Leiden University Student Repository

Busch, Katharina (2021)

Mapalé: The Coloniality of Commodifying Afro-Colombian Dance in the Context of Cartagena de Indias

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Cultural productions are a reflection of the social context(s) they navigate and are influenced by the different power dynamics in place. This paper seeks to establish how the sexualization and racialization of the black body manifest in the different spaces the Afro-Colombian dance Mapalé and its dancers frequently and permanently occupy in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias. It is argued that social segregation and colonial aesthetic standards both reflect colonial race relations and simultaneously perpetuate colonial stereotypes and the consumption of ‘the other’. The decolonial option provides the theoretical framework for the positioning of the Mercado Cultural del Caribe (MCC) within modernity/coloniality, thereby allowing a critical reflection on the MCC’s ambitions and values in the promotion of Mapalé.

Mapale

Afrocolombianidad

Dance

Cartagena de Indias

Colombia

Author

Busch, Katharina

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Latin America

Supervisors

Lucas, P.S.
Timmer, N.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en