Música popular y nacionalismo en los campamentos insurgentes. Cuba (1895-1898)

Abstract

This article reconstructs the social uses of the décimas (ten-line stanzas) sung in the insurgent camps during the war for independence that began in Cuba in 1895. Through a review of personal diaries, newspapers, and photos of the conflict, the article attempts to answer various questions: What emotions did this poetic musical genre produce in the everyday life of the combatants? How did the war affect such cultural practices? Is it possible to find black and mulatto decimistas among the Cuban troops? What role did officers play in these everyday forms of expression about the political life of the country?

Keywords

• music
• Cuba
• nationalism
• popular culture
• race
• genre
• décimas