Mapping Synecdoche: The Place of Place in Cuban Popular Music

The abundant references to place in Cuban music are symptomatic of the “obsession” with constructing and defining a national identity that many writers have noted. In the rhetoric of constructing and defining Cubanness that occupies so much of Cuban culture, place, identity, and music intertwine. Musical genres, as well as the great musicians that play them, are not just found in “authentic places” on the Cuban map; they are born there, even defined by geographical place. This narrative allows for a mutually authenticating feedback loop in which musician authenticates place and place is used to authenticate musician. However, this trialectic of music, place, and identity is increasingly being problematized by certain “alternative” musicians who find themselves positioned “outside the Revolution.” Their places question these somewhat essentialized notions of a placed identity while simultaneously attempting to draw themselves into the musical cartography of Cubanness.