Unmasking Class, Gender, and Sexuality in Nicaraguan Festival (review)

Masaya, the provincial capital of Nicaragua, is recognized as the country’s “Capital of Nicaraguan Culture.” Here, residents distinguish themselves from urban Nicaragua and the world at large through a range of public festivals and other cultural expressions. Three of these festivals receive close examination in Katherine Borland’s Unmasking Class, Gender, And Sexuality in Nicaraguan Festival: the carnivalesque torovenado masquerades, the transvestite Negras marimba dances, and wagon pilgrimages to Popoyuapa. Significantly, Borland’s book is the first work published in English on Nicaraguan festival arts and, as such, is a solid and welcome contribution to the literature.

A folklorist by training, Borland turns to esthetic expression as a vehicle for exploring social meaning and negotiations between people. In these particular case studies, festival participants use public display to express a range of competing belief systems around gender, class, ethnicity, race, sexuality and religious faith. Borland contextualizes these enactments within three political periods in Nicaraguan history (Somoza, Sandanista, and Neoliberal) and illustrates the ways in which governmental politics interact with popular culture. Borland has a strong grasp of Nicaraguan history and gives compelling evidence for the ideological interplay between local and national politics and cultural policy. For example, she describes the Sandanista Revolution and the use of popular and indigenous culture to build a national identity based on a celebration of cultural distinction. At the same time, she turns to grassroots ethnography to see the ways that individuals and local movements reappropriate cultural enactments and meanings for their own social needs and uses.

Borland’s work is part of a larger scholarly discussion around the issues of “folklorization”—the deliberate transformation of cultural enactments of marginalized groups into the signature folkways of a region or nation by an outside elite. A rise in festivals and heritage development across the globe has caught the eye of scholars who recognize that the public use of traditional culture can be a powerful ideological tool for contesting groups and political agendas. Implicit in this discussion is the persistent question of the social influence of cultural enactment—in this case, the power of festival to effect change in the social sphere by modeling or bringing to life new or challenging social structures. Borland is cautious in overinflating this connection. However, she labels such events “living festivals,” implying the dynamic nature of their occurrence. Their meaning and process of construction exist in a flux of social influences that continuously alter them.

Such a complex web of social fields demands first-rate research and fieldwork. Borland grounds her writing in excellent ethnographic description and the use of interview sources. As an ethnographer, Borland has an eye for detail and scenes are creatively written and enlightening. Although use of oral testimony is more supportive than central to the book, Borland draws liberally on her oral sources to interpret local meanings ascribed to events—my favorite parts, really. At times, Borland’s desire to make her point about the cultural politics can feel repetitive; yet when she lets loose and opens up to the stories of the people involved, the book comes to life as first-person narratives invigorate the text. Indeed, this book dispenses with the oft-standard ethnographic self-disclosure that justifies the author’s intrusion into the social lives of others. Borland does not trouble herself with explaining to the reader how she established her network of relationships and research methodology. She is far more interested in tackling the topic at hand. Nevertheless, thorough notes at the back of the book document the extent of Borland’s personal interviews with accompanying background information.

Borland’s book strikes an effective balance between offering well-researched contextual information and enlivening ethnographic detail and oral testimony. For anyone studying the region or the topics of festival and cultural policy, the bibliography alone would be worth a close look. Her work is a model of outstanding scholarship that reflects years of research and fieldwork and a long-term commitment to the region...