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)ORULGD6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\/LEUDULHV 2020 Melodies of Mirages : Exoticism, Folklore, and "Preforming" Santeria Elias G. Larralde Follow this and additional works at DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MELODIES OF MIRAGES: EXOCTICISM, FOLKLORE, AND “PREFORMING” SANTERIA By ELIAS LARRADE A Thesis submitted to the Department of History Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Honors in the Major Degree Awarded: Fall, 2020 2 The members of the Defense Committee approve the thesis of Elias Larralde defended on 11/20/2020. Dr. Robinson A. Herrera Thesis Director Dr. Anasa Hicks Committee Member Dr. Frank Gunderson Outside Committee Member 3 This Thesis is dedicated to my Tia Yanneth Segura and my Papu Ernesto Garcia, who both sadly pasted away during this process and could not see the final product. I want to thank my tia Yanet, tio and primos for housing me during the summer where I conducted the bulk of my primary research in Miami, even though she was sick. I would like to thank both of them for showing me the drive one can have, even if your own body and mind is fighting against you. I know they are looking down at me, proud of the work I have done and of the work I will do. 4 Introduction Afro-Cuban religions, such as; Lukumí, Palo Monte, Arará, Cuban Vodú, and Abakuá,1 are products of the forced interaction between the religions of enslaved Africans and Christianity, namely Catholicism, all commonly referred under the umbrella term of Santería.2 Scholars have recognized the importance of these religions in Cuban history, while at the same time debating whether they should be defined as syncretic or wholly unique faiths.3 This debate has been applied to many Afro-Diasporic religions throughout the Americas including Vodun in Haiti and Candomblé in Brazil.4 Afro-Cuban religions today are practiced in greater numbers and have gone beyond Cuba’s borders to other countries such as the United States and Germany.5 South Florida, which saw a major increase of Cuban exiles from the 1960s to the 1980s, is home to several Afro-Cuban religious centers. The Church of Lukumí Babalú Ayé, the first Afro- Cuban religious church established in the US, was founded by Ernesto Pichardo in Hialeah, Florida in 1974.6 Due to their wide practice and resilience, Afro-Cuban religions have made headway into both Cuban and other Latinx cultures. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, Afro- Cuban religions were denigrated by US entertainment and Cuban revolutionary government programs by associating these complex religions with savagery and racist images. 1 Emma Gobin and Géraldine Morel, “Ethnography and Religious Anthropology of Cuba: Historical and Bibliographical Landmarks,” Ateliers d'anthropologie [Online] 38 (2013): 12-14. 2 The term “Santeria” has been critically examined and debated between followers, scholars, and the public. Ernesto Picado, head priest of Church of Lukumí Babalú Ayé, deems the word a derogatory term used to clump all the distinct Afro-Cuban religions under one name. In lieu of this argument, the use of the term “Santeria” in this thesis will be confined to direct quotes. As well, the term will be used in cases were similarities exist among the different Afro-Cuban religions. Distinct religious practice will be identified to clarify any potential misunderstandings and out of respect for differing forms of worship. 3 Michael Pye, “Syncretism versus synthesis,” Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 6, no.3 (1994): 218-220. 4 Andres I. Pérez y Mena, “Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodun, Puerto Rican Spiritualism: A Multiculturalist Inquiry into Syncretism,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37, no. 1 (March 1998): 16-18. 5 David Ovalle, “As Santería grows and evolves, the increasing focus on Africa opens rifts among sects,” Miami Herald, March 28, 2014. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article1962047.html. 6 Harry G. Lefever, “When the Saints Go Riding in Santeria in Cuba and the United States,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 35, no. 3 (September 1996): 324. 5 Since their inceptions, Afro-Cuban religions were treated as a threat since they helped maintain the identities of enslaved Africans. In the modern era Afro-Cuban religions are simultaneously treated as a threat and a commodity. The commodification of Afro-Cuban religion is fueled by the process of exoticization,7 which abstracts and parodies other cultures in order to reinscribe them with ideals of Western aesthetics. This abstraction turns into a spectacle that reinforces the perceived division between Western culture and other cultures. In the case of Afro-Cuban religions, this abstraction is seen in the 1950s US musical genre Exotica and in the 1960s Revolutionary Cuban government’s cultural programs. Both processes commodified Afro- Cuban religions, such as the Lukumí religion, through different means.8 Exotica relied on emphasizing racist tropes through both songs and visual components to attract white suburban consumers in the US, whereas the revolutionary government’s cultural programs in Cuba, such as the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional (CFN), distorted aspects of the religions to make them seem like extinct practices and an aspect of the colonial or folkloric past. These processes fabricated and commodified versions of Afro-Cuban religions to reinforce an individual’s and / or society’s racial and cultural hegemony, which benefits Western aesthetics while discriminating against Afro-Cuban culture. The popular song Babalu, named after Babalú Ayé, the Orisha (the term Orisha refers to deities in African based religions) of health and diseases in Lukumí, illustrates the process of 7 The thesis uses the terms “exoticization” and “exoticism” frequently and in different contexts. As per Ralph Locke, exoticism can be understood in a “All in Music in Full Context” paradigm where composers can use material from non-western sources to influence their music in multiple contexts or forms. Examples include musical structure, plot, setting, or melody. See Ralph P. Locke, “A Broader View of Musical Exoticism,” The Journal of Musicology 24, no. 4 (2007): 479-481. 8 The term Exotica appears throughout the thesis. The use of a capital “E” denotes the whole process of the music’s marketing including album covers, notes, and the music itself. 6 commodification of Afro-Cuban religions, and Afro-Cuban religious elements.9 The Cuban composer Margarita Lecouna composed the original Babalu song and its lyrics in 1939.10 Due to the outburst of popularity of Latin American music before World War II, Ralph Peter and his company Peter Publishing quickly secured the rights to create an English version. Peter sold the song to movie studios such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios.11 This in turn led to the song’s most famous performance by Cuban-American actor and singer Desi Arnaz, who played Ricky Ricardo on the television program I Love Lucy that ran from 1951-1957.12 Arnaz‘s performance of Babalu cemented the song’s fame for US audiences. As one of the earliest Latinx television characters on a show that pioneered syndication, I Love Lucy occupies an important space in television history. As the inclusion of Babalu in I Love Lucy demonstrates, rather than something new or recent, Afro-Cuban religions and their music have been featured in US popular culture for decades. These manifestations and appropriations have influenced how these religions are conceived or conceptualized in the contemporary era. Afro-Cuban religions have a central role in Afro-Cuban and Cuban culture to a point that they cannot be easily erased. Indeed, Afro-Cuban religions are connected to a greater pride in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Diasporic cultural manifestations such as the art created by Black artists. This includes Afro-Cuban singers whose repertoire includes songs that reference Afro-Cuban religions or deities in a respectful manner. Afro-Cuban 9 Orishas in the Lukumí religion are considered both intermediaries and manifestations of nature, as directed by the supreme creator deity Oludumare. They are considered both spirits and beings, as they can be called on by followers to conduct divine intervention, while being recorded as having distinct personalities. The pantheon of Orishas are all related and can take on different forms or caminos depending on the context which a follower petitions them. In Cuba it is very common for the Orishas to be called “Santos” or saints due to their association with certain Catholic saints. For more information, see Baba Ifa Karade’s The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts (York Beach: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1994), 21, 23. 10 Felix Contreras, “Ricky Ricardo: The “Mr. Babalu” Next Door,” National Public Radio, May 18, 2008, Music, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90535612. 11 Francesco Adinolfi, Mondo Exotica, 29-30. 12 Felix Contreras, “Ricky Ricardo.” 7 singers such as Celia Cruz performed and recorded songs that reference particular Lukumí deities. Yet, Cruz never openly claimed to be a practitioner of the Lukumí religion.13 This raises the question that if performers are not followers of an Afro-Cuban religion, do performers such as Cruz use Afro-Cuban religion as a way to demonstrate pride and recognition of Afro-Cuban culture? By analyzing Cruz’s connection to Afro- Cuban religions in terms of childhood experience and her music, I argue that she used the Lukumí religion and its deities as a connection to her Afro-Cuban culture. Furthermore, by analyzing the references to the actual religion’s beliefs and symbols embedded in the lyrics and music, I argue that Cruz’s songs can be considered separate from the parodies created by Exotica and the performances organized by the CFN.