Morad, Moshe (2012) 'Fiesta De Diez Pesos': Music As a Space for Identity, Interaction, and Escapism, Among Gay Men in Special Periodhavana
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Morad, Moshe (2012) 'Fiesta de Diez Pesos': music as a space for identity, interaction, and escapism, among gay men in Special PeriodHavana. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15638 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. School of Oriental and African Studies University of London “Fiesta de Diez Pesos”: Music as a Space for Identity, Interaction, and Escapism, among Gay Men in Special Period Havana Moshe Morad Thesis submitted to the University of London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 12, 2012 1 2 Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between music and gay identity in Havana during the período especial, an extended period of economic depression starting in the early 1990s, characterised by a collapse of revolutionary values and social norms, and a way of life conducted by improvised solutions for survival, including hustling and sex-work. A thriving, though constantly harassed and destabilised, clandestine gay “scene” has developed in Havana. During eight different visits between 1995 and 2007, I became absorbed in the scene, created a wide social network, attended numerous secret gatherings—from clandestine parties to religious rituals—observed patterns of behaviour and communication, and the way the scene changed and evolved. I discovered the role of music in it as a marker of identity, a source of queer codifications and identifications, a medium of interaction, an outlet for emotion and a way to escape from a reality of scarcity, oppression and despair. I argue that music plays a central role in providing the physical, emotional, and conceptual spaces which constitute this scene and in the formation of a new hybrid “gay identity” in Special- Period Havana. My methodology is based on gathering evidence in situ as a primary fieldwork tool, and drawing on local discourse both as a major source of information and as an important analytical tool. Anecdotal accounts are supported, tested, and verified through short surveys and many personal communications. Recent publications about Cuban music in the Special Period discuss gender and sexuality, but hardly deal with homosexuality, whilst researches on homosexuality in Cuba hardly mention music. This thesis fills this gap and features an analysis of five musical “spaces” in Cuba from a “queer ethnomusicology” perspective. Furthermore, understanding the role of music in providing space for expression and identity-creation to a marginalised and stigmatised group, can offer pointers for deciphering similar processes in other societies. 3 Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................... 3 Table of contents……………..………………………………………………..….. 4 Index of figures………………………………………………………….………... 7 Index of photographs............................................................................................... 7 Preface…………………………………………………………………………… 9 Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………..... 15 Chapter 1 Introduction……………………………………………………….. 18 Chapter 2 Literature review…………………………………………………... 29 Cuban music……………………………………………………………………... 29 Cuban homosexuality……………………………………………………………. 34 Gay/queer music…………………………………………………………………. 38 Chapter 3 Approach and theoretical background Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 42 The privileged parameter………………………………………………………... 42 Sameness………………………………………………………………………… 43 The use of theory………………………………………………………………… 44 Musical geography: music, space and place - a theoretical model…………….... 45 Structuring the ethnography according to spaces and levels of privacy………... 50 Chapter 4 In the field: Methodology and ethics Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 55 Outsider/ insider………………………………………………………………… 55 Subjectivity……………………………………………………………………… 57 Longitudinal fieldwork………………………………………………………….. 58 Fieldwork challenges and strategy……………….……………………………… 66 A qualitative/quantitative mix…………………………………………………… 68 Informal conversations and personal communications……………………… 68 Mini survey questionnaires............................................................................... 70 Extra academic expertise applied in the field…………………………………… 71 Ethics in the field: from exposure to erotic subjectivity………………………... 72 Chapter 5 Special Period Havana: The musicscape, the ethnoscape, and the homoscape Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 76 The city's soundscape and its musicscape……………………………………… 76 The ethnoscape…………………………………………………………………. 79 Internal migration…………………..…………………………… …………. 80 Tourists/extranjeros…………………………………………………………. 81 Jineterismo and “music jineterismo”……………………………………….. 83 The "homoscape": Havana’s gay life in the 1990s – from maricón to "gay".….. 87 “Fresa y chocolate"…………………………………………………………. 94 “El pecado original” and gay themes in nueva trova……………………….. 95 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………. 99 4 Chapter 6 Fiestas de diez pesos, Part I: The scene and the queer Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 101 My first fiesta de diez pesos…………………………………………………… 103 Hanging out at the Malecón………………………………………………... 103 The way to the fiesta………………………………………………………... 106 Finally there………………………………………………………………... 107 Changes in Havana’s gay fiestas scene……………………………………..…. 110 Two kinds of fiestas................................................................................... …… 113 The private home fiestas................................................................................. 114 The semi-public fiestas……………………………………………………... 115 “Gay salsa”: queering the Casino dancing-style……………………………... 119 Queer timba: “Watch how the locas do the despelote”…………………..…... 123 “Re-gay-tón”: Queering reggaetón……………………………………..……... 132 The reggaetón dance style…………………………………………………. 135 The lyrics: Assigning new meanings………………………………………. 139 House music: Gay and internacional………………………………………….. 142 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………... 144 Chapter 7 Fiestas de diez pesos, Part II: “Dancing identity” (analysis) Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 147 Gay dance music and its social aspects………………………………………… 148 Fiesta behaviour as ritual behaviour…………………………………………… 152 “Fiesta-psychology” survey……………………………………………............ 158 The gay Cuban dancing body and the sensualisation of the dancefloor………. 160 “Gay musicality”: A queer reading of musical elements of the featured genres…………………………………………………………............. 165 Reggaetón's hybridity and duality……………………………….................. 165 Tempo and rhythm.......................................................................................... 170 Repetitiveness and cyclicity…………………………………………............ 171 The "limping effect"........................................................................................ 174 Multiple climaxes……………………………………………………............ 175 Conclusion........................................................................................................... 176 Chapter 8 Performance, performativity, and audience, Part I – “El chow”: Drag shows and the Ballet Nacional Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 179 Travesti chow (drag shows)…………………………………………………… 181 Description: Bar de Las Estrellas………………………………………….. 182 Description: home drag fiesta……………………………………………… 183 Drag politics and philosophy………………………………………………….. 184 Drag's status and social role in Special Period Havana…...…………………. 187 Divas and more…………………………………………………………….. 187 Camp sensibility …………………………………………………………… 188 Collective identity………………………………………………………….. 189 Acceptance………………………………………………………………… 189 The role of music in Havana’s drag shows: entertainment, identification, and protest.................................................................................. 190 The Ballet Nacional: "The most obvious discreet gay space in Havana"….….. 200 The status of ballet in Cuba………………………………………….......... 200 Gaydar, space and "performance" in the audience………………….......... 202 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….......... 204 5 Chapter 9 Performance, performativity, and audience, Part II - Changó versus Santa Barbara: Santería ritual performance as a gay space. Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 208 Description: A “gay” toque……………………………………………… 208 Description: Il rito del cucillo (the ceremony of the knife)………………. 209 Santería and its music………………………………………………………… 212 Orisha worship………………………………………………………......... 212 During the Special Period……………………………………………. ….. 214 The role of music……………………………………………………………….215 Homosexuality and santería…………………………………………………... 215 Terminology……………………………………………………………… 215 Transgenderism………………………………………………………….. 217 Femininity………………………………………………………………... 219 "The fag religion": Gays in santería…………………………………….. 220 The role of EPH in santería performance……………………………….. 221 “Mi nueva familia” : Alternative kinship in santería………………………... 227 Secrecy, deviance and marginalisation……………………………………….