Creolization in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean

Heyyy Everyone! Welcome to another segment of "My Music Blog" with your favorite blogger, Ches. I know you all are excited and eager to read what we have for today but before we dive into things, I have to break the news to you guys that this will be my last post on this topic. This was a great learning experience for me and I hope it was for you too. Thank you!

Now let's get to it! So far we have covered the Caribbean nations that speak English, French, and Dutch so today we will talk about those that speak Spanish. 

Today we're going to look at Cuba but we'll only cover two examples of creolization.

Cuba's culture contains a wide range of various examples of creolization. However, the purpose of today's excursion is to raise awareness of the Cuban Son musical genre and the Cuban Santeria religion. 

Now, traditional sones typically include a double meter structure that is derived from son lyrics and easy European harmonic rhythms. They employ European-derived poetry forms including coplas, cuartetas, and decimas. 

Attached below is a video of an example of the Cuban Son genre. I chose this video because to me it was the best choice to give a good idea of how the Cuban Son genre sounds. At the beginning of the video you can hear the drums that almost sound like the drums you'd hear in African music. 


Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBL6gVqbXw0


Attached below is a picture of the band that played in the above video. I chose this photo because not only does it correlate to the video but you can see a few of the instruments that they play to make their music. 


The other example of creolization that we mentioned was Cuban Santeria. Santeria is a synthesis of African folk beliefs and Catholic rituals. It first appeared in Cuba in the 17th century and has since been ingrained in Cuban culture (Anywhere, n.d.). 

The Yoruba tribes of present-day Benin and Nigeria practiced the Lucumi religion, which has its roots in Santeria. In the seventeenth century, West African slaves were imported to Cuba, bringing with them their religious practices. Since the slaves were not allowed to practice their own religion, they posed as Catholic figures and continued to make as many prayers to their gods as they wished. As a result, in Santeria, which is Spanish for "Way of the Saints," Catholic saints stand in for Yoruban orishas, heavenly creatures.

Santeria, also known as the Regla de Ocha, has been practiced for ages in secrecy and has been passed down orally from one generation to the next. Santeria was officially acknowledged after the Revolution but was derided by the authorities as being folk witchcraft. Santeria experienced a rebirth in popularity in the 1980s, and today it is popular across most of Cuba. Up to 80% of Cubans, according to estimates, practice some Santeria customs (Anywhere, n.d.).

Attached below are two pictures, one of a Santeria woman with Tarot cards and a cigar and the other of a Santeria practitioner undergoing a spirit-induced convulsion during a ceremony to attract spirits of dead ancestors to ask for guidance. I chose these two pictures because I feel like they both perfectly capture parts of the religion. Especially the 2nd photo where it catches the Santeria practitioner in action. 








Attached below is a short video about the Cuban Santeria religion where the religion is being explained and short clips of people worshiping are being shown. I chose this video because it gives a good explanation of the religion and shows how its performed.



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAEv4XLU16s






References

Anywhere. (n.d.). Cuban Santeria Tradition and Practices. https://www.anywhere.com/cuba/travel-guide/santeria


Béhague, G. 2001, & Moore, R. (2001). Cuba, republic of. Grove Music Online. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from 
    https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-  9781561592630-e-0000006926


 

 

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