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Document generated on 09/23/2021 11:28 a.m. Théologiques Decolonial Reflections in Latin American Metal Music Religion, Politics and Resistance Nelson Varas-Díaz and Eric Morales Dire et/ou maudire Dieu par la musique Article abstract Praising and/or Cursing God Through Music Latin America’s history is deeply embedded in the experience of coloniality. Still, Volume 26, Number 1, 2018 its history cannot be told without stories of resistance to its colonial experience. This resistance takes many shapes, from armed conflict to the use of the arts, and URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1062069ar addresses many consequences of coloniality. We aim to explore how metal music DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1062069ar in Latin America has been used to challenge the colonial legacy of the region. Although coloniality has had many implications (e.g., political, economical, environmental), we focus on the specific challenge towards religion (Christianity See table of contents in particular) as a strategy to critically assess this colonial legacy. We present three thematic examples that highlight this critical approach in Latin American metal towards coloniality in general, and Christian religion in particular. These Publisher(s) include : 1) highlighting the presence of indigenous populations in the region, 2) reframing of religious culture as an act of resistance, and 3) linking religion to Faculté de théologie et de sciences des religions, Université de Montréal current colonial politics. ISSN 1188-7109 (print) 1492-1413 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Varas-Díaz, N. & Morales, E. (2018). Decolonial Reflections in Latin American Metal Music: Religion, Politics and Resistance. Théologiques, 26(1), 229–250. https://doi.org/10.7202/1062069ar Tous droits réservés © Théologiques, 2019 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ Théologiques 26/1 (2018) p. 229-250 Decolonial Reflections in Latin American Metal Music Religion, Politics and Resistance Nelson Varas- Díaz* Global and Sociocultural Studies Florida International University Eric Morales** Dantesco I vividly remember the first time I visited Mexico.1 Colleagues who had taken time out of their busy schedules to show me some of the city’s most visited cultural sites took me to the Catedral de la Virgen de Guadalupe. The Cathedral was massive in size, and the sheer number of people visiting it was impressive, and at times overwhelming. I was told the amount of * Nelson Varas-Díaz is a Professor of social-community psychology at Florida International University’s Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. His work related to metal music addresses issues of community formation, linkages between culture and music, and metal music as a decolonial strategy in Latin America. He coedited the book (2016) Heavy Metal Music and the Communal Experience, Lexington Press. He also developed the award winning documentaries « The Distorted Island. Heavy Metal and Community in Puerto Rico », « The Metal Islands. Culture, History and Politics in Caribbean Metal Music », and « Songs of Injustice. Heavy Metal Music in Latin America ». Together, the films have garnered 30 sets of laurels in inter- national film festivals. He currently directs the Heavy Metal Studies — Latin America group which researches metal in the Caribbean, Central and South America. ** Eric Morales is the singer for Puerto Rican metal band Dantesco. His work has been featured in magazines like Metal Hammer and the documentary film « The Distorted Island. Heavy Metal and Community in Puerto Rico ». He is part of the production team for the documentary films « The Metal Islands. Culture, History and Politics in Caribbean Metal Music », and « Songs of Injustice. Heavy Metal Music in Latin America ». 1. The described event was experienced by the first author and narrated from a first person perspective, although both authors have frequently visited the country. © Revue Théologiques 2018. Tout droit réservé. 230 nelson varas- díaz et eric morales local visitors was large in any given day of the week. The building itself had electronic walkways so that people could be moved through the struc- ture and wonder at its architecture. The current Cathedral, a newer build- ing, sits right next door to the original structure that has been abandoned in light of its failing structure. It served as a reminder to visitors that Christianity is alive and well in Mexico, and that even when old structures crumble to the ground new ones would be built. While walking around the Cathedral grounds I saw an enormous statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which was unavoidable. It depicted the Virgin as an apparition, while a priest gazed at it directly as one does when recognizing a familiar face. The priest was accompanied by a group of indigenous people who kneeled in reverence and brought offerings to the Virgin. The statue was shown to tourists as a place to take photographs before buying small religious trinkets and walking into the Cathedral itself. This touristic gaze happened throughout the day with an eerily sense of normalcy. After all, just as the population in many countries in Latin America, most Mexicans self- identify as Christians. My experience during this visit to the Cathedral and the Virgin of Guadalupe statue was keenly different from that of my colleagues. To me they stood as symbols of the process of Spanish colonization and the role of imperialism in the formation of Latin America, with the well- known consequences for the local people of the region. Colonialism, although seen as an event in the distant past, is still alive today in many shapes and forms. Sometimes it just takes a critical examination of one’s context to see how it is experienced in our daily lives. Still, it must be noted that the experiences and consequences of this colonial experience do not go unchallenged by many in Latin America. This brings up an important question for debate : how is this colonial history and its consequences challenged today ? In this paper we aim to explore how metal music in Latin America has been used to challenge the colonial history of the region. Although this colonial experience has many implications and consequences (e.g., political, economical, environmental), we will focus on the specific chal- lenge towards religion (Christianity in particular) as a strategy to criti- cally assess the colonial legacy in Latin America. We will achieve this aim through an examination of metal production in the region and via specific examples from Puerto Rico, an active colonial scenario still today. decolonial reflections in latin american metal music 231 1. Examining coloniality through the lens of metal music Most analyses of the effects of colonialism throughout the world tend to examine it as a phenomenon of the past and limit their focus to the European colonization process that began in the xvth century and was later challenged by the emergence of independent nations in the xixth and xxth centuries. This approach is limited, as it understands colonialism as a process that if finalized or completed, with little consequences for the world as we experience it today. Peruvian sociologist Aníbal Quijano’s work, has richly described the ever- present legacy of colonialism in Latin America, long after the period of traditional colonization of the region (Quijano 2010). He uses the term « coloniality » (e.g., coloniality of power) to describe a « form of domination in the world today, once colonialism as an explicit political order was destroyed » (Quijano 2010, 24). Coloniality therefore encompasses a structure of oppression, linked to the colonial experience of the xvth century, but that simultaneously surpasses the end of that same colonial period. The social categories that fostered oppressive experiences (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, political positioning) may have been created, implemented and exploited during the colonial period, but were later transformed to sustain the project of modernity characteristic of Europe. Walter Mignolo (2011), extending Quijano’s vision of colonial- ity, conceptualized it as an experience inextricably linked to modernity in an effort to make explicit that the Western modern project is anchored in the exploitation (geographical, physical and psychological) of the colonial settings. Devalued settings and peoples could be systematically oppressed to advance the project of modernity and its capitalist strategies. Those same devalued settings and peoples continue to face the effects of colonial- ity today via political repression, the exploitation of natural resources, and neoliberal policies, among many other practices. These experiences related to coloniality have not gone unchallenged through many forms. For example, grassroots organization and university- led educational projects are important examples of how resistance to coloniality has taken place. The arts have also taken an important role in challenging coloniality (Neustadat 2004 ; Soto 2008). Folk musicians, painters, and novelists have all used the arts to engage in decolonial agen- das related to race, ethnicity, and gender, just to name a few axes of anal- yses. For those of us engaged in research on metal music in Latin America, the use of art as resistance brings forth the question : what role does metal music play in this critical assessment of coloniality ? 232 nelson varas- díaz et eric morales This question is simultaneously complex and relevant for contempo- rary political and musical analyses. Metal music in Latin America is, and always has been, a reflection of its context and scholars have addressed this issue in their work (Scaricaciottoli 2016 ; Sánchez 2014 ; Varas- Díaz & Mendoza 2015).

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