Is the mixture of cultures good for art? Is it equally good for humanity?
March, 17; 2023. By Arscodex
In this article that concerns us today we come to talk about a subject that should not raise many doubts; it is a question of elucidating whether the mixture of cultures is good for art and for humanity. The answer, as the reader must already be intuiting, and in the opinion of this publication, is yes; that it is good for art and for humanity.
And then we are going to review some examples to look at throughout history so that we can verify it for ourselves. The main example and with which we begin is the typical structure of the so-called "modern popular song", that is, the most listened to musical genre, by far, and with its particularities of course, today. Well, we must know that the refrain, which is the musical discovery that gives shape to this sung genre, discovered by the famous blind Andalusian poet Ben Mocadem de Cabra at the end of the first millennium AD, was written in a different language from the stanza, in its beginnings (in the poetic form known as moaxaja). This gives us an idea of the importance of mixing cultures. It could not have been otherwise. The border territory known as Al Andalus, where various cultures and/or religions coexisted, gave rise to the advent of this musical discovery that, in order not to repeat ourselves too much, we will describe once more as the "cornerstone" of the music sung in today (approximately ten centuries later).
And now we bring up another aspect that has also been mentioned in this medium, and it has to do with the country from which these words are written: Spain. For the current Spanish flowers to be born and shine with the brilliance that we all know, it has taken 3,000 years of invasions, conquests, colonizations, dominations, betrayals, and, ultimately, mixtures, war; on the soil of the Iberian Peninsula. And this coming and going of cultures, this residue that we have around here, has crystallized, as has also been mentioned in this medium, in the flower of flowers of Spanish culture: flamenco.
But let's leave this matter there and make a brief review of other important cultural mixtures throughout history, without intending to be exhaustive, as the journalist said: the Hispanic-American miscegenation; the later "round trip" musical genres between the Peninsula and South America; the fruits of the mix of Muslim and Persian culture; the beautiful melting pot of cultures that is Istanbul (let's remember a mix between Europe and the Arab world); etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
At present, Europe is being mixed with North Africa and all that this implies; For example, many North Africans are arriving in France and we should not see this as something negative; it will surely pay off, culturally speaking, later on. Also, in Spain, the Levantine area now speaks, in a kind of bilingualism well understood up to now, two or even three languages; This fact should not be seen as something negative, but rather make an effort and try to delve into the difference since, as has been said, and to remind the reader of what has already been said, the chorus was written in a different language from that of the stanza, in the same poetic-musical composition, in its beginnings.
As we well know and we have already made clear around here, Spain is a melting pot of cultures, which is manifested in its multitude of languages and gastronomic richness, for example: it resembles the wings of an insect or nature itself; The closer you get, new points of view, new twists, new impressions that are worth knowing appear, as if it were a kaleidoscope. To give an extreme example, we mention Fala, that dialect-language that is spoken in three neighboring towns in the north of Extremadura. Well, in each of those municipalities there is a different variant! Ha ha ha.
It should also be mentioned that this "mixture of cultures" that has occurred, is occurring, and will occur in many parts of the world, must be sustained by a strong capacity for coexistence everywhere; that is to say, humanity is already having its tradition, and we need to know how to behave well with the people that surround us, basing this coexistence and a certain order established on tolerance, the basic foundation for this good breeding ground to be given and therefore the arts flourish naturally in any part of the world.
And then we are going to review some examples to look at throughout history so that we can verify it for ourselves. The main example and with which we begin is the typical structure of the so-called "modern popular song", that is, the most listened to musical genre, by far, and with its particularities of course, today. Well, we must know that the refrain, which is the musical discovery that gives shape to this sung genre, discovered by the famous blind Andalusian poet Ben Mocadem de Cabra at the end of the first millennium AD, was written in a different language from the stanza, in its beginnings (in the poetic form known as moaxaja). This gives us an idea of the importance of mixing cultures. It could not have been otherwise. The border territory known as Al Andalus, where various cultures and/or religions coexisted, gave rise to the advent of this musical discovery that, in order not to repeat ourselves too much, we will describe once more as the "cornerstone" of the music sung in today (approximately ten centuries later).
And now we bring up another aspect that has also been mentioned in this medium, and it has to do with the country from which these words are written: Spain. For the current Spanish flowers to be born and shine with the brilliance that we all know, it has taken 3,000 years of invasions, conquests, colonizations, dominations, betrayals, and, ultimately, mixtures, war; on the soil of the Iberian Peninsula. And this coming and going of cultures, this residue that we have around here, has crystallized, as has also been mentioned in this medium, in the flower of flowers of Spanish culture: flamenco.
But let's leave this matter there and make a brief review of other important cultural mixtures throughout history, without intending to be exhaustive, as the journalist said: the Hispanic-American miscegenation; the later "round trip" musical genres between the Peninsula and South America; the fruits of the mix of Muslim and Persian culture; the beautiful melting pot of cultures that is Istanbul (let's remember a mix between Europe and the Arab world); etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
At present, Europe is being mixed with North Africa and all that this implies; For example, many North Africans are arriving in France and we should not see this as something negative; it will surely pay off, culturally speaking, later on. Also, in Spain, the Levantine area now speaks, in a kind of bilingualism well understood up to now, two or even three languages; This fact should not be seen as something negative, but rather make an effort and try to delve into the difference since, as has been said, and to remind the reader of what has already been said, the chorus was written in a different language from that of the stanza, in the same poetic-musical composition, in its beginnings.
As we well know and we have already made clear around here, Spain is a melting pot of cultures, which is manifested in its multitude of languages and gastronomic richness, for example: it resembles the wings of an insect or nature itself; The closer you get, new points of view, new twists, new impressions that are worth knowing appear, as if it were a kaleidoscope. To give an extreme example, we mention Fala, that dialect-language that is spoken in three neighboring towns in the north of Extremadura. Well, in each of those municipalities there is a different variant! Ha ha ha.
It should also be mentioned that this "mixture of cultures" that has occurred, is occurring, and will occur in many parts of the world, must be sustained by a strong capacity for coexistence everywhere; that is to say, humanity is already having its tradition, and we need to know how to behave well with the people that surround us, basing this coexistence and a certain order established on tolerance, the basic foundation for this good breeding ground to be given and therefore the arts flourish naturally in any part of the world.
Links mentioned in People
