The culture of Cuba is a complex mixture of different, often contradicting, factors and influences. The Cuban people and their customs are based on European, African and Amerindian influences., Claudio «La hispanización del mestizaje cultural en América» Revista Complutense de Historia de América, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. p. 133 (1981)
Music
The music of Cuba, including the instruments and the dances, is mostly of European and African origin. Most forms of the present day are creolized fusions and mixtures of these two styles, with very few remains of the original Native traditions.
Fernando Ortíz, the first great Cuban folklorist, described Cuba's musical innovations as arising from the interplay ('transculturation') between African slaves settled on large sugarcane plantations and Spanish or Canary Islanders who grew tobacco on small farms. The African slaves and their descendants reconstructed large numbers of percussive instruments and corresponding rhythms.Ortiz, Fernando 1952. Los instrumentos de la musica Afrocubana. 5 volumes, La Habana. The main instrumental contribution of Spanish music was the guitar, and the tradition of European musical notation and techniques of musical composition.
African beliefs and practices are most certainly an influence in Cuba's music. Polyrhythmic percussion is an inherent part of African life & music, as melody is part of European music. Also, in African tradition, percussion is always joined to song and dance, and to a particular social setting. It is not simply entertainment added to life, it is life.Ortiz, Fernando 1950. La Afrocania de la musica folklorica de Cuba. La Habana, revised ed 1965. The result of the meeting of European and African cultures is that most Cuban popular music is creolized. This creolization of Cuban life has been happening for a long time, and by the 20th century, elements of African belief, music and dance were well integrated into popular and folk forms.
The roots of most Afro-Cuban musical forms lie in the cabildos, self-organized social clubs for the African slaves, separate cabildos for separate cultures. The cabildos were formed mainly from four groups: the Yoruba (the Lucumi in Cuba); the Congolese (Palo in Cuba); Dahomey (the Fon or Arará). Other cultures were undoubtedly present, but in smaller numbers, and they did not leave such a distinctive presence. At the same time, African religions were transmitted from generation to generation throughout Cuba, Haiti, other islands and Brazil. These religions, which had a similar but not identical structure, were known as Lucumi or Regla de Ocha if they derived from the Yoruba, Palo from Central Africa, Vodú from Haiti, and so on. The term Santería was first introduced to account for the way African spirits were joined to Catholic saints, especially by people who were both baptized and initiated, and so were genuinely members of both groups. By the 20th century, elements of Santería music had appeared in popular and folk forms.Sublette, Ned 2004. Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo. Chicago. p171; p258.
One of the main rhythmic fusions in Cuban music is the son. Other typical Cuban forms are the habanera, the guaracha, the danzón, the rumba, the bolero, the chachachá, the mambo, the punto, and many variations on these themes.Sublette, Ned 2004. Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo. Chicago. Cuban music has been immensely popular and influential in other countries. It was the original basis of salsa and contributed not only to the development of jazz, but also to Argentinian tango, Ghanaian high-life, West African Afrobeat, and Spanish nuevo flamenco. Within modern Cuba, there are also popular musicians working in the rock and reggaeton idioms. Artists such as Gente De zona are the vanguard of music revolution as they are the first Cuban duo to reach the Hot Latin Songs chart on Billboard. Other famous Cuban artist include Camila Cabello who has won a Billboard Award.
Cuban hip-hop is one of the latest genres of music to be embraced not only by the country's youth but also, more reluctantly, by the government. Initially, hip-hop was shunned by the authorities, because of its affiliation to America and capitalism. As more Cuban youth put their own energy and style into the music, Cuban hip-hop eventually became more acceptable. "The Cuban government now sees rap music – long considered the music of American imperialism – as a road map to the hearts and minds of the young generation"Wunderlich, Annelise. 2006. Cuban Hip-hop: making space for new voices of dissent. In The vinyl ain't final: hip hop and the globalization of black popular culture, eds. Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle. London; Ann Arbor, Michigan: Pluto Press. p168Baker, Geoffrey. 2005. ¡Hip hop, Revolución! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba. Ethnomusicology 49, 3: 368-402 is one opinion.
Sports
Fidel Castro's belief and practice of communism and the benefits of sports (he loved and used to play baseball) has resulted in Cuba's relative international success for a population of 11 million in sporting events such as the Olympic Games. Unlike in most of Latin America, but like many nations of the Caribbean and some of Central America, football is not a major game in Cuba, but is gaining popularity. Baseball is the most popular sport in Cuba. Introduced by American dockworkers in Havana in the 19th century, the game has played a role in Cuban independence from Spain. Banned in 1895 by the Spanish, secret games funded José Martí's revolt. Cuban peloteros rank highly internationally and some have migrated to Major League Baseball in the United States. The Cuba national baseball team finished second in the first World Baseball Classic against the Japanese national team. Boxing is also rather popular in Cuba. They also enjoy basketball, track and field, volleyball, and rugby union.
Every year, Cuba holds the School Sports Games, a competition for students. The best athletes from age 11 to 16 are invited to be tested for the Schools for Sports Initiation (Spanish acronym: EIDE). EIDE students attend regular classes, receive advanced coaching, and take part in higher-level competitions. The top graduates from the school enter one of several Schools of Higher Athletic Performance (Spanish acronym: ESPA).
Chess Cuban chess player, José Capablanca (d.1942) was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927 and his Cuban style influenced future world chess champions Fischer, Botvinnik and Karpov, a span reaching to 1999. Capablanca's style of calm positional play while slowly constricting the opponent was likened to Karpov's "boa constrictor".
Cuba hosted the 17th Chess Olympiad in 1966.
Cuisine
A ration book called a libreta is supposed to guarantee a range of products from shops, however, there are still massive shortages and even rations are not guaranteed to be delivered timely or at all.
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 ended grain imports from that country, which were used to feed cattle and chickens. In 1991, beef, chicken, milk and eggs became scarce.
A lack of fuel for agricultural machinery meant that crops had to be harvested manually (by people), drastically decreasing Cuba's food production capabilities. These problems have improved a little in recent years, but shortages are still common. To supplement their rations, Cubans resort to non-rationed food stores (where prices are nevertheless several times those of the libreta), or to the black market.
Traditional Cuban food is, as most cultural aspects of this country, a syncretism of Spanish, African, and Caribbean cuisines, with a small but noteworthy Chinese influence. The most popular foods are black beans, rice, and meat.
One example of traditional Cuban cuisine, or criollo as it is called, is moros y cristianos, "Moors and Christians", rice with black beans. Criollo uses many different seasonings, with some of the most common being onion and garlic. Cassava, rice, beans, eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, beef and pork are all common ingredients.
Coffee is of high quality and is grown mainly for export.
Religion
Cuba's policy on religion has changed much since 1959, when religious Cubans were persecuted and could be denied jobs or an education by the government.
In the 1970s, the relationship between the government and religious institutions (especially the Roman Catholic Church) began to improve. By 1976, the state granted Cuban citizens religious freedom, with some restrictions. In 1992, the constitution was amended to allow total spiritual freedom. About 60% of Cubans today are Catholic.. Some Catholic traditions were lost, but the church has imported the Mexican Christmas play (pastorela), trying to reconnect Cubans to Christianity. Cuba is a primarily Catholic country.
Another large religion in Cuba is Santería. Santería is a blend of Catholicism and traditional Yoruba religions. When African slaves first arrived in Cuba during the 16th century, they were taught a few simple prayers and were baptised by the Spanish. The slaves combined this limited form of Catholicism with their traditional religions to create Santería, which survives to this day. During colonial times and into the early Republic, many Cubans suffered from intense ethnocentrism and confused Afro-Cuban religion with black magic and witchcraft. This caused them to associate practitioners of Santería and other Afro-Cuban cultures with criminals and the underworld, and to discriminate against practitioners without understanding the nature of their religion. Because most practitioners of Santería in those years were of African heritage, racist attitudes emerged around the religion, and many whites in Cuba considered it to be subversive and threatening. Those who practiced Santería often resorted to secrecy as a way to avoid persecution. Fernando Ortiz, Lydia Cabrera, and Rómulo Lachatañeré are considered the founders of Afro-Cuban studies in Cuba and were the first to give scholarly attention to Santería as an important religion in Cuba.Castellanos, Jorge. "Introduction", Afro-Cuban Myths, Rómulo Lachatañeré. Princeton: Marcus Wiener Publishers, 2005: vii.
Language
As a former colony of Spain, Cuba uses the Spanish language. After the Cuban Revolution, the term camarada, meaning "comrade", came to gradually replace the traditional señor/señora as the universal polite title of address for strangers. A significant number of Afro-Cubans as well as biracial Cubans speak Haitian Creole. Haitian Creole is the second-most spoken language as well as a recognized one in Cuba, with approximately 300,000 speakers - about 4% of the population. (Haiti was a French colony - Saint-Domingue - from the early 17th century, and the final years of the 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution brought a wave of French settlers fleeing with their Haitian slaves to Cuba.)
Many words from Cuban Amerindian languages have entered common usage in both Spanish and English, such as the Taíno words canoa, tobacco and huracán. Some of the place names are Indian, such as Guanabacoa and Guanajay.
English is often used in big cities.
Etiquette
When speaking to the elderly or to strangers, Cubans speak more formally as a sign of respect. They shake hands upon greeting someone and farewelling them. Men often exchange friendly hugs (abrazos), and it is also common for both men and women to greet friends and family with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Informalities like addressing a stranger with 'mi corazón' (my heart), 'mi vida' (my life), or 'cariño' (dear) occur commonly.
Cuban family life