ETHNOMUS 108B Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Anastasio Somoza García, Marimba, Mariachi
13 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 12 05/10/2016
Music and Nationalism in Nicaragua
● Geographically the biggest country in Central America
○ 6 Million people
○ Corn farmers, grow tobacco, coffee,
○ The land of poetry
○ Ladino: mixed spanish and indigenous heritage
Timeline
● 500 BC: Pipil migrated from central Mexico
● 1524: Leon and Granada founded by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba
● 1530s: Nicarao converts to Christianity; Diriangen leads resistance
○ Indigenous leaders
● 1838: Nicaragua becomes independent republic
● 1840s and 50s: Civil war between elites in Leon and Granada
● 1856: William Walker installed as president
● 1909: President Zelaya disposed by US military
● 1912-1933: Occupation by US military
● 1927-1933: Guerrilla war led by Augusto Cesar Sandino
● 1937-1956: Anastasio Somoza Garcia in power
● 1979: Sandinista revolution
● 1981-1985: Civil War, Iran-Contra scandal
● 1990- end of Sandinista decade
● 2006: Sandinista return to power
Imagined community
● The nation is an imagined political community and imagined as both inherently limited and
sovereign
● A real face-to-face community to something that is more conceptual
● The national as an imagined community
○ Tough to say Nicaragua became a nation when it gained its independence
○ What changed that allowed people to think of themselves as Nicaraguans?
● Music was one of the things that allowed people to think of themselves as an imagined
community
Son Nicaraguense: Son Nica
● National genre
● Mexican imports: mariachi music and film
● Camilo Zapata
○ 1930s: take the framework of Mexican genres and add something specific to it
○ Marimba de arco: came from Africa
■ Has arch
■ Rest keys on knees
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
■ Played by the indigenous people of Nicaragua
■ Seen as an indigenous instrument
■ Distinct Nicaraguan sound in Son Nica
■ Camilo Zapata: muted downbeat followed by two strong beats
● Son Nica rhythm
○ “El Solar de Monimbo” Camilo Zapata’s most famous song
■ Nicaraguan Indigenous town
■ Rhythmic pattern: Muted downbeat followed by two strong beats
○ 1938: first radio station founded in Managua
■ First time popular music in Nicaragua
Modernist Reformism
● This is the process of how nationalist music gets made throughout Latin America
● Projects based on the idea that a new culture, or new genres, styles, and practices, should be
forged as a synthesis of the best or most valuable aspects of local traditional culture and the best
of foreign modern lifeways and technologies
○ Thomas Turino
○ syncretism/ hybridity
○ Son Nica:
■ Nicaraguan marimba and Mexican mariachi
○ Twin paradoxes of nationalism: local specific thing combined with international sound
Volcanto
● “Volcano songs”
○ Aka música de protesta, música testimonial, nueva canción, nueva trova, or música
pinolera
○ Began in 1970s and very popular in 1980s
● Characteristics:
○ Overtly political lyrics
○ Use of Nicaraguan dialect, folk music, and geography
○ Carlos and Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy
■ Two most important composers
■ Composed 100s of these songs
■ From Somoto: German influence- accordion
● Example: “Que es el F.A.L” by Carlos and Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy
○ F.A.L rifle
○ How to violently resist the dictatorship
○ 1978
○ Right when the revolution was going on
○ Directions on how to use a rifle used by the national guard
■ In case you steal the gun: here’s how to use it
● Example: “Nicaragua Nicaraguita” by Carlos Mejia Godoy
○ Considered second national anthem
○ 1980
○ Imagined community
○ “Blood of Diriangen”: Nicaragua projected backwards into indigenous history
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Geographically the biggest country in central america. 500 bc: pipil migrated from central mexico. 1524: leon and granada founded by francisco hernandez de cordoba. 1530s: nicarao converts to christianity; diriangen leads resistance. 1840s and 50s: civil war between elites in leon and granada. 1909: president zelaya disposed by us military. 1927-1933: guerrilla war led by augusto cesar sandino. The nation is an imagined political community and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign. A real face-to-face community to something that is more conceptual. Tough to say nicaragua became a nation when it gained its independence. Music was one of the things that allowed people to think of themselves as an imagined community. 1930s: take the framework of mexican genres and add something specific to it. Played by the indigenous people of nicaragua. Camilo zapata: muted downbeat followed by two strong beats. El solar de monimbo camilo zapata"s most famous song. Rhythmic pattern: muted downbeat followed by two strong beats.
