Journals / Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi / 2026 / Sayı: 32

Ethical and Political Implications of “Performance” in a Rural Cultural Practice: Afro-Colombian Women Singers from the Town of Pogue

Paola Marín(California State University - Los Angeles)0000-0003-0321-4517
Gastón Alzate(California State University - Los Angeles)0000-0002-2474-7980
Pages
1–22
Publication Date
2021-06-21
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

In addition, we find a foothold on Rustom Bharucha’s perspective on the performativity of “terror’ in the Global South, as we think this Indian cultural critic is spot-on when questioning the “war on terror” master narrative resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001, and looking instead at other areas of the world where “terror” assumes a concrete and visceral dimension in everyday life.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article analyzes a group of Afro-Colombian female singers from Pogue, a rural area of the Colombian Pacific who have reinvented traditional mourning songs (alabaos).
📊
Key Findings & Data:Their music and performance refer to the massacres and abuses committed by both the FARC leftist guerrilla group and the right-wing paramilitary in the nearby village of Bojayá.
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Conclusion & Impact:In addition, we find a foothold on Rustom Bharucha’s perspective on the performativity of “terror’ in the Global South, as we think this Indian cultural critic is spot-on when questioning the “war on terror” master narrative resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001, and looking instead at other areas of the world where “terror” assumes a concrete and visceral dimension in everyday life.
🔬Design:Research Article
📍Scope:2001 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Cultural Performance · Theater and Performance · Colombian Peace Process

Abstract

This article analyzes a group of Afro-Colombian female singers from Pogue, a rural area of the Colombian Pacific who have reinvented traditional mourning songs (alabaos). Their music and performance refer to the massacres and abuses committed by both the FARC leftist guerrilla group and the right-wing paramilitary in the nearby village of Bojayá. We will not study these traditional mourning songs from an ethnographic perspective, but from the interdisciplinary perspective of performance studies. As such, the aim here is to emphasize the wider political and artistic dimension of the songs vis-à-vis Colombian necropolitics. However, we will still rely on the work of social scientists as we recognize the importance of grounding our analysis on a specific reality. In addition, we find a foothold on Rustom Bharucha’s perspective on the performativity of “terror’ in the Global South, as we think this Indian cultural critic is spot-on when questioning the “war on terror” master narrative resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001, and looking instead at other areas of the world where “terror” assumes a concrete and visceral dimension in everyday life.

Özet

This article analyzes a group of Afro-Colombian female singers from Pogue, a rural area of the Colombian Pacific who have reinvented traditional mourning songs (alabaos). Their music and performance refer to the massacres and abuses committed by both the FARC leftist guerrilla group and the right-wing paramilitary in the nearby village of Bojayá. We will not study these traditional mourning songs from an ethnographic perspective, but from the interdisciplinary perspective of performance studies. As such, the aim here is to emphasize the wider political and artistic dimension of the songs vis-à-vis Colombian necropolitics. However, we will still rely on the work of social scientists as we recognize the importance of grounding our analysis on a specific reality. In addition, we find a foothold on Rustom Bharucha’s perspective on the performativity of “terror’ in the Global South, as we think this Indian cultural critic is spot-on when questioning the “war on terror” master narrative resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001, and looking instead at other areas of the world where “terror” assumes a concrete and visceral dimension in everyday life.

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Cite This Article

Marín, P., Alzate, G. (2021). Ethical and Political Implications of “Performance” in a Rural Cultural Practice: Afro-Colombian Women Singers from the Town of Pogue. Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, Sayı: 32, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.26650/jtcd.890946

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