Strategic Positions of Las Hijas del Sol: Equatorial Guinea in World Music
Dosinda Garcia-Alvite is an ery little attention has been paid to Equatorial Assistant Professor of Span- Guinea’s cultural works both in African and in His- ish at Denison University. panic studies. Even less space has been dedicated to Her research interests focus on V the country’s women’s lives and music. In this essay I aim to issues of migration, histori- fill part of that void by examining the works of the group cal memory, and gender is- called Las Hijas del Sol, since according to a website from a sues in literature, film and music of contemporary Spain. cultural critic in Equatorial Guinea “this group can put the 1 Her dissertation, which she country on the global map.” Indeed, this duo formed by an is revising for publication, aunt and her niece, Paloma and Piruchi, achieved world rec- analyzes music and litera- ognition with their first recording Sibèba in 1995. From then ture of artists from Equato- on, their subsequent works Kottó (1997), Kchaba (1999), rial Guinea exiled in Spain. Pasaporte mundial (2001) and Colores del amor (2003), all produced in Spain, have kept the group at the top of the World Music Charts Europe.2 The importance of studying these works in the field of contemporary Spanish Cultural Studies derives from the fact that, although belatedly in com- parison to England or France, Spain has recently become an openly multicultural society, not only through the official recognition of the different historical nationalities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia, but also through the presence of increasing numbers of immigrants. The specific case of the Equatoguinean community liv- ing in Spain dates, in fact, back to the 1960s, a period in which a select group of youths from the former colony of Spain (at the time officially considered a province) came to study at Spanish universities with the aim of becoming the leaders of the country that would obtain its independence on October 12, 1968. Unfortunately, their first president, Macías Nguema, soon became one of the worst dictators in
Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 8, 2004 150 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
Africa, and the number of exiles and politi- The social anthropologist, Thomas Erick- cal refugees fleeing to Spain increased.3 Nev- sen, has written: ertheless, the plight of the Equatoguineans is little known, because in 1969 the Francoist Ethnicity emerges and is made rel- government forbade the publication of any evant through social situations and news coming from the former colony. This encounters, and through people’s information was declared materia reservada way of coping with the demands and in an effort to hide the failure of the decolo- challenges of life. (1) nization process in Equatorial Guinea.4 As Further, says Ericksen, ethnicity refers to a consequence, the cultural production of those “aspects of relationships between the Equatoguineans is little known today, groups which consider themselves, and are but I would argue that it deserves our at- regarded by others, as being culturally dis- tention. As the critic Homi Bhabha points tinctive” (4). The relational basis of ethnicity, out, the immigrants that travel from former with attention to the boundaries of lan- colonies to the metropolis offer a new view guage, culture and political organization, of the nation: become recurrent issues in the records of Las Hijas del Sol. The Western metropole must con- front its postcolonial history, told by Their songs can be analyzed as instru- its influx of postwar migrants and ments that enable the establishment of eth- refugees, as an indigenous or native nic cultural differences both in Equatorial narrative internal to its national iden- Guinea, in relation to the Fang and Ndowe tity. (6) peoples, and in Spain where they point to the elements that make them distinctive My analysis of the music of Las Hijas among other African immigrants and Pen- del Sol will foreground the different activi- insular ethnic groups. ties and movements that show how con- The first recording of the group Sibèba temporary Spanish cultural production is from 1995 is dedicated to the Bubi culture, closely linked to politics, and how it is mani- native to the singers. The record, according fested at three levels: ethnicity, nationality, to the booklet that accompanies it, is dedi- and global links. Through reflection on how cated “to all those that make efforts to defend these three issues are manifested in the works traditional ways of life and to underplay the of Las Hijas del Sol, we will not only learn barbarisms of a poorly understood modernity” how Equatoguineans contribute to Spain’s (my emphasis). Sibèba offers a compilation multiculturalism, but moreover, how they of traditional Bubi songs and legends that mirror Spanish society. pertain to different aspects of the Bubi cul- Ethnicity is often used in the concep- ture, such as “Boto I” (a song for the rite of tion of social groups although its meaning fertility), “Rea” which deals with the moon and content are constantly negotiated de- and sisterhood, and “O wato wa baye” pending on the context. Ethnic groups are which is about Bisila, the mother goddess based upon relationships that are con- of the Bubi people. The songs are in the stantly constructed rather than on linguis- Bubi language, with translations in Span- tically and culturally homogeneous entities. ish; many are a cappella arrangements that Dosinda García-Alvite 151 recover the rhythms and the cultural dis- the group that suffered the strongest accul- tinctiveness of the Bubi ethnic group. turation to Spain. Cultural erosion contin- Amidst criticisms of a lack of authen- ued after independence when the Nguema ticity among the other ethnic groups of family (members of the majority Fang Equatorial Guinea, the record reached num- group) took control of the government. The ber twenty on the World Music Charts Nguemist discourse imposed a politically Europe in 1996.5 It gained a following motivated, personalized, and falsified view among Western audiences. Produced in of the national culture and history, elimi- Spain by the alternative music label Nube- nating other Fang, Bubi or Ndowe perspec- negra, the publication and reception of this tives. So much so that, as M’bare N’gom record deserves our attention. While world states, Equatoguinean culture became “mu- music in Spain has yet to catch on with the tilated culture” (Diálogos 21). The Nguemist Spanish public, the success of Sibèba seems policies, which continue to this day, have to appeal to Western audiences’ desire for driven Bubi culture to the brink of extinc- the exotic. Playing with that expectation, tion.8 Many years after the imposition of the record has two different jackets, which Spanish culture, the historical, cultural, and changed according to the place where it was linguistic boundaries that distinguish the distributed.6 The front cover produced in Bubi people from other Equatoguineans are Spain has a photograph of the singers now represented and re-created for the Span- dressed in traditional Bubi raffia skirts and ish public through the exotic aesthetics, elaborate hairdos as they play Bubi bells. themes, and language of the records. Look- The front cover used for selling the same ing at the past, and acting from the me- record in the rest of Europe and the United tropolis, the use of the singers’ photographs States presents a close-up of Paloma and dressed in native garb for the jackets of Piruchi in modern dress, while the back Sibèba, as it was marketed in Spain, can be cover pictures them in raffia skirts. It is in- interpreted as a counterpoint to the conse- teresting to note that the vast majority of quences of Spanish colonization. people in Equatorial Guinea wear Western In addition, the marketing of Las clothes. One is more likely to see traditional Hijas’s records contributes, visually and cul- dresses in old photos than on the country’s turally, to what Isabel Santaolalla has iden- streets. It is clear that the use of non-West- tified as the “escalation in the propagation ern clothes and symbols from “far away of ‘ethnically loaded’ images, rhythms, and lands” on both jackets emphasizes tradition stories” in contemporary Spain (56). By and ethnic difference by exoticizing them.7 emphasizing their distinctiveness among the In Spain the fetishized representation Equatoguineans, the Africans, and all the of otherness is presented in two ways: visu- other incoming immigrants, Las Hijas af- ally and culturally. This insistence on rein- firm alliances with other aggrieved ethnic forcing the possible authenticity of tradi- groups, both in Spain and the world. tional music and blending it with modern Through broadly accessible and appealing forms of production and reception through music, these Bubi singers are passing along the singers’ traditional appearance can be the histories and indigenous knowledge of related to two historical connections be- their place of origin as they struggle against tween Equatorial Guinea and Spain. Dur- material deprivation and cultural oppres- ing the colonial period, the Bubi people were sion.9 152 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
The tradition that Las Hijas want to and beliefs of the Bubi ethnic group is that recover offers several distinctive character- the records themselves become an official istics, according to the lyrics in Sibèba. text that testifies to the existence of a re- When Paloma and Piruchi say in the song pressed way of life. Reinforcing their own “A batyo bö lökò” (“People from here”) that oral tradition, Las Hijas provide a perma- “elo batyö bö lökö/ ëtyö a bötyö e takiö” nent registry (both for new immigrants and (“My people, tradition is above everything”), for Spaniards) of a culture that is in danger they state their goal to record dances, social of being forgotten or erased under the pres- practices and a system of beliefs that iden- sure of the Nguemist dictatorship. In light tify them as members of the Bubi ethnic of this, the fact that the lyrics of the first group. work, Sibèba, emphasized ethnic identity The Bubi culture distinguishes itself and Bubi tradition, the music and the mar- from the others of Equatorial Guinea for keting of the record seems a strategic choice having a matriarchal lineage and a religious of survival on the part of the group rather belief system in which the goddess Bisila than a lack of authenticity or interest in fi- (with similarities to the Virgin Mary) oc- nancial gain. cupies a place of honor. This religion be- At the same time, while there is a lieves also in “mmo we carichobo,” or the temptation to establish a binary opposition female spiritual protector of the family, and between tradition and modernity (as por- in “wairibo,” or female spirit that protects trayed on the two record jackets of Sibèba), the individual, the community and the I believe, following the African philosopher whole ethnic group.10 In the social realm, V.Y. Mudimbe, that this dichotomy is not matriarchy determines that the Bubi people productive. Mudimbe links tradition with organize themselves according to maternal history in the sense that both reflect ever- lineages, a practice that establishes relation- evolving diachronic patterns. In this view, ships around the mother and her children, the static binary opposition between tradi- never around the father and his descendants. tion and modernity is not justified because Artistically, these social and religious tenets tradition means discontinuities through a manifest themselves in dances and songs dynamic continuation and a possible con- dedicated to the goddesses that protect the version of legacies. From this perspective, community, to the power of women, and tradition might be viewed as history in the to the work and suffering of women in making. Tradition is in a state of flux, and contemporary life. In addition, one frequent it simply cannot be packaged like a mu- metaphor personalizes the African continent seum piece. In fact, “history in the mak- as a woman. For example, in the fourth ing” is the cultural practice of Las Hijas del record, Pasaporte Mundial, the song “África, Sol. nombre de mujer,” sung in Spanish in the This musical group is making history first track and in the Bubi language in the by incorporating rhythms and cultural last one (“África ilá rá waisó),” insists on points of reference that belong to the past viewing Africa as a mother suffering for her of the Bubi people. At the same time they children, an image frequently repeated illuminate the needs of present times by through their other recordings. adapting the wisdom conferred by their eth- One of the immediate results of re- nic tradition. Such is the relationship be- creating these songs that show the practices tween two songs of Sibèba (numbers three Dosinda García-Alvite 153 and fifteen) which can be analyzed as an listeners in Spain with material for self-con- examination of the concept of nation. A templation as former colonialists both in sense of national belonging is presented America and Africa, while the Spanish na- from the perspective of a citizen of Equato- tion suffers (and enjoys) the consequences rial Guinea who, for economic and/or po- of immigration. litical reasons is forced to live in Spain. “A In a similar fashion, the need for re- ba’ele” (The Foreigners), the third song, is newal of the conceptualization of nation is sung in the Bubi language and deals with directed at their own country through songs the problem of immigration. “Tirso de Mo- like “Oro negro” from the Kottó record, “Elo lina” (number fifteen) is sung in Spanish and wi pöriëba” [“Every day that you wake up”] incorporates the same topic, treatment, and and “Llévame” from Kchaba, as well as music, but with a more commercially fa- “Mosquetón de Madera” from Pasaporte miliar rhythm. Mundial. These compositions address the The choice of “Tirso de Molina” as a problems of social inequalities that politi- title is interesting for the way it illustrates cians governing the nation not only ignore the transformation of tradition in modern but frequently make worse. These songs al- contexts. Tirso de Molina is a famous Span- low the audience to hear the voice of people ish playwright who belongs to the Spanish who live outside their homeland but still canon because of his representation of what want to effect an impact in their nation of some call the “major questions of the Span- origin. ish soul.” Tirso de Molina is also a popular For example, “Oro negro” presents a subway stop in Madrid where many immi- complaint in Spanish against the negative grants sell inexpensive clothes, handbags, effects that the extraction of oil has among jewelry, and pirated records. The lyrics deal the Bubi community and the majority of with the difficulties of being a foreigner and the population on the island of Bioko: the processes of negotiation necessary to surviving within two or more cultures at Somos pobres agricultores once. Similarly in the Bubi cultural tradi- sin dinero ni oro, tion, the third song (“A ba’ele”) deals with pero nuestra ilusión the tribulations of being an outsider in an fueron nuestras tierras fértiles unknown land—resonances of which we que poco a poco se fueron destruyendo hear in “Tirso de Molina.” “A ba’ele” calls por causa del petróleo. listeners’ attention to the complexities of the problems of being an outsider; the fact that Dispossessed of their lands by the govern- it was chosen as the soundtrack of the film ment in the rush for economic growth and Taxi, directed by Spanish filmmaker Carlos shut out of the political and social organs Saura, attests to its having had an effect. of representation, the “agricultores” suffer the The political underpinnings of Las consequences of oil company investments Hijas’s music is also manifested by the that began in 1995 while the ruling class performers’ critical eye toward a Spanish na- benefits.11 The fact that the country has been tion that imagines itself as multicultural yet recently called “The Kuwait of Africa,” (as cannot assimilate the racial, religious, and Gabón used to be recognized) signals a fail- economic differences of the incoming im- ure in developing natural resources and a fair migrants. At this level, their songs provide access to wealth, as opposed to an economic 154 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
advancement of the nation. By addressing the one that publishes the online newspa- the economic inequality in the Guinean per La Diáspora14—Las Hijas propose new nation, Las Hijas have become agents of conceptions of the nation by performing, social awareness and possibly of transfor- supporting, or sharing alternative ways of mation. belonging to Equatorial Guinea. In a similar vein, the song “Elo wi The songs of Las Hijas del Sol point pöriëba” (“Every day that you wake up”) to the failure of Equatorial Guinea as an (Kchaba) shows in an even more urgent tone independent nation since it has been un- the problems of living in a country where able to put into practice the principles of the state controls all the resources. The com- its independence: liberation of its people position offers the point of view of a woman from colonial powers and the creation of who, upon waking up every morning asks citizens’ rights. As the critic Emmanuel herself “¿Ka ërihwem a rëiiè?, ¿ka nnete nka Yevah has pointed out, the nation has be- rëiiè?,” (“What will my family eat?, What come a contested construct as creative writ- will I eat?”). These cries not only reflect the ers and intellectuals, disillusioned by the situation of the majority of the population, broken promises of independence as well as they also serve as a strong criticism of poli- by human rights abuses of dictators, have ticians whom Robert Klitgaard calls “Tropi- turned their creative endeavors into weap- cal Gangsters.”12 Economic and political ons to challenge, indeed to deconstruct, the corruption is widespread in Equatorial nation, or what Jean Franco has called in Guinea, which is handled, according to another context “any signified that could Silverstein, like a “family bank.” Indeed, correspond to the nation.”15 The songs of president Obiang’s son Gabriel is the Min- Las Hijas, similar to those of Fela Kuti in ister of Mining and Energy, which includes Nigeria, to whom they dedicate their third oil resources, and the other son, Teodoro, record, Kachaba, perform the dual role of heads the Ministry of Forests and Environ- both entertaining and exposing the rulers ment as the owner of the two largest log- and the systems of nation states that op- ging companies in the country. While the press their citizens. In this case, especially income derived from the nation’s business when they sing in Spanish, their music es- is invested in luxury cars and private man- tablishes a bridge between the receiving sions, 90% of the population lives in shacks nation, Spain, and the immigrants, mostly without electricity or sewage systems Africans forced to search for new commu- (Silverstein 17). nities of affiliation. The Nguemist oligarchy has forced As the people whose displacement and the formation of a diasporic community of erasure provide the preconditions for the Equatoguineans who for political or eco- modern nation state, these singers, like other nomic reasons has fled the country. Still, native people, often feel compelled to assert despite their absence from the country, mi- their allegiance to entities both smaller and grants such as Las Hijas want to exert an larger than the nation state (Lipsitz 138). influence over their nation. Especially in As stated earlier, one clear intention of Las Spain but also performing for European Hijas is to reassert and/or revive a cultural audiences, these two artists sing the plight tradition that differentiates them from other of their people.13 In alliance with groups of groups. This intention, by itself, is one of resistance and exile associations—such as the manifestations of an ongoing revaluation Dosinda García-Alvite 155 of local identities throughout the world, alities, the singers trespass their ethnic and often accomplished through a global lan- national borders of identity and situate them- guage: music. selves within the global majority of dispos- The global impact of the works of Las sessed people. Hijas can be analyzed in terms of three in- Similarly, the increasing use of the terrelated spheres: the popularity of world colonizing Spanish language to express the music, the increasing use of Spanish in their plight of disenfranchised people, accompa- songs and the connections with other dis- nied by musical arrangements that reflect placed groups throughout the world, usu- Caribbean and South American influences, ally as a manifestation of postcolonial con- enables the singers and their audience to ditions. enlarge their own communities. The switch The relationship with populations from their native language in their two first who experienced colonization can clearly be records to Castilian Spanish in most of seen in songs like “Africa, nombre de mujer” Pasaporte mundial and Colores del amor af- (Pasaporte Mundial), “Grito libre” (Kchab), ter having been recruited by the multina- or “El niño africano,” which closes the tional corporation, Zomba records, has record Kottó. This final song establishes a sparked criticism for excessive “moderniza- contrast between Africa and Europe: “la tion” and incorporation of Western cultural sonrisa de un niño europeo me hizo ver la references.16 tristeza del niño africano.” These words Nevertheless, in my opinion, appeal- point to the global inequalities of power and ing to an international market constitutes the marginalization of Africa. They also es- a strategic choice. While at the beginning tablish a connection between the African of their careers the path for capturing the diaspora and the attempt to create social attention of the Spanish and international consciousness of African problems. In short, audiences was closely connected to their Las Hijas call for the reincorporation of the ethnicity, eight years later, their ethnic dif- continent into the global dialogue: ference did not guarantee them the same space in Spain. With increasingly problem- Yo quisiera ayudarte [Africa], y voy atic attitudes toward African immigration andando] in the Peninsula, Las Hijas needed to reas- para llegar con mis manos tan lejos sert their difference among other groups of por eso canto por ti para que nadie, al escuchar mi voz color. Possibly confused with other Africans pueda olvidar a esos niños from Senegal, Gambia, and Nigeria, Paloma cuya sonrisa hace tiempo se perdió. and Piruchi chose to foreground the cul- tural contacts with the receiving society in The presentation of oppositional situations their two last records. in this song reflects the context of oppres- By singing in Spanish and displaying sive power relations in which questions of their knowledge of Spanish cultural codes Black and White, poverty and privilege, they ironically demonstrate that the “civi- South America and Africa, and the West, lizing mission” of the Spaniards in their have highly charged emotional and ideo- country has been successful. Their pronun- logical meaning. By positioning themselves ciation of Castilian Spanish reaches a de- as a point of connection between these re- gree of perfection which is hard to imitate 156 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
by other recent African immigrants. By recognize them and sing one of their songs, showing commonalities with other Hispanic such as “¡Ay, corazón,!” which made it to musical communities, such as salsa and the the top of the Spanish pop charts in 2002.17 romantic canción española, they are clearly Their pioneering work in rereading both incorporated in the worlds produced after their native culture and that of the coloniz- the Spanish colonization of the Americas, ers by deploying music as a weapon to trans- thereby broadening the possibilities of form alliances and identities has, without a world-wide recognition of their community. doubt, benefited and influenced the work In a parallel way, the appropriation of of other immigrant artists such as Radio the apparatus of commercial music through Tarifa (Sudán), Raisha (Sudán), Wafir their classification into World Music has re- (Sudán), Baron Ya Buk Lu (Equatorial sulted in a willing acknowledgement of for- Guinea), Bidinte (Guinea Bissau), and oth- ers, who find Spanish audiences informed and eager to enjoy their works. The launching of Las Hijas’ career from Spain, or what is called “the Western world,” can be considered a strategic choice, albeit not a necessary point of departure for social activism or artistic success. Located in Spain, and performing for European au- diences, the plight of their people can be heard by a wide international audience. In contrast with other African artists like Fela Anikulapo Kuti from Nigeria, to whom they dedicate their full third record Kchaba, as well as Tabu Ley Rochereu, Omar Pene, Baba Maal, Bembeya Jazz, all of whom achieved great recognition and fought for social causes in Africa before they were known abroad, Las Hijas confronted two main problems in Equatorial Guinea to achieve the success they currently enjoy. The diffi- culties they encountered arise first from the absence of an infrastructure in Equatorial Hispanic Guinean Cultural Center, Malabo. Guinea able to produce and commercialize the records, and second from a lack of in- eign minority ethnic groups in Spain. While tellectual and artistic freedom. In fact, it was at the beginning of their career their per- only when Donato Ndongo was the direc- formances with Manu Chao, Cappercaille, tor adjunto of the Centro Cultural Hispano- and Rita Marley won them the admiration guineano in Malabo that there were both of a small sector of the Spanish audience, alternative venues for artistic production their present influence is such that a large and an intellectually open means of present- majority of the Spanish public can easily ing these works. It was at this time that Las Dosinda García-Alvite 157
Hijas won a singing competition there with No hay tiempo que perder, their first hit. It is my contention that this el mundo es de los valientes... deprisa, moment marked the culmination of their deprisa] career in Equatorial Guinea, a career that tu tienes que aprender would have incorporated them into what I que la vida es distinta would call “the presidential entourage.” de lo que tu crees únete a su juego Given these very real limitations, moving tratando de ganar abroad was the logical consequence. o a ti te hace falta un pasaporte mundial In conclusion, the aforementioned a ti te hace falta un pasaporte mundial. tendencies in the music of Las Hijas del Sol make for connections among dispossessed Notes ethnic groups throughout the world. They 1 For the web site see Nbé Ondó. This site also provide bridges not only to similar offers one of the most comprehensive and well- Hispanic musical groups but to native Span- rounded introductions to the country, includ- iards whose sense of injustice in the face of ing sections dedicated to history, geography, global material disparities is enhanced as social issues, and different cultural sections. It they listen to the music. Using the World must be noted that the name of Patricio Nbé is Music market as a medium for advancement a pseudonym protecting the real identity of the of their themes and careers, Las Hijas have author. demonstrated that local, national, and glo- 2 The World Music Workshop of the Euro- bal connections are important artistic con- pean Broadcasting Union (EBU) regularly pub- ceptions. As a consequence, world ignorance lishes data on online and print magazines such about Equatorial Guinea is being challenged as Rootsworld (USA), Folkroots (Great Britain) by their works. Further, the marketing of or Radio Nacional de España. Las Hijas’ records were listed in the EBU World Music charts as their songs becomes a political tool that following: Sibèba was number 10 in January counters not only the politics of the Mon- 1996 and 9 in February 1996. Kottó got to gomo clan in the government of Equato- number 8 in the May 1998 list while Kchaba rial Guinea but also the vestiges of the Span- was listed number 4 in April 2000 and num- ish materia reservada decree. The artistic ber 8 in May of that same year. endeavors of Las Hijas not only place Equa- 3 Here I am following the studies authored torial Guinea on the global map, they also by M’bare N’gom, Liniger Goumaz, Samuel participate in the reconstruction of Spain Decalo, and Ibrahim Sundiata. For example, as a multicultural society. As postcolonial Goumaz points out that: citizens, these artists have given new mean- After independence, the quick de- ing to Spanish multiculturalism through velopment of Macías Nguema’s per- their self-insertion into the metropolis and sonal power triggered a considerable flow of exiles, which in 1979 num- the incorporation of their Spanish colonial bered as many as 120,000—includ- education into their music. Perhaps eventu- ing 65,000 in Gabon (official esti- ally Spain can expand its cultural horizons mate), 35,000 in Cameroon, 5000 and sing with Las Hijas del Sol the follow- in Nigeria, and 9000 in Europe (of ing words from their album Pasaporte which 8500 went to Spain). (His- Mundial: torical Dictionary 142) 158 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
The number of exiles that went to Spain is lim- Because of copyright issues, these illustrations ited in comparison with other countries. Many cannot be included in this paper. Nubenegra of them were studying in seminaries since this produced the three first records of Las Hijas. was the main channel the Spanish colonial ad- On their web site, they present the records with ministration offered to natives for an advanced the jackets used for the Spanish market. The education. The consequences of this exodus records’ covers used worldwide are offered by were far reaching in the cultural field since, as Patricio’s website, which, as commented ear- M’baré N’gom shows in his groundbreaking lier, also offers a review of Las Hijas’s career. book Diálogos con Guinea, most of the literary 7 Here I am following the analysis of Jocelyne works by Guineans during the ’70s and part of Guilbault on transnational musical practices. the ’80s were produced in exile, especially in She analyzes how World Music blends modern Spain (22, 23, 25, 26). and traditional music and represents this fu- 4 As the historian Max Liniger-Goumaz sion in graphic terms through the design of the points out, censorship of the mass media was record jackets (“Beyond de ‘World Music’ La- used both in Equatorial Guinea and in Spain. bel” 2). In his Historical Dictionary of Equatorial Guinea 8 According to the U.S. Department of he explained that at the time of Macías’s dicta- State’s report on Equatorial Guinea for 1999, torship: the country’s government has a very poor record All correspondence is controlled by on human right practices, especially in its treat- the Guardia Nacional and the Presi- ment of the Bubi people, an ethnic minority in dency; the foreign press is stopped the country. The U.S Department of State’s at the border; the radio no longer website states that: broadcasts bulletins, except Macías The Government’s human rights Nguema’s speeches, and school record remained poor. Serious and books are strictly censored. Span- systematic human rights abuses ish scientific works on Guinea were continued and the security forces burned in public in 1972. Likewise, committed many serious abuses. from 1970 to 1976, no incoming Citizens continued not to have the information from Equatorial Guinea right to change their government. was published in the Spanish press. [...] Discrimination against minori- (31) ties, particularly the Bubi ethnic As a consequence of this lack of circulation of group on the island of Bioko, wors- news, very few people of the Spanish younger ened in the wake of the January 21 generations can establish the historical link that revolt by Bioko separatists in which unites Spain to Equatorial Guinea. between six and nine persons, in- 5 Although I am aware that the term “au- cluding some government officials, thenticity” is a very problematic one, here I am were killed. Security forces report- reporting the comments of other Guineans I edly broke into Bubi houses follow- interviewed on the summer of 2001. While ing the coup attempt, raped Bubi most Guineans expressed their satisfaction at women, and looted Bubi homes. In the recognition that Las Hijas was gaining for some instances, security forces their country, many of them also insisted on threw the belongings of Bubi into establishing a difference between what they the streets and encouraged pass- perceived as authentic, or what they had heard ersby to help themselves to the in Guinea while growing up there, and what property. The Government contin- was being presented in Las Hijas’ records. ued to restrict labor rights; no la- 6 To see the record covers please visit the bor unions exist, and strikes are pro- websites of Nubenegra and Patricio Nbé Ondó. hibited by law. Abuse of workers’ Dosinda García-Alvite 159
rights was particularly serious in the remained in the members of the government’s oil industry. (1-2) hands, especially the family members of presi- 9 Most artists try to build their career on dent Obiang. the originality, quality and depth of their cul- 12 In his book entitled Tropical Gangsters. tural production. Although it can become prob- One Man’s Experience with Development and lematic to value Las Hijas’ works based of their Decadence in Deepest Africa, Klitgaard relates recovery of their Bubi ethnic identity, I would his experiences in Equatorial Guinea as an ad- argue that their originality and creativity in the ministrator of a World Bank project in the coun- music world is linked to their ethnicity. The try, which he considered “one of the most back- World Music praise for the originality of Las ward countries in the world” (ix). Hijas’ first record, Sibèba, stood closely related 13 Many African artists have strong support to the fact that they sang in the Bubi language, in their communities of origin in terms of num- traditional Bubi songs, with references to Bubi bers, infrastructure, and politics, which allows rituals, habits and gods. It is this difference with them to focus their career in their countries other groups that made them “original” among and expand through Africa and the world. In the rest of the African and World music pro- contrast, in Equatorial Guinea, there was only ductions of the moment and which won them one musical production company owned by the attention of a wide public. But, while this Teodoro Nguema, the son of the president, evaluation of originality would be granted only when I visited the country (2001). Javier by the audience (based on the difference that Espinosa also mentions that Teodoro Nguema the public could perceive as making them not has a recording studio in the United States, but Fang, Ndowe or from other groups), the sing- I was not able to buy any records produced there ers themselves claim to be singing these songs during my visit to Equatorial Guinea. All the to preserve their tradition, that of the Bubi records sung by Equatoguineans and produced people, both on the record cover and in the by Nguema, happened to be—ironically, in my words of the songs. I see here a conscious effort opinion—more expensive than those imported of the singers to preserve that difference—their from Zaire, Nigeria and Cameroon. In addi- language and cultural points of reference—to set tion, and more to the point I try to make, all of themselves apart as different from other people these records show a lack of creative or politi- and, therefore, grouped as Bubi. This effort is cal freedom. See for example, the following not only clear in their first record, but also in tapes and CDs: Ototong Mokoc by Saxcisav the second Kottö and in the third Kchaba. Maybe Cirilo, Explosion/eboladja djebol (olugu nnam) an insistence in these differences is not produc- by Waye Me Nben, Tradición by Raperos, tive in light of the political problems that the Desesperación by La Orquesta Machosky Inter- country is going through, but at the same time, nacional, have at least one full song dedicated I see this action of singing in the Bubi language to Papa Obiang (the president of the country). and talking of the specifically different charac- Others, like Love by Alex Morris, El reino de teristics of their culture as a counterpoint to the dios and Bisusu Diciembre by Sita Richi, men- “ethnicization of the (Equatorial Guinean) state” tion both Papa or Mama Obiang in the songs. that professor M’baré N’gom comments on I realize there is a practice among griots to praise Literatura de Guinea Ecuatorial (21 forward). the people that economically support them or 10 Please see José Eteo for a more compre- request their performances, but I think this hensive analysis of the Bubi culture. music does not offer any connections with the 11 Several articles published by the New York griot tradition. In this narrow intellectual en- Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, and vironment, looking for an alternative venue for other newspapers have pointed at the fact that cultural expression seems necessary. the oil revenues have helped to increase the gross 14 For information about one of the oppo- domestic product, but most of the gains have sition parties, which has its central offices in 160 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
Spain, see RENAGE (Resistencia Nacional de “Equatorial Guinea: Wave of Arrests Follow- Guinea Ecuatorial). ing Government Crackdown on Opposi- See also the electronic publication La tion Party Activists.” Amnesty International Diaspora, in which Guineans living all over 24 Feb. 1997. 11 Oct. 2001
GuineaEcuatorial.net 22 July 2002. 23 July N’gom Faye, M’baré. “Afro-fascismo y creación 2002