Throwback

by Larnies Bowen

“¿Vieron el desfile?” (”Did you see the parade?) asked Olga as she combed the white alisado cream through the roots of Vanessa’s deep ruby-red hair. “Sí, era puro reggae” (”Yeah, it was pure reggae.”) chimed la asistente in a way that let me know that this was not a good thing. To be honest, I hadn’t been paying much attention to the beauty salon chatter (I was busy re-reading The Devil Behind the Miror by Stephen Gregory) until the topic of conversation switched to reggae and the weekend’s desfile, a parade honoring the nation.

Vanessa, a friend of my aunt’s, was kind enough to let me spend a few days at her home in Paraiso (a small town outside of the city primarily inhabited by the descendents of West Indian Canal Zone workers) while I was looking for an apartment. The Friday night before the parades, Vanessa and I went to the Figali Convention center to hear bands play dianas, a traditional Panamanian music form that was very popular during the month of independence. To my surprise, one of the most popular songs played there at the convention center and throughout the entire month was “Pasalo otra vez,” a song by leading Spanish Reggae artist Jr. Ranks. In between sets, a DJ played all of the hottest Dancehall music from JA and PTY.

During the parade, however, I only heard one reggae song (”Perdoname” by Eddie Lover and La Factoría) during the two days I was in attendance. Therefore, the assistant’s claim that the parade was “puro reggae” was a bit of an exaggeration. Still, Vanessa’s 70-something-year old mother said she knew people who echoed the assistant’s sentiments as well.

Spanish Reggae/ton is everywhere—on the buses, in the stores, on TV, on the radio, in practically all of the discotecas, on people’s cell phones as ringtones, and there’s even “Reggaeton” gum! So why all the fuss about a couple of Reggae songs during the independence parade?

Well I suspect it has to do with the fact that even for all of its popularity, Reggae continues to pay the price of its humble origins in the ghettos of Colón and Panama City. Meaning, even today, many people don’t consider Reggae to be a “legitimate” or “sophisticated” means of cultural expression. I cannot count the number of times, upon learning the focus of my research, Panamanians have responded with something along the lines of “Pero, eso se estudia?” (People study that??).

Reggae’s prominence during the mes de la patria indicates that Reggae is now a part of Panamanian national culture. As the singer Latin Fresh so eloquently stated in an op-Ed piece for La Prensa (a leading Panamanian newspaper): “Whether we like it or not, Spanish Reggae and everything surrounding this topic, is already a part of the Panamanian idiosyncrasy, it directly or indirectly pertains to all Panamanians of all ages […] The movement is part of our lives; therefore, we are obligated to recognize, without taboo, the importance of this movement for Panamanians and for our culture.”

Obviously there is a lot more to be said on this topic. But hopefully, this gives you a glimpse into an important aspect of ethnographic research. Even something as simple and seemingly unrelated as beauty-salon chit-chat can raise some important issues/questions relevant to my research. Furthermore, such casual conversations can be quite revealing of people’s attitudes toward my research topic.

Note: These past few weeks I’ve been poring through my notes while writing a short piece about my research results thus far for possible publication in an academic journal. I came across this post which I started way back when. (November is the mes de la patria). Seeing as though I’ve been really pre-occupied with the academic article, I finished up this entry to give you something to read in the meantime.

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The views and information presented are the Fulbright grantee’s own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State.

Posted By: larnies @ 4:27 pm
Filed under: Larnies, Thoughts

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