1 Looking Through a Prism: Questioning Cuban Music and Cuban Music Research1

Representations of Cuban music in the Western world have been predominantly confined to dance genres or nostalgic love songs from before the 1959 revolution. More recently there has been a focus on genres such as reggae and hip-hop, suggesting that these are expressions of ‘black identity ’ for an increasingly disempowered section of the Cuban population. However, many ‘Afro-Cuban” contemporary singer-songwriters (trovadores) follow a long tradition of provocative commentary on society through a broad category of song known as ’trova’. As Cuban music has negotiated its way back into the global music industry, in spite of the U.S imposed economic blockade, trovadores are discussing what identity means in today’s context. This paper attempts to tease out ideas behind competing notions of identity. I will be drawing on discussion held with trovadores in Cuba, as well as ideas of race and colour in relation to the construction of identity. Edward Said’s “politics of cultural representation ” and the role of the media in “pacification [and] the depoliticization of ordinary life ” will also be explored to develop an understanding of the problems associated with essentialising notions of blackness