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Palo and Dominican Identity

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Palo and Dominican Identity Dominicans Forgotten by History: Palo and Dominican Identity A Division III by: Rene Mallia Cruz Carl Clements, Visiting Professor of Music, Committee Chair Roosbelinda Cárdenas, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies, Committee Member Acknowledgements Conducting fieldwork of any magnitude is impossible without the help of others. In my case, it would not be just to continue this piece without the acknowledgement of the people who have invested much of their time and attention to me and my research. I would like to thank my family, and my grandmother and mother in particular, for keeping me connected to my Dominican culture as a first­generation American; for teaching me that identity is more than where you are born, it is where you, your blood and family, come from. I would also like to thank the brilliant professors and students that I have grown beside throughout my time at Hampshire College, and within the Five College Consortium. More specifically, I would like to thank professors Rebecca Nordstrom, Helen Scharber, Junko Oba, Carl Clements, and Roosbelinda Cárdenas; my advisors, mentors, and source of emotional support during the stresses of college due­dates. These professors have gone beyond the requirements of their contracts to guide my development as a scholar. Brendan Linehan, William Wright, and Flannery Weiss, my closest peers in college helped me develop my goals, aspirations, and a sense of humor that were critical in building the relationships central to my work. Finally, I would like to thank my collaborators in Dominican Republic; Edis Sánchez, Jesus Guillén, José Luis, Chema, Esteban Brazobán, and Payano “Grandpa.” Without these individuals, my work would have no academic authority. These people volunteered their time, office space, and homes to support my research in the Dominican Republic, and I could never be more grateful. The following Division III Advanced Independent Project is a collaborative piece; written by me, with the contribution and guidance of the people mentioned above, as well as the voices echoed throughout this piece. “Perry­Castañeda Library Map Collection.” University of Texas Libraries. 2004. Introduction The Music in Our Blood ​ ​ Since the beginning of my time as an ethnomusicologist, my questions have always led back to cultures that I identify with, particularly that of the Dominican Republic. As a first­generation American and college student, I wanted to understand the culture I identify with through an academic lens. I wanted to learn how to recreate and advocate for the rhythms that play in the background of my most important memories. However, I was quickly disappointed with my first readings on so­called “Dominican cultural practices.” It seemed that some scholars oversimplified, or generalized, Dominican culture: disregarding the various, complex identities throughout the country, given its relatively small geographical and population size. Scholars who have acknowledged the complexities of Dominican culture introduced critical parallels between merengue, bachata, and Dominican identity. Palo, a prominent rhythm in my life memories, has 1 still however been fairly disregarded. This Division III is my introduction of palo as emblematic of Dominican identity. Through this paper, I reanalyze the Dominican history through a Dominican’s perspective. I will dissect previous research on the Dominican identity, to highlight those scholars who have developed their work through intimate relationships with the field. I will highlight the ways in which palo, a music often ignored by scholars, speaks for the Dominicans forgotten by history. This paper is not disregarding popular musics such as merengue and bachata, as emblematic of Dominican identity. Instead, by highlighting the shift in palo’s presence in the Dominican Republic, I offer a third, traditional, music the repertoire of emblematic genres. Chapter one focuses on previous scholarly work centered on associating Dominican identity to music. I begin with a brief history of the Dominican Republic to highlight the complexities of Dominican identity. Merengue and bachata are the subjects of this chapter given their prominence in scholarly work on the Dominican Republic. Merengue and bachata have historically been synonymous with popular music in the Dominican Republic: merengue rising from top­down, while bachata rose from its grassroots stages. While merengue gained value through political promotion, bachata has been critical in relating to struggles faced by the Dominican populace. I argue, however, that these popular musics disregard certain aspects of Dominican identity that palo honors: aspects that highlight the historical persecution of an Afro­Dominican identity. Chapter two focuses on the historical presence of palo in the Dominican Republic. This chapter highlights palo’s relation to religions, the populace, and governments to explain its 2 importance in Dominican society. I discuss the ways in which practices occurring alongside palo reflect the social and economic conditions faced by the non­elite throughout history. Furthermore, this chapter discusses the informal healing practices that seek to compensate for the inaccessibility of needs such as mainstream medicine. As conditions worsened and needs increased, palo has united communities against the unjust conditions within the country. Chapter two focuses on how palo and its associated practices reflect Dominican identity, as well as how palo has evolved to continuously reflect the ever­changing, and extremely dynamic, Dominican identity. Chapter three draws extensively on my experiences in the Dominican Republic during the fall of 2014. During this time, I traveled throughout the Dominican Republic, exploring the various palo ceremonies throughout the country. As I will mention later, palo is performed differently in the various regions of the Dominican Republic. Because of this, I would like to specify that this chapter reflects palo in Villa Mella, Dominican Republic in the fall of 2014: without this clarification my work would be a generalization that does not do justice to the complexities and variances of palo music and culture within the Dominican Republic. This chapter brings the historical analysis of palo into the present­day Dominican Republic. I focus on how palo has developed since the scholarly work done before me. These developments highlight the continued adaptability of palo, as well as its recent movement into popular culture. Chapter three argues for palo’s importance in Dominican society today. It highlights the current struggles faced and overcome by many Dominicans today, as well as a recently gained acceptance of palo in Dominican society. 3 The research for this piece draws heavily on personal experiences drawing back twenty­one years of my life. Palo, as well as merengue and bachata, play in the background of every memory I hold. I’ve grown in this Dominican culture with equal exposure to the popular musics, as well as our traditional Afro­Dominican genre. However, my academic experience ​ ​ does not reflect this. Academic sources that I have encountered tell me that all Dominicans ​ ​ praise our popular, “modern,” identity, while persecuting our traditional, African roots. The following chapters highlight this contrast, building an argument for palo in the academic world; echoing the voice of the unjustly persecuted throughout time. Thus, together the following chapters develop into elements of Dominican history that are often forgotten. 4 Chapter 1: Representations of Dominican Identity through Music Palo’s significance in reflecting the Dominican identity can be seen by the current perceptions of Dominican identity, as well as the promotion of other musics within the country. Popular musics have gained most academic attention for representing the complex, syncretic identity of the Dominican people. Ethnomusicologists have referred to merengue as a music promoted from top­down; from the government to the people. Bachata, on the other hand, has been referenced as the epitome of bottom­up music; a genre that has been promoted from the lowest classes of the country, eventually giving it significance and reaching the elite. Palo, although largely unexplored, represents a part of Dominican identity that merengue and bachata leave out. Palo represents the persecuted, and often disregarded, historical past of the Dominican Republic and its people. This chapter gives a brief history of the Dominican Republic to highlight current perceptions of Dominican identity. Furthermore, I introduce discussions surrounding merengue and bachata to explore the contrast between these popular forms of music, often depicted as Dominican emblems, and a traditional, Afro­Dominican music, often ignored or persecuted as unpatriotic. Identity in the Dominican Republic Dominican identity can be described differently by each different person in each different region of the Dominican Republic. It is neither static, definitive, nor clear. Nevertheless, an understanding of Dominican history clarifies certain aspects of Dominican identity that are 5 consistent. Understanding the fights for freedom and independence within Dominican borders clarifies the inconsistencies between Dominican self­identification and their ancestry: although there is a large historical presence of Africans, and early extermination of “natives,” a large percentage of Dominicans deny their African roots and claim an indian heritage. Hispaniola, or “Little Spain”, was the name Christopher
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