Candombe: an afrocentrist sociological approach to Uruguayan candombe

Abstract

This article refers to candombe, Uruguay’s national music, from an Afrocentric sociological perspective in which its folk and musical characteristics are omitted to address its artistic expression as a social phenomenon of cultural resistance created by African descendants during the Spanish colonization in Rio de la Plata. The work briefly analyzes the historical development of candombe from its origin as “music of blacks” until its current consideration as “Uruguayan national music”. It is presented a historical synopsis of the term candombe, as well as its differentiation of Candomble, the participatory organization that involves the accomplishment of this, its current relationship with Uruguayan society in terms of acceptance based on results obtained by multidisciplinary studies conducted by historians, musicologists, and anthropologists since the early twentieth century. The article highlights the origin of candombe from an internal perspective to the Afro community where its central role of resistance and conservation of cultural values of different African nations arrived at Rio de la Plata during the eighteenth century, regions where Argentina and Uruguay are located nowadays.