Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria - Hardcover

Hagedorn, Katherine J.

3.37

19 ratings by Goodreads

9781560989226: Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156098922X ISBN 13: 9781560989226

Publisher: Smithsonian Books, 2001

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In Divine Utterances, Katherine J. Hagedorn explores the enduring cultural and spiritual power of the music of Afro-Cuban Santer�a and the process by which it has been transformed for a secular audience. She focuses on the integral connections between sacred music performances and the dramatizations of theatrical troupes, especially the state-sponsored Conjunto Folkl�rico Nacional de Cuba, and examines the complex relationships involving race, politics, and religion in Cuba. The music that Hagedorn describes is rooted in Afro-Cuban religious tradition and today pervades a secular performances that can produce a trance in audience members in the same way as a traditional religious ceremony.

Hagedorn's analysis is deeply informed by her experiences in Cuba as a woman, scholar, and apprentice bat� drummer. She argues that constructions of race and gender, the politics of pre- and post-Revolutionary Cuba, the economics of tourism, and contemporary practices within Santer�a have contributed to a blurring of boundaries betwen the sacred and the folkloric. As both modes now vie for primacy in Cuba's burgeoning tourist trade, what had once been the music of a marginalized group is now a cultural expression of national pride.

The compact disc that accompanies the book includes examples of twenty songs to the orichas, or Afro-Cuban deities, performed by prominent musicians, including L�zaro Ros, Francisco Aguabella, Alberto Villarreal, and Zenaida Armenteros.

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Review:

"A highly original work . . . that will stand out as the most thorough exploration of Santer�a music performance, both religious and theatrical."--Raul Fern�ndez, University of California, Irvine

Synopsis:

This volume explores the enduring cultural and spiritual power of the music of Afro-Cuban Santeria and the process by which it has been transformed for a secular audience. The author focuses on the integral connections between sacred music performances and the dramatizations of theatrical troupes, especially the state-sponsored Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, and examines the complex relationships involving race, politics and religion in Cuba. The music that Hagedorn describes is rooted in Afro-Cuban religious tradition and today pervades secular performances that can produce a trance in audience members in the same way as a traditional religious ceremony. Hagedorn's analysis is informed by her experiences in Cuba as a woman, scholar and apprentice bata drummer. She argues that constructions of race and gender, the politics of pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba, the economics of tourism and contemporary practices within Santeria have contributed to a blurring of boundaries between the sacred and the folkloric. As both modes now vie for primacy in Cuba's burgeoning tourist trade, what had once been the music of a marginalized group is now a cultural expression of national pride. The compact disc that accompanies the book includes examples of 20 songs to the "orichas", or Afro-Cuban deities, performed by prominent musicians, including Lazaro Ros, Francisco Aguabella, Alberto Villarreal and Zenaida Armenteros.

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