THE CARNAVAL DE BARRANQUILLA: IDENTITY AND STRUGGLE
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Universidad Industrial de Santander
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RESUMENLa búsqueda por la construcción de una nación y de una identidad nacional y cultural colombiana ha sido motivo de preocupación desde el siglo XIX. La dificultad para llegara un acuerdo en dicha construcción no ha sido causada por una falta de visión al respecto, sino por el hecho de que la existencia de varias visiones de nación puestas en juego, las cuales emergieron e implícita, o explícitamente, lucharon con lo que fue considerado el dilema de la formación de un ciudadano en una sociedad impulsada por diferencias sociales, étnicas y raciales.Un sitio interesante para el análisis de dichas diferencias es el de las fiestas del Carnaval de Barranquilla. Este carnaval ofrece claves no solo con respecto a las tradiciones culturales, sino en el campo de la formación y negociación ideológicas. En el Camaval, existe un juego entre la reafirnación de las tradiciones hegemónicas y la parodia que las trastoca. Esta ruptura en las fiestas no elimina las jerarquías ni las inequidades, sino que su irreverencia abre una relación mas libre, menos fatalista a las convenciones heredadas que bien pueden representar un indicador de la identidad individual y colectiva y, como tal, se prueba indispensable a las luchas por reconocimiento por parte de las minorías reprimidas.
SUMMARYThe quest to construct a nation and a shared and distinctively 'Colombian' national/cultural identity has been a matter of great concern since the nineteenth century. The difficulty in agreeing on the construction of the nation was not caused by a lack of vision, but on the fact that there were various "competing national visions" which emerged, and almost all of which "implicitly or explicitly grappled with what was widely considered the dilemma of constructing citizens in a society driven by social, ethnic and racial differences.An interesting space for the analysis of such differences can be found in Carnival celebrations. The Carnaval de Barranquilla offers insights not only into the realm of the cultural traditions, but into the domain of ideological formation and negotiation as well. In carnival, there is a play between the reaffirmation of hegemonic traditions and the parody that subverts them. This rupture of the fiesta does not eliminate hierarchies and inequalities, but its irreverense opens a freer, less fatalistic relation to inherited conventions that may well represent a marker of individual and collective identity, and as such can prove central to strtiggles for recognition on the part of repressed minorities.
SUMMARYThe quest to construct a nation and a shared and distinctively 'Colombian' national/cultural identity has been a matter of great concern since the nineteenth century. The difficulty in agreeing on the construction of the nation was not caused by a lack of vision, but on the fact that there were various "competing national visions" which emerged, and almost all of which "implicitly or explicitly grappled with what was widely considered the dilemma of constructing citizens in a society driven by social, ethnic and racial differences.An interesting space for the analysis of such differences can be found in Carnival celebrations. The Carnaval de Barranquilla offers insights not only into the realm of the cultural traditions, but into the domain of ideological formation and negotiation as well. In carnival, there is a play between the reaffirmation of hegemonic traditions and the parody that subverts them. This rupture of the fiesta does not eliminate hierarchies and inequalities, but its irreverense opens a freer, less fatalistic relation to inherited conventions that may well represent a marker of individual and collective identity, and as such can prove central to strtiggles for recognition on the part of repressed minorities.