Puerto Rico's Sung Newspaper: The Plena

Book Presentation & Discussion

Sep 27, 2018 @ 7:00pm

Néstor Murray-Irizarry, historian and founder of Casa Paoli, a research and cultural center in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and J. Emanuel Dufrasne Gonzalez of the bomba and plena group Paracumbé will present their new book on plena entitled, ‘La plena puertorriqueña: nuevas fuentes para su estudio.’ Plena is a traditional musical genre from Puerto Rico that has been called the “sung newspaper” (periodico cantado) because, historically, the lyrics were narratives telling of events and happenings in the community. Following the book presentation there will be a performance of pandereta (the drum used in plena) and discussion about the Spain-North African-Puerto Rican-connections (the drums used in plena were once called tambores árabes). Baba Antonio Mondesire and Bobby Sanabria will talk about these cultural and musical connections and will be joined by Puerto Rican poet Victor Hernandez Cruz, visiting from Morocco, whose poetry has often reflected Puerto Rico’s Andalusian legacy. Free and open to the public.