The merengue is a music and national dance that has been used to portray nationalism in Dominican Republic. However, the popularity of the music to become the national identity has not always been the case. Merengue trumped Bachata where the music to become the Dominican Republic National Music. This was caused by historical occurrences after Trujillo came into power and promoted the music as he wanted it to portray the national identity of the nation. The United States also contributed to Merengue becoming a national music as it supported Trujillo’s rule and supported increased migration. Merengue trumped Bachata as the national music due to Trujillo’s emphasis on the music to represent national identity and the increasing association of the music with the whiteness and the elite class.
The Merengue music first became associated with the national identity of Dominican Republic during the U.S. occupation that took place between 1916 and 1924. According Lipsitz (2007, p. 136), bourgeois nationalists first embraced the merengue to become a marker of the national identity in order to mobile Dominicans against the U.S. Marines that had occupied the lands. The music was thus first viewed as a form of national identity as it was used to shows resistance to the United States that had occupied the lands of the Dominicans. This marked the beginning of the period where the music genre started to gain in popularity. However, became even more popular when Trujillo established his dictatorship rule and advanced for the popularity of the music.
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Trujillo supported the Merengue music because he wanted to maintain the white and civilized identity throughout his rule. Trujillo took power in a 1930 coup and established a system of dictatorship. He had become popular with the merengue music during his military service as it was played by the light-skinned residents that had lived at the north coast. There were strong associations between the merengue and whiteness. Lipsitz (2007, p.136) observes this by observing that Trujillo placed the power of the state behind the merengue music as a source of national unity since he saw it to be an icon of the nation’s white, Spanish-speaking, and Christian traditions. The culture that the whites had was different from their neighbors in Haiti, Dominican Republic neighbors, who viewed as black, French-speaking people, and practiced voodoo. The result was that Trujillo used Merengue for his personal appearances and for his state functions.
As a dictator, Trujillo also forcefully made merengue become the only music that was played and this increased the popularity of the music. Lipsitz (2007, p.136) observes that no one was allowed to leave while the Trujillo was played until the dictator himself left. Additionally, when Trujillo used the music to direct propaganda, he would have musicians to compose about 500 merengue songs that would support his rule. As a dictator, Trujillo also insisted that the Orquesta San Jose station, established by his brother Jose Arismedi, to play only merengue songs and it did this for approximately two decades (Lipsitz, 2007, p.136). As a dictator, Trujillo had excessive power over the nation and he thus directly influenced the style of music that the nation heard. The result was that the music gained huge popularity and other musicians wanted to associate with it.
The merengue music grew in popularity in the 1950s but also became a tool for racial divide. Throughout this years, Merengue was associated with the Dominican national identity. Lipsitz (2007, p.137) observes how there were popular Dominican bands that created music arrangements of Merengue that featured Mexican rancheras and Brazilian sambas. However, Lipsitz also observes that visual performances and lyrics of the merengue were extremely racial as they adopted “whiteness”. Additionally, some of the songs had dances and steps that were invented by enslaved Africans who had to dance in confined places. The result was that Merengue songs resulted in racial and class divisions as those that did not conform to the idealized images of the music genre observed that it was illegitimate. Even though Merengue was associated with such forms of racism and a hated tyrant, it still remained as the most popular national music.
Even after the assassination of Trujillo that took place in 1961, the popularity of merengue of persisted because it represented the rejection of rural class. Lipsitz (2007, p.139) observes that the public support and secured market success that merengue had received made it become a music that many musicians wanted to associate with. He observes that “musicians from other genres, including the despised rural and lower class bachata often adopted the tempos and instrumentation of merengue” (Lipsitz, 2007, p. 139). The reason they did this was that they wanted to make themselves appear and to sound more respectable. With the musicians advancing the merengue music and rejecting the Bachata because it was associated with the rural and lower class, this meant that the popularity of the music increased over the Bachata.
The migrations to the U.S. also contributed to the rise of the Merengue to become a form of national identity. Lipsitz (2007, p.139) observes that when there was 10 percent of the Dominican population that had migrated from the country, Merengue became more important as it was used to unify the people overseas. However, this also resulted in the changes that saw the transformation of the Merengue music itself. The migration also represented a way for the Dominicans to leave the culture of the Bachata music and to adopt a new form of music in a new country. The genre of music thus shows how geographical changes can affect the traditional music of a nation.
The two music genres of Merengue and Bachata were in opposition as they represented different societal classes. The Bachata style was identified with the dark-skinned poor and working class majority of the nation. The Dominican elites thus rejected such a type of music. On the other hand, Lipsitz (2007, p.135) observes that Merengue was used to show a culture of the light-skinned and wealthy bourgeois. The changes from Bachata to Merengue involved changes from acceptance of dark skin to light skin and changes from the rural to urban. The changes in the lyrics marked a significant change in the Dominican culture. It also showed how a nations traditional culture can undergo transformation.
In conclusion, Trujillo played a big role in having Merengue triumph over Bachata by having the music become the basic and common form of music genre. Merengue music had been initially associated with the upper and elite class. Trujillo having worked in the military with the U.S. had become accustomed to the music because of its whiteness. The result was that he advocated for the popularity of the music because he wanted his rule to have a white identity. He forcefully advocated for the music by having it become the only music genre that was played on the station. The result was that many people increased in their acceptance of the music. The country’s musicians also accepted the style of music and this further increased its popularity. Merengue also had strong associations with racism but this did not affect the popularity of the music genre.
References
Lipsitz, G. (2007). Footsteps in the dark: The hidden histories of popular music . U of Minnesota Press.
