Last post, I talked about the concept of ‘home‘ – which got me thinking about the homes that I’ve been invited into on my travels. What I love about this image is the simplicity: family homes in Nicaragua’s farming communities are often just bare mud or concrete floors with a smattering of furniture – an odd mirror, a rudimentary bed shared by the whole family, a table and perhaps a radio hanging from a nail. In the evenings, the neighbours gather on a porch with a guitar and some strong coffee, swap gossip, stories and songs. It’s not uncommon to find whole communities under one roof, or tree, as they delve into the region’s folklore with traditional, patriotic stories that reveal much about Nicaragua’s cultural heritage.
Take El Güegüense, for example: a satirical folk drama – part theatre, part dance – that is well known throughout Nicaragua. Every January, during the feast of San Sebastián, the real action happens with street processions, interspersed by plays, based on the 314 original tales. Masked characters parade through the city of Diriamba in Nicaragua’s Carazo province, stopping to recite their lines and trade jokes with the crowd lining the streets, along with dancers, violins, guitars and drums – a lively synthesis of indigenous and Spanish cultures. According to the Diriamba website:
The stories revolve around encounters between the Spanish colonial authorities and native Americans, represented particularly by the central character, El Güegüense, whose name derives from the Nahuatl term güegüe, a powerful elder figure in pre-Hispanic Nicaragua. The Güegüense defends himself against charges levelled against him by the colonial authorities through a series of clever verbal manoeuvres. Rather than directly confronting or challenging an authority, he attempts to appear consistently co-operative and compliant, while utilizing subterfuge to undermine Spanish authority.
The story of El Güegüense is essentially a protest against colonial rule and is considered one of Latin America’s most distinctive colonial-era expressions, classified by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (particular practices and expressions which help demonstrate diversity and raise awareness about its importance).
You can see a performance of El Güegüense here:
SporkTalk 