Bachata A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music

by Deborah Pacini Hernández, Deborah Pacini

Like rap in the United States, bachata began as a music of the poor and dispossessed. Originating in the shantytowns of the Dominican Republic, it reflects the social and economic dislocation of the poorest Dominicans.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

381 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 1995

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slumdog music goes legit

If ethnomusicology is not your bag, you might consider giving this book a miss. The author hits you with everything she's got and it's not an easy read, but she's got a lot. That's why I'm giving it five stars. I found far more information than I could absorb, mainly because I'm not so into Dominican music. I like it, of course, or I wouldn't have picked this book, but I nearly sank under the load of names of singers, players, recording studios, slums of Santo Domingo, and more. Never mind, this is really a great book of ethnomusicology and the reason I say so is that Pacini Hernandez ties Dominican political, social, and economic history so well to the music content. The book is organized both thematically and chronologically. She traces the origins of bachata, a formerly lower class musical style that was popular in the countryside and in the slums.

Beginning with the Trujillo era, she shows how that dictator's tyranny forced great numbers of people into urban slums. Political strife and corrupt governments after Trujillo's demise continued to push people out of the rural areas. They brought bachata with them. They had weekend parties or music performed in the bars, whorehouses, and colmados (kind of convenience stores). Vendors sold 45 rpm records on the streets. The national radio refused to play bachata. "...Bachata's appeal has rested precisely on its ability to articulate the needs and concerns of people being forced to adapt to the difficulties of the urban experience under conditions of extreme poverty." Middle and upper class Dominicans scorned bachata as crude and primitive. Merengue was the accepted "class Dominican" thing to listen to. The author shows how, in the early 90s, some new, musically-trained performers brought about a change of attitude and bachata suddenly became accepted as a real Dominican form, even popular.

Five elements---the music, the performers, the audience, the media of transmission, and social context---are covered extremely well. I felt I learned a great deal about Dominican society by reading about its music. That's the top achievement in ethnomusicology. If you want a book that does for Dominican music what "Sugarball" did for Dominican baseball, you've come to the right place.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great details but needs to be updated to include Bachata's status and evolution today.