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IS-BILAT-Mobilitet Norge-USA /Canada

"The musicality of Cuban politics - and the politics of Salsa Cubana". Exploring the interface between politics and music in today´s Cuba.

Awarded: NOK 0.16 mill.

This PhD project aims at exploring the relationship between rhythm structures, lyrics and political ideologies in today's Salsa Cubana. Following the ideological crisis of 1991 national patriotism and the ideas of the revolution have become increasingly s ignificant and have made an impact on musical politics in Cuba (Perna 2005). By using Salsa Cubana both to market Cuba as a tourist destination and to represent Cuba in celebrations of the revolution Salsa Cubana articulates contradictions in today's Cub a. There are different levels of meaning in Salsa Cubana. One central point of interest in Salsa Cubana concerns the meanings contained in the idea of Cubanness (cubanía) and Afro-Cubanness, and how these translate into being supportive of the revolutio n. On a contrastive note, the darker side of post-socialist Cuba is also addressed; social issues such as prostitution, migration and a growing black market. (Moore 2006, 2009, Perna 2005). In the words of Robinson: The music of Cuba is the real news. Tho se who make the music are the journalists, analysts, social commentators. (Xi: 2004). However, the conditions for communicating social and political matters in Salsa Cubana-lyrics and performance are governed by the intensely seducing polyrhythmic groove- structures in the music and the bodily pleasure it generates. Central to this research project is therefore to study how the interplay between polyrhythmic groove structures (Danielsen 2006, 2010, Klette Bohler 2008), lyrics (Castanella 2004) and performa tive qualities (Perna 2005) in Salsa Cubana challenge or support revolutionary values in today's Cuba. In my research design I will combine ethnographic studies of the reception of particular salsa hits with detailed analysis of the polyrhythmic groove structures of these hits, with a particular focus on how the latter can be linked to the body-aesthetic qualities of the music experience. In addition textual analysis of the lyrics will be performed.

Funding scheme:

IS-BILAT-Mobilitet Norge-USA /Canada