In Unmasking Class, Gender, and Sexuality in Nicaraguan Festival , Katherine Borland places select Nicaraguan festivals under the folkloristic microscope and focuses its lenses to reveal aspects of class, gender, and sexuality. In doing so, she explores the dynamic relationship between tradition and change. Using the vehicle of festival, she sets out to reveal influences of changing political, religious, socioeconomic, and neighborhood forces upon popular culture, in this case the cultural production of ordinary Nicaraguans.
Borland researched the history of Nicaraguan popular festivals, recognizing the early, leading, and central role of the city of Masaya. Her book concentrates on festivals, especially the Festival of St. James, celebrated in the Nicaraguan cities of Masaya and Monimbó. She pinpoints the festival components and their cross-fertilization, for example, the Wagon Pilgrimage that began in Monimbó and now reaches Masaya (as part of the St. Jerome festival of Masaya) and Rivas. Borland describes recent festivals in light of contemporary individuals, groups, and events that have directly or indirectly shaped changes over time. She observes differences across time and space and seeks to explain contributing causes or conditions.
Borland explores the tensions between religion, politics, and ethnic groups that compete to emerge as the dominant identity foregrounded in the performative and broader dimensions of the festival, such as, devotional practices and costumes. The words used by participants and organizers to refer to the festival, e.g., “attraction,” reflect the commercialization of events used today, in part, to draw tourists and generate profits for cities.
Borland follows the threads of cross-fertilization and cross-cultivation of festivals and their components in world where communications and travel expand the boundaries of the local. She shows how the influence of politics, religion, and socioeconomic conditions affect the character and themes of festival events, the number and motivations of participants, and many aspects of their enactment from year to year. She illustrates how the benefits of political support, economic and participatory, are balanced by the strains of vying polarized political interests. Political, religious, and secular themes, interests, and personalities compete for prominence. Whereas in the past festival events took place in a single neighborhood or community or along a marked pilgrimage path, more recently these events may be community-wide or may even attract broader participation, including tourists.
With regard to class, Borland describes the impact of the overthrow of the Somoza regime and the enthusiasm of Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista government (1979-1990) for festivals representing the common man and reflecting ideals of the revolution. The Sandinista embrace of popular culture (especially by the president and first lady) gave recognition and respect and injected significant money into festival development. At the same time, the religious dimension became less prominent, reflecting the less religious nature of the Sandinista party. In a paradoxical twist, the Sandinista government’s endorsement of a national folk ballet based in the capital city of Managua created a dissonance between the ballet’s formal elegance and the traditional popular festival. Borland describes how, interestingly, popular festival began to imitate its refined depiction.
With the change from the more secular Sandinista era to the neoliberal governments of Violetta Chamorro and then Arnoldo Alemán, religion took center stage but financial support for festivals lagged and wealthier community residents gained authority, bringing their values with them. Depictions of indigenous identity and such events as the Inditas Dance of Monimbó were dropped. Practices of heavy drinking and celebration of the common man were replaced by more emphasis on an aesthetic of whiteness and restrained elegance.
With regard to gender, males in Nicaragua have historically dominated positions of control and authority. Using numerous examples, Borland documents how over time women have come to play increasingly important and prominent roles in the festivals as organizers, performers, and participants.
Concerning sexuality, the Central American and Mexican tradition that defined transvestism as male to female is purported to have been “a form of social control that male authorities exert over women.” This is consistent with the traditional Spanish and mestizo gender roles that gave males authority over women and restricted women’s authority largely to childrearing and homemaking. The Sandinista revolutionary movement increased women’s authority, constitutionally recognized their equality, and encouraged pursuit of professional careers. However, males continue to dominate and enjoy benefits of a double standard that will require many generations to totally overcome.
In order to demonstrate their veneration of St. Jerome, the residents of Monimbó enacted bull fights ( torovenados ) and two types of dances: the indigenous Dance of the Inditas and the marimba Dance of Negras, where half of the all-male group cross-dressed as women. Borland explores aspects of sexuality through the latter of these, the Baile de Negras. She traces the course of male cross-dressing from its roots in indigenous ritual to a mestizo cultural practice. She argues that in Nicaragua the festival practice of male cross-dressing is meant to emphasize the mestizo rather than indigenous character of the people. Borland also sees the maintenance of this and other traditions as a backdrop providing necessary contrast to give legitimacy to innovation.
Borland explores the synergy between folklore and popular culture and other forces in society, particularly politics and community groups. She affirms that festivals offer something for everyone and retain threads of history. Many festivals contain syncretism whereby features of pre-Christian ritual are used in the context of a Christian celebration, e.g., to honor a Catholic saint. Originally, indigenous people used their vocabulary of words and symbolic gestures, arising out of their traditional religious beliefs, to describe and worship the new Christian personages of Christ, his mother, and the saints. Borland points out that Nicaraguan festivals contain aspects of this indigenous heritage, including the torovenados that feature masqueraders.
Borland describes how all over the globe people have used carnival as a medium of self-expression, often to resist hegemony. The context of carnival gives participants license to comment and criticize, to applaud their historic origins, and to showcase their identity as they see it. In this special time and space people may choose to critique an identity which has been imposed on them by outsiders and which they are pressured to display in everyday life. Or, as she shows, they may choose to showcase an identity they prefer and claim as their own.
Festival behaviors mirror the changing pressures that come to bear on the lives of community residents. Borland shows that following year-to-year variations provides great insight into the changing perceptions of the populace. The impact of changing politics, religious views, economic conditions, and social values manifests in what is depicted and how it is depicted (e.g., choice of costume, music, choreography). Borland uses the torovenado masquerades of Masaya to illustrate how, through parody and imitation, festival participants can display acceptance or rejection of outside forces and traditional identities.
Borland’s study focuses on the periods of the Sandinista government, which invested heavily in popular culture, and the neoliberal governments that followed, describing the impact of each change of government. With the return of Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government, it will be fascinating to see how much attention will be paid to popular culture and what form that attention might take. How will things be different this time around? Will President Ortega select local festivals as venues for meeting with communities? The new government contrasts sharply in many ways with the previous Sandinista regime. Ortega is more mature, more aligned with the Catholic Church, and reaches out to a much broader spectrum of political groups. It would be fascinating to learn from the festival organizers and participants how they plan to apply lessons learned over the past decades to their future interactions with national politicians. Perhaps Borland will consider a second edition?
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[Review length: 1273 words • Review posted on June 5, 2007]