Ritmo, irreverencia y resistencia en El Velorio de Francisco Oller y Cesteros, Tuntún de pasa y grifería de Luis Palés Matos y El entierro de Cortijo de Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá

Abstract

It is not uncommon for discussions of national representations to focus on a single facet of a country. In Puerto Rico, heterogeneous identities have also been neglected, ignoring the fact that these diverse forms of existence have been present since the earliest artistic expressions on the island. For instance, in Francisco Oller’s El velorio (1893), a syncretic funeral is depicted, highlighting the contrast between European solemnity and irreverent Antillean behavior. The representation of death in Puerto Rican culture possesses tragicomic attributes that validate both the ease of grief and the sacred silence of the deceased, as well as profane joy and funeral scandal. Thus, what does the behavior of those who, in some way, celebrate in the face of bodily decomposition reveal to us? To what extent is death elevated to performance through music and dance? In this regard, Tuntún de pasa y grifería (1937) by Luis Palés Matos and El entierro de Cortijo (1983) by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá provide some key insights, based on the premise that Puerto Rican culture, being produced in a nation at risk, engages in a struggle against oblivion. Additionally, it is of interest to explore how the relationship between music and death translates into an element of resistance in a politically decomposing country.