Décima and the Internet: oral literature on the digital stage
Philip Pasmanick 1,075 words The décima (or décima espinela), a 400 year old pan-hispanic tradition, is the most vigorousand widespread of Spanish language oral literature forms. Décima is a primarilyimprovisational and competitive performance, delivered to a musical accompaniment in astrict and challenging metric scheme. Décima began as an erudite literary form duringSpain’s “Golden Age” of literature, but was soon embraced by the masses and spread to theAmericas with the conquest. Décima, therefore, has always existed on two tracks: the oraltradition (often referred to in Spanish as “popular” or “vernacular”) and the written tradition of Cervantes and Rubén Darío, often called “literario” or “culto” (to the fury of the
populares
). Infact the line between the written and oral décimas is blurred; written “literary” décimas areoften recited, while some apparently improvised verses are in fact written by the poet,memorized, and then sung.While oral décima was long an isolated phenomenon often limited to rural communities,disdained by the “cultured” poets and the universities and rarely present on mass media (exceptin Cuba) since about 1990 the art form has experienced a modest revival. One result has been aseries of international décima festivals, typically with an academic symposiumattached. Poets and researchers who had long labored in isolation suddenly came in contactwith their comrades (and therefore, rivals) from a dozen countries. As many poets have said,ironically or not, a form of globalization has reached this venerable art.Given these four conditions (the parallel existence of written and oral forms, theimprovisational imperative, the intercontinental scope, and university presence, with all itsresources), it is not surprising that décima has made itself at home on the Internet. Manyexcellent research papers are available on-line, as well as anthologies and recordings,professional and amateur, of which more later.But the real innovation is that décima is not only discussed or reproduced on the net, it ispracticed under conditions that in important ways emulate and honor the spirit of the oraltradition. I have found numerous “controversias” (one-on-one décima duels) particularly indiscussion groups, such as Google group soc.culture.puerto-rico and alt.spanish.usage.This sort of heated public exchange on a contemporary topic of real interest to the participantsis very close to the spirit of an improvised décima debate, and there are examples going backto 1996 at least. These “controversias” are entirely spontaneous and represent a genuinepleasure in the process for its own sake; they are not self-conscious exercises in folklore.
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