The Composition of Culture

Traditionally in Latin America the contrast between written and oral culture and between elite and popular culture has been strongly marked. This book considers theories regarding the elitist nature of the written word in Latin America, together with theories of popular culture and the history of Caribbean popular music, to examine how the literature and the music inform each other, and how both inform Caribbean social identity. The close readings of the four novels included in this study offer insights on the particular social and historical moments dealt with in each text. The analysis should also help shed light on the recurring phenomenon of the use of popular music in Hispanic Caribbean novels. It should prove useful to students and scholars of Latin American literature and culture in general, as well as to those more broadly interested in the connections between literature and popular music and in the relationship between high and low culture in Latin America.