Divine utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santeria

Description

In Divine Utterances, Katherine J. Hagedorn explores the enduring cultural and spiritual power of the music of Afro-Cuban Santería 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 Folklórico 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 deeply informed by her experiences in Cuba as a woman, scholar, and apprentice batá 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 Santería 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. Divine Utterances Contents List of Figures List of Recorded Tracks Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Notes on Fieldwork: Dreaming Ogún 2 El Espectaculo: Invitation to the Dance 3 Embodying the Sacred in Afro-Cuban Performance: Negotiating the Rules of Engagement 4 Blurring the Boundaries: Merging Sacred and Profane 5 The Birth of the Conjunto Folklorico 6 Sacred Crimes: Criminalizing the Sacred in Historical Perspective 7 Resolver and Religious Tourism in Cuba Conclusion Glossary Discography Filmography References Index