Cultural Nationalism and Ethnic Music in Latin America ed. by William H. Beezley (review)

The edited collection presents a broad overview of cultural nationalism by examining how it was initially forged in Latin America, noting both foreign and native influences in shaping the ethnic musical and cultural production of specific countries. Spanning twelve chapters, the book homes in on case studies regarding Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia; their respective ethnic-cultural influences are noted by sociohistorical processes, cultural campaigns, and social movements tied specifically to these countries. The ethnic diversity of these nations' musical origins is traced back to the colonial history of the Americas and distinguishes the various indigenous, African, Asian, and European counterparts that dynamically engaged and resulted in unique, generic compositions that framed a sense of national identity.

The study initiates by presenting an overview of national ethnic music noted in early colonial Mexico and other countries of Latin America, as opera was adapted to suit the ethnic-cultural tapestry by interweaving indigenous sounds and instruments, later to become institutionalized formally. Jesuit teachings in reducciones in South America also fashioned catechistic arts and music as tools for evangelization in educating indigenous peoples, and in disseminating colonial ideologies. Much later, other national campaigns in twentieth-century Mexico led by José Vasconcelos promoted cultural and educational reform in shaping national identity based on mestizaje, which recovered indigenous heritage and intentionally promoted cultural nationalism through its radio broadcasting. This, along with mass consumption during Mexico's Golden Age era of film, allowed "all the people" to participate in "everyday rituals of belonging to the modern nation" (227).

Other much debated Afro-Cuban sounds, representative of the "authentically black cultural experience" were not easily incorporated during the Cuban republic's inception (81). Studies pending by musicologists on Afro-Cuban sounds note challenges in thoroughly examining these forms because of historical racial and divisive segregation between Europeans and Blacks. Pinnacle studies by Fernando Ortiz noted native forms of Afro-Cuban drumming and chants found in rituals and religious ceremonies and a chapter by Alejo Carpentier observes the broad heritage and range of instruments such as the origins of drums traced to slavery, and the rural music of guajiros, that broadly promoted romanticized Spanish influences of the colonial past revealing creole interests. The twentieth-century revolutionary Cuban artist Silvio Rodriguez is praised for his countercultural, utopian music that contested political oppression and military dictatorships in Latin America. On a separate note, the role of the marimba is highlighted as a West African instrument that evolved to incorporate melodic tunes and is reflected as one of Guatemala's most emblematic musical forms. African, indigenous, and Ladino roots traced to Guatemala's colonial past are found throughout that country's nineteenth- and twentieth-century musical production, as its Mayan folklore also inspired compositions in operas. Additionally, El Salvador's musical heritage, shaped and popularized by Maria de Baratta's artistic career, imbued indigenous aesthetics of nahualismo and framed national conscience echoing indigenous, Mayan origins.

In contrast, Argentina highly lauded tango is its most representative musical genre, a transnational product reflecting creole nationalist's porteño concerns in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, prioritizing the centrality of Buenos Aires. Whereas northern folk music captured rural life, the creole and indigenous traditions emulated rural, provincial hardships in the mountainous landscapes. For both musical genres' ethnic origins, there are "African or indigenous roots with later creole adoption" in terms of influences, yet they prioritized creole identities in shaping national aesthetics of Argentina (151). Other musical and popular forms' success and mass commercialization includes Carnival samba from Rio based on its escolas, which resulted in decisive tensions in other provincial areas, as it undermined local, popular culture, such as frevo in Recife that reflected genuine Brazilian miscegenation, or mestiço identity formed by its European, Aboriginal, and Afro-Brazilian roots. While Rio's Carnival samba was popularized, its white middle-class identity dominated national cultural identity, and other...