Merengue and Dominican identity : music as national unifier / Julie A. Sellers ; foreword by Stephen C. Ropp.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sellers, Julie A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Merengue (Dance).

National characteristics, Dominican.

Dominican Republic--Politics and government.

Dominican Republic.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiii, 225 pages : illustrations, 1 map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., [2004]

Summary:

The merengue is internationally recognized as the Dominican Republic's national dance, an integral and unifying element of Dominican identity. Although Dominicans often claim that merengue has always been in their blood, the dance is relatively young, and its popularity among Dominicans of all social classes and ages is even more recent. This book looks at the merengue as a unifying symbol, pointing out that Dominican identity and the merengue have been fluid in order to encompass different cultural and ethnic groups. Chapters examine why the merengue has become a stronger identity symbol when the nation is perceived to be threatened from outside, and how the white, Catholic, Hispanic Dominican has long been held as the "true" Dominican identity, causing the dance to become progressively "whitened" in terms of performers and style. Photographs of key figures of Dominican history and merengue artists across the decades are included, along with a complete bibliography.

Contents:

Colonial legacy

Dominican identity and the Haitian other

Fragmentation, personalism, violence and economic ruin: the period of the great caudillos

Merengue's first steps: 1844-1916

U.S. occupation and Dominican nationalism

In step: merengue in the era of Trujillo

Post-Trujillo politics: continuity and change

Post-Trujillo merengue: tradition, innovative freedom and ethnic questioning

Merengue and transnational identities

Caribbean comparisons.

Notes:

Based on the author's thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-218) and index.

ISBN:

078641815X

OCLC:

56096852