Society and Culture: The New Cultural Geography of Latin America

Source: https://cadenaser.com/ser/2019/08/31/cultura/1567250385_602885.html

By: Tommy O’Donnell

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the KCL Latin American Society or El Cortao.

When flamenco artist Rosalía came on to the Spanish music scene in 2017, Spaniards were both intrigued and entranced by her angelic vocals and creative direction — a twenty-something from Catalunya dabbling in the traditional art form of Andalucía was an oddity, but her growing success made her undoubtedly the hottest name in Spain. As her star grew brighter and despite her university-level flamenco education, her music ignited conversations within Spain about art and the people who make it; should this Catalan girl with no link to the Spanish south be the face of flamenco? Does she have the right to dramatically alter flamenco’s sound with trap and hip-hop influences? These questions, however, were just the precursor to a much wider discussion about what Rosalía’s artistry, and that of those similar to her, represents.

As Rosalía’s star continued rising, she started dabbling in other genres of music, notably reggaeton. Although her venture into this culture is harmless at first sight, what followed sparked an important conversation amongst Latino music lovers: what is Latin music? Or perhaps more fittingly, who is Latin music? In 2017 the singer received her first Latin Grammy Awards nomination in the category ‘Best New Artist’. It is not unique for Spaniards to be featured in the Latin Grammys; in fact, David Bisbal and Bebe, two Spanish artists were successful in that exact category in the early 2000’s. Additionally, in 2019 Rosalía came up victorious in the night’s biggest category, ‘Album of the Year’. This confused many, as Rosalía is… not Latin. The issue here is not with the Latin Recording Academy itself, but more so that the phrase ‘Latin music’ does not have a concrete definition agreed upon by everyone.

To figure out what ‘Latin music’ itself even means, we have to go back to the very origin of the word ‘Latin’. Merriam Webster has multiple definitions, but the most sensible and relevant describes it as “relating to the peoples or countries using Romance languages”. Romance languages are a family of languages which you will undoubtedly be familiar with; Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian are the most prominent. So should the Latin Grammys include French-, Italian- and Romanian-language music too? Well, the dictionary suggests not, as the sub-definition notes that ‘Latin’ “specifically relates to the peoples or countries of Latin America”, and although it may seem too nitpicky to consult dictionaries and origins to figure out what ‘Latin’ really means, it only reinforces that we as an in-tune society understand that being Latin is not the same as being Hispanic, and that ‘Latin music’ is the music of Latin America. 

Although still an important discussion, awards shows are not the be all and end all of Latin music and Latin culture — but what this inclusion of non-Latin American artists in the Latin Recording Academy and any other similar body arguably does is re-colonise the Latin American experience. When we compare Spain, a comparably rich and powerful European nation with Latin America, a less-developed region, we see more space being taken away from those who cannot find it otherwise. A show celebrating Latin-ness should not be taken over by those who are widely recognised as non-Latin, especially because the resources and opportunities that those from more-developed nations naturally inherit give the already-powerful an unequal step up.

So what does our understanding of ‘Latin music’ have to do with “The New Cultural Geography of Latin America”? For a long time, Latin culture stayed in Latin America and amongst Latin American communities, but in recent years many elements of Latin culture, especially pop culture, have become in vogue; for example, Latin music. As always, when something smells of success it attracts those who want a taste — including those who have no business taking a bite. After the global reggaeton explosion of 2017, artists from English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US made it routine to have a Spanish-language feature or a so-called ‘latin flair’ in their music, as well as many artists from Spain creating music inside the reggaeton genre. Perhaps ‘bastardisation’ is too strong a word, but the above instances exemplify the willingness of those from more advantaged regions to embrace a culture only when it suits them. Whether it be Spaniards at the Latin Grammys, a rogue collab or another Lola Índigo song, history is repeating itself as the rich cultures of foreign lands are invaded, stolen and repurposed to appease the thieves. It’s time those thieves start celebrating the Latin people who made the Latin culture in the first place.

Tommy is a third year Spanish & Portuguese student from the UK with a keen interest in language learning and global politics. He enjoys writing about current political affairs and turmoil, especially in Latin America.