Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music

Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music is a 1995 non-fiction book by Deborah Pacini Hernández, published by Temple University Press.

Background

The author wanted to write a book about merengue music, but changed her focus to bachata while visiting the Dominican Republic for research purposes.[1]

Content

"Music and Dictatorship," the second chapter, described the genre under the rule of Rafael Trujillo.[2] The dictator preferred merengue over bachata and pushed the former to be more prominent.[3]

The conclusion gives a comparison between the subject to other popular music in other countries.[4]

Reception

Gage Averill of New York University concluded that overall the work is "remarkable and readable", although it is "uneven in places".[4]

John Charles Chasteen of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill praised the book for being "lucid" and reflecting the author's knowledge of the subject.[5]

Suzel Ana Reily of Queen's University, Belfast described the book as "an important contribution" about the subject.[6]

References

  • Averill, Gage (1998). "Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music by Deborah Pacini". NWIG: New West Indian Guide. 72 (3/4): 340–342. JSTOR 41849947.
  • Chasteen, John Charles (1998). "Bachata: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music". Hispanic American Historical Review. 78 (1): 144–145. - Also at ProQuest
  • Reily, Suzel Ana (1997). "Bachata: A Social History of a Dominican Popular Music". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 3 (2): 169–170. doi:10.2307/3034382. JSTOR 3034382. - Also at Gale Group

Notes

  1. ^ Chasteen, p. 144.
  2. ^ Averill, p. 340.
  3. ^ Reily, p. 170.
  4. ^ a b Averill, p. 342.
  5. ^ Chasteen, p. 145.
  6. ^ Reily, p. 169.

Further reading

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