Book description
As contemporary Tambú music and dance evolved on the Caribbean island
of Curaçao, it intertwined sacred and secular, private and public
cultural practices, and many traditions from Africa and the New World.
As she explores the formal contours of Tambú, Nanette de Jong
discovers its variegated history and uncovers its multiple and even
contradictory origins. De Jong recounts the personal stories and
experiences of Afro-Curaçaoans as they perform Tambu-some who complain
of its violence and low-class attraction and others who champion Tambú
as a powerful tool of collective memory as well as a way to imagine
the future.
"Examines the practice of Tambú that is associated with the
syncretic religious tradition of Montamentu using memory as a framing
device for understanding the African-derived cultural values, musical
expressions, and socio-politically resistant behaviors against
dominant European-based ideals of acceptability." -Michael
Largey, Michigan State University
Nanette de Jong is Senior Lecturer at the International Centre for
Music Studies, Newcastle University.
