¿Haití es aquí? El mar sin fronteras

Abstract

This text proposes a reflection on the theories of culture and/or lit-
erature originating in different Caribbean countries and their pres-
ence in the continent’s literary and cultural studies. This panel, told
in broad strokes, aims to clarify the beautiful essay entitled La isla
que se repite (The Repeating Island, 1998) by Cuban writer Antonio
Benitez Rojo and, based on this reading, looks at the song Haití by
Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, originally recorded as part of the
record Tropicalia II in 1993.
Benitez Rojo’s proposal brings to light elements found at the foundation of our culture marked by the presence of Africans and their traditions throughout the Americas. In each area and region, a different type of music and rhythm arose, but with the common characteristic of constituting the voice against tyranny. Practically all of the musical expressions of the Americas, including spirituals, sung in the churches of North America, jazz, blues, samba, son, tango, rumba, salsa, merengue, cumbia, etc., are related to the music and rhythm of the Africans from the very first moment they set foot on our continent.