original influences may no longer play as large of a part in the constructs of current music, blackness is still present and allows Latin American and Caribbean music to be a rich and widespread culture.
Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music as many aspects of West African traditions are reflected in the Music. For example, Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou songs have lyrics that are in West African languages. Although these cultures do not speak African languages, the lyrics reflect the influence African religious traditions had on aspects of Caribbean and Latin American culture. Blackness is also reflected in the ways in which collective participation takes place between performers and the audience in both Caribbean and Latin American music. The call and response, another figure of African music is also present in the music of the Caribbean and Latin America. Repetition and emphasis on rhythm, figures frequently present in African music have also carried over. Many of the instruments such as African drums linked to the Yoruba people of the Niger Delta are also present in Caribbean and Latin American. -----Neama Said
ReplyDeleteBlackness is present in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean as the millions of slaves brought to the Americas have influenced modern music. While most songs are not traditional African songs there is evidence of Caribbean music that can be traced to Africa and have been influenced by the interaction with different cultures. Many different types of afro-music are seen in countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic as well. The differences in demographics lead to many different types of music with varying degrees of fusion with African culture still present in today’s Latin American and Caribbean Music.
ReplyDeleteOscar Pena
Blackness is very present in the authors' numerous references to Africa and being of African descent. Thus many Latino and Caribbean musics are phenotypically brown. Several of the instruments are derived from and have direct linkages to countries on the African continent.Some of the music found across the islands also exhibit ties to West African ethnic groups such as the Yoruba. In MHC particularly the author describes "particular rhythmic cells" believed to derive from the Kongo. However, I think it is important to note that in these instances it appears that "blackness" is not clearly defined, but directly linked to race. Whether or not the authors are understand "blackness" as a culture or something else may add more means of including blackness in Latin American and Caribbean musics. So far "blackness" seems more like influences of brown-skinned people from the continent of Africa.
ReplyDeleteSarah Nelson
ReplyDeleteCreolization has ultimately woven a web of African, or traditionally black, and European cultures. The hybridization of music as a part of this creolization has made it difficult to quantify exactly how much “blackness” is present in today’s musical pieces. While we see specific examples of African technique in Latin American and Caribbean music, such as call-and-response and emphasis on rhythm, traditional European techniques are also apparent. In this manner, the people of this region have through their music both asserted their historically oppressed “blackness” and also adopted the new methods of music they were introduced to during the colonization of the area. In this melding of old and new through music, some argue that elements of “blackness” are lost to the European components.
The ambiguity of “blackness” in Caribbean and Latin American music is a reflection of the way in which people define themselves racially. As Moore notes, many people “may feel more ‘Puerto Rican’ than ‘Afro-Puerto Rican,’” and it is therefore difficult to put specific labels on the people of the Caribbean and Latin American and their culture (Moore 27). In the same manner, the music created in this region is not distinctly African or European, but rather is Puerto Rican or Cuban, for example. This new genre of music has become a means of expression for a population that has blended African and European influences to create a unique, original culture.
There is an undeniable African influence on the music of Latin America and the Caribbean. The recipient of over 4 million African slaves during the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Caribbean has a long history of African influence (Moore 27). As Moore notes, specific rhythmic cells common in Caribbean music have been traced to their likely African origins (6). Moreover, there are certain musical characteristics of the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, such as collective participation, an emphasis on rhythm, and the prominence of vocal call and response, that have direct parallels with musical practices in parts of Africa (Manuel 6-9).
ReplyDeleteThe presence of “blackness” in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean is a more difficult concept to state without qualification, however, because blackness encompasses many different facets of identity, including race, ethnicity, history, and culture. In the U.S., African-derived music would be instantly linked with “blackness”; however, “blackness” in Latin America and the Caribbean has a different history and connotation than in the U.S. As Moore writes, “The complex histories of racial blending the Caribbean have led, perhaps understandably, to different ways of thinking about race from those that exist in the United States” (16). Someone identified as black in the U.S. may choose to identify as mulatto or as a member of some other racial group in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Despite the difficulties in classifying “blackness”, movements in the 20th-century, such as the negritude movement in the early 1900s and the influence of the civil rights and Black Power movement in the 1970s, demonstrate the link between African and “black” identity in a way that moves beyond mere skin color classification (Manuel 16, Moore 25). “Blackness” is definitely present in the music of Latin America and the Caribbean, but determining when exactly it figures in is not as clear-cut as determining when there is an African influence on that same music due to the underlying issues of identity and culture.
Blackness underlies the fundamental components of Caribbean/Latin American music and has had perhaps the most influential effects on the path that C/LA music has taken over the past centuries. Moore cites the African “Diaspora” as central to the powerful influence that African music has had in the Western world. Diaspora, as Moore explains, is defined by “(1) the movement or displacement of populations, (2) notions of a shared homeland that displaced groups recognize as having left behind, and (3) a degree of boundary maintenance that they retain in social and cultural terms from others”. The Caribbean is one of the places that this Diaspora is most visible. During the Atlantic slave trade, millions of African slaves were displaced to the Caribbean islands and brought their music with them. While the islands were colonized by European powers, and therefore Caribbean music incorporates European qualities as well, African musical elements and styles are apparent across the board.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that, as the slaves were displaced from Africa and relocated to Latin America, some of the “richness of these original music cultures was lost…but much was retained”. So while some of the purest components of African music were lost in translation, many fundamentals of African music were successfully incorporated to create new Latin American styles.
Blackness is both present and absent in the Caribbean and Latin American music. Certain parts of music in the Caribbean and in Latin America can be traced directly to African roots. African slaves, who were transported as a form of labor by the Europeans after they decimated the indigenous populations in the areas of the Caribbean and Latin America that they colonized, brought various parts of the music from their culture. The religious music in these areas, including Vodou and Santería, have African roots. However, even in some religious music of the Caribbean and Latin America have faced European and American influences and subsequently been altered or mixed. Other parts of blackness that are present in the Caribbean and in Latin America include the several basic features of African music that continue to be present in many Caribbean and Latin American music today. These features include the cyclical form, repetition, and the dense sound created by multiple parts going on at once that make it hard to tell one from the other. The polyrhythms, interlocking parts, and ground and elaboration parts also are parts of “blackness” present in Caribbean and Latin American music. One of the most significant ways in which blackness is present in Latin America and Caribbean music is through the emphasis still placed on communal participation. In many music forms in the area, the entire community is expected to participate, whether by singing, clapping, dancing, or instrument playing.
ReplyDeleteSome blacks try to deny their ancestry and instead try to identify themselves with Indians. Thus, some parts of blackness are hidden in the Caribbean and Latin America. In addition, colonization by Europeans caused for certain parts of blackness to be denied and either mixed or replaced with more European style music forms and instrumentation. It is therefore a mixture of African, European, and Caribbean elements. Thus, this creolization of music can be seen as both a way in which blackness is present and absent in the Caribbean and Latin America music.
The degree to which “blackness” is present or absent in the music of Latin America is up for debate. However, it is undeniable that Sub-Saharan African music is a major influence on many genres of music found in Latin America, particularly Caribbean music. Because of the separation of African slaves in the slave colonies of the Caribbean, there was an intermixing of many Sub-Saharan influences on music such as collective participation, which essentially meant the musical involvement of everyone in a given community, the emphasis on rhythm, and call and response. In addition, there was a mixture of African music and European music. This combination of music in the New World has been dubbed as “creolization”. The result of this “creolization” was the inevitable loss of many components of the traditional African music.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to note the different opinions on race in the Caribbean. While Haitians may be proud of their African roots, Dominicans have traditionally frowned down upon “blackness”. Many people within the Caribbean, specifically Dominicans, would rather not associate themselves with Africa although they are of some African descent. Because it is very difficult to specifically define “blackness” within the context of music in Latin America, we are left to only make simple connections between what we know is definitively African in origin and what has been formally recognized as African in descent by those who play the music.
Brendan McDermott
ReplyDeleteUpon a close examination of the music and culture of the Caribbean, blackness and aspects of African heritage can be seen in many of its most important features. Creolization is a very important part of the culture of the Caribbean as it is the blending African, European, and even native Amerindian customs together to give us a unique Latin American culture. For such a small part of the world the music of the area has spread to every corner of the globe with tremendous popularity all as a testament to the success of the blending of cultures. As Europeans enslaved Africans and brought them to the Caribbean many Africans tried to hang on to their culture and music as a way normalizing their life. Some creolized music even contains African languages. Collective participation is an African trait that made its way to the New World as whole communities participate in the music. Polyrhythm is a feature of multiple rhythms playing at the same time and it also has roots in Africa. Communal call and response performances and an emphasis on building a piece based on repetition also both come from Africa Many of the most common Caribbean rhythms such as tresillo, cinqillo, and habanera have their roots in Africa. The term “dispora” ties in to this as it is the idea of a displaced people who shared a prior homeland and their ability to maintain a boundary around their culture. While the Caribbean was creolized, Africans were still able to preserve much of their culture.
One argument on the amount of blackness is Latin American music rests on the idea that that the English colonies allowed very little African culture to survive while the Catholic colonies of the French and Portuguese were much more tolerant of the African culture and music. This could be an explanation for the diversity and differences between the music of the Caribbean islands. Yet while the amount of African influence may vary from island to island what is clear is that blackness has a very strong presence in the culture of the Caribbean.
William Ho
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly a great degree of African influence and blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the fact that some communities deny their African roots and the fact that Caribbean Currents mentions Chinese influence on Caribbean culture demonstrates how unique and individualistic the regions are. More emphasis is put on individual communities, like the cabildos, and on the changing tastes of the times than on precedent or origin of their practices. The Caribbean people pick and choose facets of European and African culture according to their unique needs. From reading the introductions I think that the Caribbean possesses its own unique multi-faceted cultures. Its creolization of influence from around the world makes it accessible to the rest of the world.
There are however, a great many things that seem to draw directly from the African parts of the world. I especially admire their philosophy of collective participation where everyone in the community joins in on the musical and reverie. This, I think, is quite indicative of the black nature of their music. I think its very nice to believe in the music that's within each and all of us and to have everyone join together in celebratory music. That is a direct link to the blackness of the Caribbean.
One form of blackness is in religious syncretism like Santeria. The saints of European Catholicism are worshipped and celebrated with distinctly African traditions.
Also, their emphasis on rhythm and their use of drums is an obvious facet of their blackness.
All in all, Latin America and the Caribbean are their own individual entities, and they have roots coming from all sorts of places. Their blackness is expressed in religious and musical forms or sometimes completely denied.
Blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music to the extent that certain elements of traditionally African music can be identified in it, but that essentially it is a mix of all the different cultures that come together in the Caribbean and Latin America. For example, it is easy to identify elements of traditional black music in Latin American and Caribbean music: collective participation, emphasis on rhythm (especially syncopation), call and response, and the repetition of certain musical cells (Manuel). Therefore it is clear that blackness is present in this kind of music. However, this presence becomes complicated when one considers that musical factors from other cultures contributed to the formation of this music. This mixing of European, African, and Indian cultures to create an entirely new culture is called creolization and this process is demonstrated in Caribbean and Latin American music. But although it is necessary to recognize the presence of all these sources, it is equally evident that this music entirely different from them. It is a new kind of music that has not only combines these, but also has developed and changed over time in the Caribbean and Latin America. Therefore, one can also see that blackness is absent in Caribbean and Latin American music to a certain extent. Also, the process of creolization happened to different degrees in each part of the Caribbean and Latin America because of the varying degrees of leniency of slaveowners. For example, French and Iberian slaveowners were much more lenient toward their slaves than were others and allowed their slaves to retain much of their original culture. This caused there to be more of a presence of blackness in music because the traditions of the Africans were not silenced or subordinated to those of the Europeans.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don’t think that blackness can be represented as a whole all-encompassing entity that is present in the same ways in all Caribbean and Latin American music. Different musical traditions came from different parts of Africa and so it seems that blackness would have different expressions in music. The music of the Yoruba was not exactly the same as that of the Kongolese and these variations affected the certain elements or perhaps the “type” of blackness that was present in music.
If blackness means people of Africa, then blackness is a main component of music throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Free blacks in Cuba formed cabildos (socioreligious groups), which allowed them to maintain cultural independence. Specifically, the African tradition of polyrhythm is heard in Afro-Cuban and Haitian religious music. Song texts of Cuban Santeria and Haitian vodou music has been discovered in West African languages. Santeria music is said to be derived from Africa because of its repetoire and its clear ties to African communities. Tresillo, cinquillo and habanera rhythms are present across music forms in the Caribbean. These rhythms come from the Bantu- Kongo tribes, located in present day Angola and the Congo. While music did change when coming to the Caribbean from Africa, Africans kept their tradition of drumming alive despite adopting European stringed and wind instruments. Today, features of African music such as emphasis on rhythm, call and response, and repetition are seen in many forms of music from the Caribbean. If "blackness" refers to Africans, blackness plays a major part in music from the Caribbean and Latin America.
ReplyDeleteHannah Wurgaft
Calla Hastings
ReplyDeleteThe presence of blackness in Caribbean and Latin American music is indisputable. The influences of African heritage on the rhythms and sounds of this genre can and have been clearly documented. While these African traditions were not simply picked up and transported to the Caribbean the influences of African heritage have been central in establishing and shaping the music that subsequently developed in the region. While blackness on a whole might be present, it is important to remember that certainly not all traditions of African heritage can be found in Caribbean and Latin music today. Many have been lost because of the culturally destructive forces of slavery and through the racial prejudices that followed. That is not to detract though from the fact that African roots can be seen through the retention of broad level themes such as collective participation, call and response patterns, and a heavy emphasis on rhythm. Centuries of slavery had a complex effect on these African roots. While the culture and traditions of slave communities were overwhelmingly suppressed and the racial prejudices that fallowed were equally oppressive, some regions such as those occupied by Spanish and Portuguese colonists were far more likely to allow slaves to retain their culture. Therefore regions occupied by the Spanish and Portuguese have far more prominent African influences in their music then their British counterparts.
Yet these African influences have clearly evolved both as unique traditions and as traditions evolving in conjunction with other cultural influences. Traditions have not remained stagnant but some have rather evolved in the Caribbean into what has been coined as "neo-African". While not influenced by European tradition, this genre of music has taken on a different form than its African roots. While varying degrees of African influences exist what has ultimately occurred in the vast majority of regions is creolization, the combination of cultures into a new Caribbean culture. Both African and European traditions and styles have melded into a new genre. Thus African roots in general are very present in today's Caribbean music but exist in conjunction with the recognition of European influences. It is this combination of direct influences and mutual cultural evolution that have made blackness ever present in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean.
There is certainly an absence of blackness in Latin American and Caribbean musics. At the same time there is also a significant presence. Moore states that "musics in [the United States and Caribbean] have developed through a similar process involving the fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere" (4). It is in the considerable influence of European musics on Caribbean/Latin American music where we find various instances were blackness was lost and perhaps replaced by common European (Spanish, British, and/or French) musical practices. The social repercussions of slavery in the United States and Caribbean also played a role in repressing African musical expression at the time (e.g. particular groups of slave owners disallowing slaves to practice cultural/ musical traditions).
ReplyDeleteAs for the dominating presence of blackness, I will also point to the effects that slavery had--that is, the combinations of various African musics by the bringing together of slaves from different ethnic backgrounds. Moore points out that those of African descent living on the Caribbean islands share a "common experience of domination by foreign powers", and as a result the islands experienced a "gradual emergence of new cultural forms in the context of forced slave labor" (5). In other words, their shared history has translated into a shared musical style. Common African instruments, for example, can be found on virtually every island because of the expanse of slavery throughout the islands. Large portions of the Caribbean are of African or mixed African descent, and the term African [music] is used very broadly here because not all of the slaves placed in one area/ one island were necessarily from the same region in Africa. Manuel explains this very clearly: "Slave communities usually combined people from different African regions and ethnic groups, whose musical traditions tended to blend accordingly" (7).
The presence of blackness in the Caribbean, or the degrees to which the common cultural/musical customs of both past and modern Africa are found in the musics of Latin American and Caribbean islands vary considerably all across the region. However, blackness IS present as black communities have exerted an incredible amount of musical influence from the first moments they spent as slaves. Several common sociomusical characteristics of African music found in the Caribbean include: collective participation, emphasis on rhythm, and call and response. The emergence and popularity of creolized music (musical mixture of distinct African and European cultural elements) also demonstrates that the presence of blackness in music has grown into a significantly well known and sought-after genre of music in all of these regions.
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ReplyDelete“Skin shades of all colors are represented, making clear that ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino’ are not terms that correspond to a single look (MHC 1).” Within both of the readings “blackness” is very present, as the authors both speak about Africa, and how many of the instrumentations within Caribbean music are directly and distinctly derived from countries on the African continent. There is a connection to “rhythmic cells” believed to be associated with the Congo (Africa) that aides in blurring the lines of what is noticeably African and what is Caribbean and Latin American influences within the music. Within the readings, I feel like the authors really refer to “blackness” as more of an influence from people with darker skins of Africa, and I think that this has directly to do with how people in the Caribbean and Latin America define themselves racially. Moore says, “additionally, not all Afro-Caribbean residents identify as a distinct group--- they may feel more ‘Puerto Rican than Afro-Puerto Rican’, for instance--- or may not conceive of Africa as their homeland (MHC 27)”. My question with this sentiment, which cannot necessarily be answered with the reading, is why some people disregard this connection to Africa?
ReplyDeleteMoore notes African influence as a precursor to Caribbean/Latin American music, but through slavery, creolization, and variation overtime, the music has become distinct and personal to each region in the Caribbean; while the African influence continues to permeate the music. A good example can be seen in the Merengue, where the instrumentation is clearly reflective of African traditions, while the lyrics and dance techniques are more of a reflection and representation of European ideals.
After the readings one can start to see that the term "blackness" can be portrayed in many different ways. Describing someone as black can have different meanings depending on who is talking, where they are from, and the way they have been brought up. However I believe that "blackness" is present in Latin American and Caribbean music in a number of different ways. I think it is present in the sense that Latin American and Caribbean music stems from peoples cultures. songs were sung that praised the deities and ancestor spirits but this was true of many different races not just blacks. Music started out as a way to tell stories and pass down traditions in many cultures not just black culture. However Moore states that repertoire containing African influences has dominated all forms of commercial music making in the caribbean for at least a century and a half. This shows that "blackness" clearly does play a role in the music of the caribbean.
ReplyDeleteMusic was also an important part of life for slaves. Many enslaved backs found music was a good way to continue to practice their culture as well as pass on stories. It was a way for blacks to get together and express emotion, while continuing culture. Since whites belittled and outlawed black culture music was a way to get around this. The slave trade contributed greatly to latin american and caribbean music. Music is a way to express values, experiences, and aspirations of people. So we see that blackness definitely plays a big part in latin american and caribbean music however many different races and cultures play a role not just blacks. Music is a way for different cultures to express feelings and ideas and music in latin america and the caribbean is so vast and comes in so many different forms that it could not have all come from one place. So many different forms of music are present, and have roots in many different cultures, including black culture.
Blackness is very present in Caribbean and Latin American music. With the transfer of millions of African Americans to the area from either slave trade of immigration, they were able to bring their musical traditions with them. It is said that "there are many specific features of Caribbean music that can be traced directly to Africa" (CC p. 6). Through such outlets as "creolized" music and diaspora, the various races in the Caribbean and Latin America for the most part have been able to blend there music together and keep some of their ancestral traditions. Religion has played a key role in keeping African music prevalent in the Caribbean and Latin America, but more importantly the music itself has been able to keep blackness alive. African music traditionally holds a very strong rhythmic pattern with repetition and various instruments playing at one time making a very unique sound.
ReplyDeleteAfrican music brings about the aspect of communal participation. As we have seen in the first two classes, music is an experience for people in the Caribbean and Latin America. It is a chance to gather as a community and celebrate the music that ties all its people to their ancestral roots. This is again where blackness is present in Caribbean and Latin American music. There is constant debate over what blackness actually refers to, whether it be skin tone or more of the cultural aspect of the people who came to the Americas from Africa. Either way in the music in the Caribbean and Latin America, there is undoubtably a strong connection to the African music that was brought to the area generations before.
Chelsea Bruno
ReplyDeleteBlack Music Response #1
Reaction question: How is blackness present and/or absent in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean?
The discussion of “blackness” as an attribute of the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean is a very complex topic. It is interesting to learn about the dynamic of the Caribbean Islands, with a majority of the populations being “black” or of African decent, which certainly does add a theme of blackness to the music. As pointed out in the Caribbean Currents book a good deal of the blackness of the music comes from religious elements. Cultural traditions such as collective participation certainly add to the blackness because within this tradition groups come together and create music that has origins of their ancestors that have been passed down orally. Black music has specific elements such as rhythmic cells that have become popular and are now found in a variety of musics such as rock, R&B and rap. This type of recognition has thrust Caribbean music onto the international music scene and these beats often come from origins dating back to Africa in the Kongo basin. Finally, it is important to recognize that the process of creolization combines a variety of cultures and musical aspects to create a diverse type of music. There are definitely elements of blackness still present in these musical collaborations such as the instruments and beats but they tend to be more diverse in their make-up.
To discuss how blackness is absent in the music’s of Latin America and the Caribbean it is often necessary to review the history of different islands. On islands that experienced more cultural oppression, their music tends to have less blackness and be more Europeanized. It is also important to note that even recently many cultures have not been receptive of musics and culture containing black elements. The negritude movement of the 1930s and ‘40s did much to discredit such foolishness and to force Eurocentric elites to acknowledge and accept the African heritage in their national cultures. This type of attitude definitely takes away blackness from some musics. It is also important to note that there are different degrees of creolization, depending on the history and relationships the African immigrants had with the Europeans so some musical types tend to display more Europeanness than blackness. A good example of this is the merengue, which includes the use of the accorion which was originally used in Italy and Germany and was brought to this music through the process of creaolization. Factors such as these definitely add elements of culture to the music’s of Latin American and the Caribbean but they do sometimes take away from the “blackness,” it all very much depends on the adaptability verse oppositionality of the land and the people.
Music is a cultural phenomenon that has the ability to morph and adapt among nations, absorbing different aspects of different groups of people. The musics of Latin America and the Caribbean show how the impact of other cultures can positively and negatively impact the music. Blackness is present in this music because of the story that is told through the music, a tradition that started with the Atlantic Slave Trade “which contributed fundamentally to the development of Caribbean music” (MHC 13). Some even argue that slaves helped “fashion their own culture” (CC6) The experiences that these people have gone through are conveyed through such music, including more recent events, such as the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement. A very large amount of the musics from Latin America and the Caribbean is made up of African derivations. This presence is felt in different types of musics from these places, from the reggaeton, which is not only “evident in certain older forms of African-derived music found in the Caribbean”, but the “most popular Hispanic Caribbean genre among younger listeners since the late 1990s” (MHC 8) to African-derived religious music. “The most often noted feature of African music is its emphasis on rhythm” (CC 8); this characteristic is commonly found in African ensemble music, distinguishing it from other forms of music. Overall, African and blackness influence is certainly felt in this music, seeing as these influences have “dominated all forms of commercial music making in the Caribbean for at least a century and a half” (MHC 9).
ReplyDeleteThough there is certainly a strong presence of blackness in much of the music of Latin American and the Caribbean, over the years some absences have been felt as far as these influences go. Much of the music is written in African languages that are no loner well known, and therefore cannot be fully translated. Possible meanings and black influences are lost from the music during translation, along with some of the words. In addition, European influence has made its way into the music, through the instruments, scales, lyrics and melodies. When the Europeans enslaved, they “belittled” and even ignored the cultural expressions of the Africans, particularly music. European influence dominated the Africans’ culture, to the point that displaced Africans had no choice but to adapt their cultural and musical styles to those of the Europeans.
Aleph Cervo
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics...
2/01/10
Many different characteristics of Caribbean and Latin American music stem from traditional African roots. Some of these features include call and response in the vocal parts, collective participation, in which many people participate in the playing or clapping or dancing of music, and rhythmic repetition (rhythmic cells). Among rhythmic cells that are believed to have come from African Origin are the trecillo, cinquillo, and habanera rhythms.
The dissemination of these different African attributes came about primarily from the slave trade.
The extent to which traditional black/African features were incorporated into the Caribbean and Latin America depended largely on the repression of slave culture in different countries, as well as on the populations of free and enslaved blacks. In countries where slave African culture was shunned, traditional "black" music practices were discouraged and eventually fizzled out. Other countries promoted cultural expression, and elements of black music and European or other styles fused together to create different musical forms more or less tied to its African heritage. Cuba, for example, whose people embrace black culture, have created musical forms that preserve Neo-African culture. In contrast, European influences are generally more prevalent in countries that reject black heritage, such as the Dominican Republic. In certain types of Caribbean music, one might perceive a lack of black features. With the creolization of different cultures, the distinction between black and non-black music has become unclear. The many different styles of musics that come out of the Caribbean and Latin America all display a certain percentage of black heritage, although the percentage may vary because of various factors.
Before observing where blackness is present and/or absent in music in the Caribbean and Latin America, one must first determine what it means for something to be black. Because we are dealing with music, the answer must be more than just a shallow description of skin color. Blackness in this case involves history and culture. For something to be black must it be something developed or created by Africans? If this be the case, examples of call and response, emphasis on rhythm, and the general communal/improvisational nature of the music to are aspects of Blackness.
ReplyDeleteHowever, is something that is “neo-African” (CC p. 7) still “black”. If this be the case, then blackness is present in all the before mentioned manners as well as new ways, particularly in terms of lyrical context. Few songs contain lyrics directly descended from Africa, but many contain religious lyrics that come from slaves who believed in Christianity combined with some African/Caribbean beliefs (ie. Yemaya).
Regardless of where one sets the line between black and creole, there is some (changes in lyrics/context) but relatively little lack of presence of “black” musical aspects. In my opinion, there are instead additions and modifications to the music from creolization. For example, ostinato comes from European influx in the music, and though it may suggest European influence in the music(along with other more technical music aspects) it does not necessarily take away from its “blackness”, except maybe decreasing the room for improvisation.
Samantha Bonnel
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America & The Caribbean
I would argue that it's falsely dichotomous to say blackness is either present or absent in the musics of Latin America and the Caribbean, but rather, is both to varying degrees.
Much of the music in these regions have worked, through oral tradition, to preserve black culture and history, which were compromised by an increasing European influence , the oppression of blackness during times of slavery, the pursuant lack of contact between these regions and Africa, and creolization. Undoubtedly, many of the elements of African music are still evident - collective participation, repetition, polyrhythms, certain percussive instruments, and even some dialects. Both Manuel and Moore note that many songs, particularly those of the African-derived Santeria religion in Cuba and Haitian Vodou are performed by African descendants and still retain some of the African lyrics. The traces of African influence/origin are found in even contemporary music from these regions, demonstrating that blackness is present, and in some areas like Haiti and Cuba with large free black populations, is celebrated and even thriving.
But it is, too, important to acknowledge that the potency of "blackness" has been diluted. Both authors note that the aforementioned factors complicate the tracing of specific characteristics to Africa and thus, complicate labeling this music as black music - as it incorporates so much more. Moore further explains the example cited above, noting that the practitioners of Santeria don't speak African languages fluently, and might not even know the translation of the lyrics they sing. Furthermore, in some countries, like the Dominican Republic, African heritage is stigmatized. In this way, the presence of blackness is still present in elements like ostinatos and call and response, but is absent in the way people define themselves and their music. The use of African-derived elements in music has perpetuated blackness, but moreover, allowed for the adaptation and divergence of its image to be multifaceted and to take on many forms: being performed by people who may not identify (or be identified) as black, and fusing with the traditions of other cultures.
Chelsea Young
ReplyDeleteBlackness is present in the musics of the Caribbean in many different forms. It is important to recognize that Caribbean culture is comprised of many other cultures, which historians call creolization. Thus, musical forms in the Caribbean have developed through the fusion of elements from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. The most popular genres of music include merengue, reggae, and salsa. Particular rhythmic cells such as the tresillo, cinquillo, and the habanera are believed to be of Kongo origin. Pieces have been performed by enslaved Africans and their descendents for centuries, and evidence of African culture is still obvious in Caribbean music. Thus, where there are signs of African culture, blackness is evident as well. However, there is another side to the argument because Caribbean music is also influenced by European styles. Thus there is also a sense of whiteness in different forms of music, such as songs that are played at Catholic masses. As mentioned earlier, creolization is very important to Caribbean music. A popular piece called “La comprasa” is a semiclassical composition by a white Cuban based on Afro-Cuban folklore. This makes it hard to decipher between blackness and whiteness, but it is clear that both are prevalent in Caribbean music.
Blackness in Latin American and the Caribbean stems largely from the millions of African slaves who were brought to Americas. Influenced by their new surroundings, their hardships, and their new instruments, their music has evolved immensely since their days on their indigenous land. The “creolization” that is a result of the cultures interacting helps explain how the music evolves. Native black music’s that were brought to the Americas have undoubtedly developed facets that diminish or dilute the amount of black influence present; however, it would be wrong to infer an absence of blackness in any Latin American or Caribbean Music, because the black culture has had a profound effect on the other cultures present there as well. For example, when Manuel states, “European influence is obvious in many melodies and the use of the Spanish language, but in other respects the rumba is essentially neo-African,” (CC 15) he depicts how blackness can be present in a creolized version of music, while also demonstrating how other cultures have affected the song.
ReplyDeleteMusic in the Latin America and the Caribbean is the result of a cultural melting pot. Some cultures have more weight than others, yet all are present. Moore explains this melting pot effect as a “heterogeneity of expression”, meaning no uniformity within the music. Regardless of the level of blackness present in these music’s, countries have learned to embrace their diverse roots and heritage.
Kim Tess-Wanat
ReplyDelete2-1-11
Blackness in Caribbean music is observable due to creolization. Creolization is the formation of a new culture because of the prolonged encounter of two or more cultures. Much of Caribbean and black culture traditions center around music, which makes music a big aspect of creolization.
In the Caribbean traditions stem from Africa, indigenous people, and Europe, which makes this area filled with cultures from all over the world. One such culture is black African culture. African influences are observed through out Caribbean music. Religion, language, and general music principles in the Caribbean come from African tradition. Some notable general principles include collective participation, repetition, and an emphasis on rhythm. Although, African culture plays a significant role in the Caribbean music scene a lot of black tradition and culture has been removed.
Caribbean music lost much of it's African roots when black slaves were forced across the Atlantic and enslaved in North America. Some slave owners were not tolerant of black traditions and they died out. Another reason blackness is absent in Caribbean music is because there a lot of white influence. This can be seen in many of the dances such as the quadrille and the contradanse.
The concept of “blackness” when understood as direct descent from a specific or collective African culture is obviously reflected in certain aspects of Latin American music. Manuel tries to emphasize that the mother-continent itself presents a diverse musical tradition, which poses some problems in pinning the label “African” on specific musical (and cultural) examples. However, some broad tendencies are shared: collective participation, call-response structures, and an emphasis on the rhythmic instead of the melodic. In some cases even the lyrics are (Cuban music commonly features Yoruba lyrics). Contrarily, Manuel presents the possibility that in some ways these surviving traits easily coincide with some European musical tendencies, which calls into question their “blackness”(13).
ReplyDeleteHowever, through our Civil-Rights Movement lens we can also consider “blackness” a strictly racial and, therefore, innately socio-political: its mere presence, in music or national idendity, is a testament to its resilience and its use as a protest against Eurocentrism and slavery. Robin Moore is quick (and right) to emphasize that the “black/white” paradigm doesn’t function in the Latin America, and especially not in the Caribbean, as North Americans have historically understood it. Furthermore, as illustrated by Manuel’s explanation of the Tannebum hypothesis among others, the degree of “blackness” that was permitted to flourish culturally and artistically varied from island to island, depending on the tolerance and nationality of its colonizer. Even in the same country, acceptance or rejection of “blackness” fluctuated depending on the current revolutionary agenda, emancipation laws, dictatorship, or foreign occupation. In this way, the blanket understanding of “blackness” is even more skewed.
Still, Manuel references St. Lucian poet Derek Wolcott as he reflects, “in time the slave surrendered to amnesia. That amnesia is the true history of the New World.” This mentality challenges many claims to “blackness” perceived as preserved ethnicity brought from Mother Africa, if this amnesia led to the selection, obliteration, and melding of various ethnic musical traditions. It instead speaks to the narrative of creolization, and especially the hyper-acculturation experienced in the crossroads of the Caribbean. Blackness can in that way interpreted and perceived as the lack of preservation of ethnic memory, and the fight to keep anything “African” alive, even if that requires melding various slave mother-cultures with each other and with European influences. Maybe, then, the creolization and resulting “presence of absence of blackness” is not so much “amnesia” as it is a “self-concious hybridity”(Manuel, 15). An anonymous Trinidadian asserts, “I’m glad that the British banned our traditional drumming, because it inspired us to invent the steel drum”(17). The invention and “reinterpretation” of various African ethnicities for the sake of their survival is the very concept of “blackness” itself.
Blackness is present in almost all music types of Latin America and the Carribean. Genres found in any geographic area are generally a combination of influences from the different cultures living there. Therefore, since much of the population is African, the music that comes out of these regions can be traced back to Africa. This includes rhythmic forms, percussion instruments, collective participation, and even some songs from religious ceremonies such as Santeria and Vodou. Lyrics often include words from different African languages too.
ReplyDeleteThe music in the Carribean and Latin America can also be seen as influenced from difficult parts of the world such as Europe and Spain; however, there always exists a strong element of blackness. Although people in this region generally don’t identify themselves with “Africanness”, it is hard to deny that “Africanness” isn’t saturated in the music. Music often changes and is shaped by the different cultures surrounding it. These different elements of music combine and evolve organically within a region. Here, they will always be rooted in African tradition and have unique characteristics like call and response, rhythmic repetition and percussion sounds that make music in the region so special.
Blackness is present in LA and Carrribean music because it is created by so called black people. The music orginating from Africa has its on latin, native, and reggae spin to the music that is created to it. The instruments the artist play today are the same used in Africa hundreds of years ago. The tempo and speed of the song is redone over and over again throughout the years. For example The Bomba played by Puerto Ricans has been revised to the musicans taste. This so called black music has begun to migrate to north America where America has put their culture towards the black music. Black music has been herd and played around the world. It will be present in the South American countries till the world ends. Aldults teach their children and they teach their children. Blacks take pride in thier music so much they have many festivals throughout the year. I think this kind of music will be the last to every die down because so many people cherish and appreciate Black music.
ReplyDeleteMackenzie Schleicher
ReplyDeleteBlack Musics in Latin America
2/2/11
Yelvington discusses two scholars with very opposite opinions on the origins of New World black cultures. The African American sociologist E. Franklin Frazier argued that there is “no reliable evidence that African culture has had any influence on its development” (Yelvington 229). He argued that African slaves in the US should be viewed as disadvantaged Americans because they were stripped of their cultures in the enslavement process. In opposition to Frazier’s argument, Euro-American anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits strongly believed that Africanisms still exist in the New World Negro culture—some Africanisms managed to survive the disgrace of slavery. Specifically, Herskovits felt that “the disparaging of ‘the Negro past’ and cultural heritage on the part of the dominant society sustained racism and the oppression of African Americans” (Yelvington 229).
From what we have discussed in class, I would agree more with Herskovits. In class we learned about how music making can be linked to issues of social inequality, poverty, racism, political subjugation, and gender inequality. The civil rights movement and Black Power movement represent examples of particular racial projects in the US that have both affected notions of race and led to particular kinds of music making. Yelvington mentions how “macro work has sought to describe the position of blacks within national structures of racism, discrimination, human rights violations, as well as the advent of new black social movements” (Yelvington 247). In class we have also learned about vocal call and response, collective participation, and an emphasis on rhythm in Latin American and Caribbean musics. The Caribbean people combine premodern African and New World features in the Caribbean arts, which leads me to believe that Herskovits is correct. These examples provided in class serve as evidence that Africanisms still exist in New World Negro culture and have endured the hardships of slavery.