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omnipoetics:black_majesty [2025/03/02 17:21] – [Untranslated Text] angelaomnipoetics:black_majesty [2025/04/24 00:56] (current) – [Key Words/Terms] angela
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 +<WRAP center round info 60%>
 +//The Serpent and the Fire// (pp. 360-361)\\
 +</WRAP>
 +
 ====== Black Majesty ====== ====== Black Majesty ======
 Author: Luis Palés Matos (1898 - 1959) Author: Luis Palés Matos (1898 - 1959)
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 ====== Palés Matos's Black Poetry ====== ====== Palés Matos's Black Poetry ======
- 
 He explored the theme of //negrismo// (negritude) in the context of Puerto Rico’s conflictive relation to its own Afro-Antillean roots, taking an ambivalent stance. His collection of poems //Tuntún de pasa y grifería// (1937) is considered one of the classic foundational texts of Afro-Caribbean poetry in Spanish, with the Haitian Revolution showing up in several of the poems. The book has encountered conflictive readings throughout the years.  He explored the theme of //negrismo// (negritude) in the context of Puerto Rico’s conflictive relation to its own Afro-Antillean roots, taking an ambivalent stance. His collection of poems //Tuntún de pasa y grifería// (1937) is considered one of the classic foundational texts of Afro-Caribbean poetry in Spanish, with the Haitian Revolution showing up in several of the poems. The book has encountered conflictive readings throughout the years. 
-He has been criticised for being a white poet offering a stereotypical representation of blacks in the Caribbean, reducing them to sexualized, exotic dancing figures. On the other hand, he has been celebrated for defending Puerto Rico's national identity as a heterogeneous mixture of culture and peoples, in his ambiguously ironic use of words and elements that characterize the islands.   +He has been criticised for being a white poet offering a stereotypical representation of blacks in the Caribbean, reducing them to sexualized, exotic dancing figures. On the other hand, he has been celebrated for defending Puerto Rico's national identity as a heterogeneous mixture of culture and peoples, in his ambiguously ironic use of words and elements that characterize the islands. 
 +   
 ===== Key Words/Terms ===== ===== Key Words/Terms =====
   - Antillean - Antilles is an archipelago in the Caribbean.   - Antillean - Antilles is an archipelago in the Caribbean.
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   - Steatopygous - big butt / In Puerto Rico: "Culipandeando", meaning rythmically moving one's butt when walking.    - Steatopygous - big butt / In Puerto Rico: "Culipandeando", meaning rythmically moving one's butt when walking. 
   - Flower of Tórtola - white cedar flower, the territorial flower of The Virgin Islands.    - Flower of Tórtola - white cedar flower, the territorial flower of The Virgin Islands. 
-  - Bombas and bambulas - percussion instruments. +  - Bombas and bámbulas - percussion instruments. 
   - Ñáñiga blood - from the Cuban Abakuá society.    - Ñáñiga blood - from the Cuban Abakuá society. 
   - Melao, melamba - Refers to thick molasses in Puerto Rico. In colloquial language, it is used to express admiration.    - Melao, melamba - Refers to thick molasses in Puerto Rico. In colloquial language, it is used to express admiration. 
- 
- 
-  
  
 ===== Poem's Meaning ===== ===== Poem's Meaning =====
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 ===== Untranslated Text ===== ===== Untranslated Text =====
 <poem> <poem>
- 
 **Majestad Negra, por Luis Palés Matos** **Majestad Negra, por Luis Palés Matos**
  
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 —rumba, macumba, candombe, bámbula— —rumba, macumba, candombe, bámbula—
 va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba. va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba.
 +</poem>
 +
 +===== Black Majesty in different media =====
 +{{:omnipoetics:01.carloscancio.jpg?nolink&400 |}}
 +
 +Matos' poem has also influenced other artists from different categories. For instance, Puerto Rican painter and sculptor Carlos Cancio, who sought to represent the Afro-Antillano beauty in his 2003 painting called "Por la encendida calle Antillana va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba", exhibited at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Art_of_Puerto_Rico|Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico]]. Matos' Black Majesty inspired music artists to perform his poem in various styles, like this 2019 version by the People of Earth project (watch video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rPvHt57GiY|here]]).     
 +
 +Figure 1: Cancio's "Por la encendida calle Antillana va Tembandumba de la Quimbamba" (2003)
  
 ===== Resources ===== ===== Resources =====
- 
    - [[https://cosaspr.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/black-majesty/|Word Press]].    - [[https://cosaspr.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/black-majesty/|Word Press]].
    - [[https://entanglementsjournal.wordpress.com/puerto-rican-racial-politics-performance-bomba/|Word Press]].    - [[https://entanglementsjournal.wordpress.com/puerto-rican-racial-politics-performance-bomba/|Word Press]].
    - [[https://www.asale.org/damer/|Diccionario de Americanismos. Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española]].     - [[https://www.asale.org/damer/|Diccionario de Americanismos. Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española]]. 
-   - [[https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/oa_monograph/chapter/1476863|Figueroa, V. (2015). Between Mackandal and Tembandumba: Luis Palés Matos's Haitian Poems. //Prophetic Visions of the Past:Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution. The Ohio State University Press. pp.64-69.  +   - https://www.mapr.org/en/art/artwork/por-la-encendida-calle-antillana-va-tembandumba-de-la-quimbamba 
- +   - [[https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/oa_monograph/chapter/1476863|Figueroa, V. (2015). Between Mackandal and Tembandumba: Luis Palés Matos's Haitian Poems. Prophetic Visions of the Past:Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution. The Ohio State University Press. pp.64-69]]. 
- +   - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rPvHt57GiY

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