Afro-Descendants in Argentina and Uruguay
A concentrated focus on Montevideo and Buenos Aires
Glossary
blackface theater
teatro bufo:
āa person of indeterminate racial ancestry, neither black nor whiteā (Andrews, Afro-Argentines 224)
trigueƱo:
evening of music, poetry, speeches, and readings
velada:
āa Latin-American of mixed indigenous and African ancestryā (Merriam Webster)
zambo:
Term
Definition
please see āporteƱoā
afroporteƱo:
colonial euphemism for blacks
morenos:
originally referring to a person of mixed black and white ancestry, out of date
mulato:
racially mixed (black and white)
negra-blanca:
blacks
negros:
white people parading in black or blackface Carnival comparsas
negros lubolos:
our race
nuestra raza:
colonial term used to refer to people of European, African, and Indigenous/Amerindian descent
pardo:
somebody from Buenos Aires, afroporteƱo refers to a person that has African ancestry and is from Buenos Aires
porteƱo:
River Plate or La Plata river, also referring to the region between Montevideo and Buenos Aires
RĆo de la Plata/rioplatense:
ānation courtsā āmutual aid societies organized on basis of African origins
salas de naciĆ³n:
colored society
sociedad de color:
drums
tambores:
Afro-Argentine
afroargentino:
racially mixed (African and white)
afro-blanca:
Afro-descendents
afrodescendientes:
Afro-Uruguayans
afrouruguayos:
South American territories east to the Uruguay river and north of the Rio de la Plata
Banda Oriental:
typical River Plate music and dance with African roots
candombe:
professional or semi-professional performer in the carnival
carnavaleros:
nowadays meaning āshow-offā, āposerā; hist./con.: a young man of European descent or gaucho
compadrito:
drumming and marching core / Candombe performance group participating in the carnival
comparsa:
large multi-tenement units
conventillo:
colored
de color:
āthe callingsā - call and response practice to call the people out onto the streets by playing the drums
las llamadas:
studded leather on top of the tambor
lonja:
āmiscegenationā; the process of mixing races; āThe concept of mestizaje expresses the tensions, contradictions, and ambiguities of its birth in the New World. More important, it is a concept that continues to have spiritual and aesthetic dimensions. Mestizaje refers to racial and/or cultural mixing of Amerindians with Europeans, but the literal connotation of the word does not illuminate its theoretical applications and its more recent transformations. Since its inception in the New World and during those moments when race was a significant factor in social standing, mestizaje has been invoked to remedy social inequality and the misfiring of democracyā (Encyclopedia, Karen Davalos, 2005).
mestizaje:
ā'angry or repetitive words, witchcraft', later referring to a lively danceā (Oxford Dictionaries); the mocking imitation of Afro-Argentine Candombe by compadritos
milonga: