Versatility Within Spanish-speaking Caribbean Countries
The Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries
display versatility throughout the music, musical influences, and other
aspects of the culture.
Firstly, in Cuba there is a category of culture called
Afro-Cuban. Within this category, versatility is seen because there are sacred
music and secular music. Sacred music is music that serves a religious purpose
in Christian traditions. On the other hand, secular music is music that is
intended for non-religious practices.
Above is an image showing an example of an instrument used
in sacred song. This instrument is used during sacred song of the genre Santeria.
Santeria is a mixture of Yoruba and Catholicism. Santeria is one of the largest
Afro-Cuban religions. Within Santeria
music, the instruments that may be used to create the sound can include the batá
drums which is three doublegeaded hourglass shaped drums of different sizes, an
ekón (bell), conga drums, chéqueres (dried gourds shaken within a net of beads),
and violins. The batás drums are a very important instrument for Santeria music
because they are considered sacred and are believed to contain a spiritual
force that facilitates religious communication. Along with these
percussion instruments, Santeria also involves singing and sometimes dancing.
Above is a video that displays a Rumba song performed by Celia Cruz called Reina Rumba. Unlike Santeria, Rumba is a secular song. Rumba means “party” which gives the impression that Rumba is meant for fun, vibrant and full of energy times. I chose this video because I feel it embodies what Rumba music is about. It is about high energy and enjoying yourself while passing along a message through song or through the movements of the body. Like seen in the video, there is lots of dancing and smiling involved when it comes to songs of the genre Rumba. Some instruments used in this music are conga, tumbadora, quinto or salidor, wooden boxes called cajones if ther drums mentioned aren’t present, claves, the palitos (sticks), cascara, trumpets and symbols. Rumba music normally involves lots of dancing because it is very rhythmic.
The genres of Rumba and Santeria are similar but there
is some versatility between them. We can see the versatility within the purposes
for each genre as well as in the instruments used. Although their purposes are
different, they both share similar instruments, and both sometimes involve
dancing.
Versatility in Spanish-speaking countries can also be
seen within the food that they eat. The versatility seen within the national
dishes of Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic will be discussed in this section.
Above is an image of the dish Arroz con Gandules. This
dish is the national dish of Puerto Rico. From the image, it is clear that this
dish consists mainly of rice. It also includes pigeon peas. The flavor of this dish
is described as full of flavor because of herbs, peppery sofrito and other
seasonings that are used to prepare it. Within Puerto Rican culture, this dish
is normally prepared and served around the Christmas season and special
occasions. This dish is referred to as “Puerto Rican Rice” and is served around
special occasions because it serves a large amount of people. This rice is recommended
to be paired with many meats including chicken or pork.
Above is a video showing how to make the dish La Bandera which is a dish of the Dominican Republic. This dish consists of rice, red beans, and meat. In most cases, the meat of the dish is chicken as seen in the video. Like the dish previously mentioned, La Bandera also uses sofrito to season so the flavors of the dishes are similar because of this. I chose this video because it gives a full description of the hard work that goes into this dish. This dish came about as a representation of the Flag of the Dominican Republic. The flag is red, white, and blue. The meat represents the blue, the rice represents the white and the bean represent the red.
The versatility of both of these national dishes is very clear. The Dominican Republic has a full meal as its national dish while Puerto Rico only has a rice dish as their national dish. Apart from the appearance, the dishes were also made for different reasons. One for celebration of special occasions and the other to represent the Dominican Republic’s flag.
All in all, versatility is seen in Spanish-speaking Caribbean
countries.
References:
Blakeley, S. (2021, March 31). Sacred vs. Secular
Music.
Béhague, G., & Moore, R. (2001). Cuba,
Republic of (Sp. República de Cuba). Grove Music Online, 1-
20. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.06926
La Bandera, the Dominican Republic's national dish. (2022,
February 27). The Best Latin & Spanish
Food Articles & Recipes - Amigofoods. https://blog.amigofoods.com/index.php/dominican-foods-drinks/la-bandera-dominican-dish/
Lujo, K. D. (2018, August 12). Arroz con
Gandules (Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas). Kitchen De
Lujo. https://kitchendelujo.com/arroz-con-gandules-puerto-rican-rice-pigeon-peas/
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