The Afro-Argentine Payador Tradition:
The Art of Gabino Ezeiza
by Donald S. Castro
I surface, the Rojas thesis appears to be at odds with
This article will focus on the payador tradition
in Argentina and the impact of the Afro-Argentine
on this Rioplatine cultural form with particular
attention given to the payador Gabino Ezeiza (1858
1916). The actual role in, and the impact of the
Afro-Argentine on, Rioplatine culture is the subject
of much controversy. The use of the word "Rio
platine" instead of Argentine is intentional because
it is the crux of the controversy: is Argentine
culture a product of an autochthonous experience
limited to the area west of the Rio de la Plata
estuary or is it a part of a broader regional exper
ience inclusive of the geographic area today called
Uruguay? If we use the apparent definition of Argen
tine culture presented by Ricardo Rojas in his study
on Argentine literature, then the underpinning of
that culture is gaucho based.1 While Rojas did not
speak to the fact that the gaucho experience was not
limited only to the area now called Argentina,
clearly there were (are) gauchos in Uruguay and in
Southern Brazil. Therefore, the conclusion that
must be drawn is that a gaucho based culture cannot
be limited to an Argentine experience only. In fact,
it is centered in a much larger area that is clearly
"Rioplatine."
If the more traditional elitist porteno view is
adopted, gaucho based culture is predicated on an ex
clusive American experience that was viewed as
backward. To the Argentine ruling and cultural
elites after 1862 (point of national unification),
only a European-oriented-and based-culture was
acceptable. The elitist's view defined Argentine cul
ture as rooted in an initially Spanish and later more
general European culture base brought into the
geographic area on the western shore of the Rio de
la Plata estuary. Therefore, the elitist view is not
only Eurocentric, it is as well, site specific. On the
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the elitist view. This is not really true, and these
two positions are not mutually exclusive. While
Rojas expressed a fascination with the gaucho based
culture in terms of the organization of his work on
Argentine literature, he demonstrated a preference
for Euro-based literature and literary movements in
Argentina in the balance of his study. Nevertheless,
even if unintentional, Rojas' work strongly sug
gests that Argentine culture was creole-gaucho
based and therefore, by implication, regional, due to
a commonality of experience that produced the
culture in the first place.
The debate on the origins of Argentine culture
greatly affects the role of the Afro-Argentine in the
eventual meld of what is called today "Argentine
culture" (cultura argentina). For example, if the
place of origin of Argentine culture is exclusive of
Uruguay, then the role of the Afro-Argentine is
severely limited through the process of denial. An
Argentine base of origin is usually associated with
a Euro-creole experience, while a broader base of
origin (inclusive of the Banda Oriental del
Uruguay), includes a major contribution from an
African experience in the region. What is implied
in this aspect of the debate is the following: the
area of modern-day Uruguay was the watershed for
much of what is called Argentine culture; the im
pact of the Afro-Uruguayan was significant in
terms of transmitting that culture to the city of
Buenos Aires; and that the transmitted culture be
came the basis for the Argentine puppet theatre, the
Argentine circus, the Argentine theatre, and above
all, the origin of that supreme symbol of Argen
tina, the tango. The role of the Rioplatine black is
pivotal in the debate. However, in the discussion of
this role, it appears that the focus is on the Afro
Uruguayan. When Argentines argue their counter
case, they include the Afro-Argentine only to deny
The Afro-Argentine Payador Tradition
his participation. Therefore, regardless of the side
taken, the role of the black in Argentina seems to
be minimized or ignored. While the Argentine
position is Creole based, it is implicit that Creole in
the context of the debate is definable in terms of
whiteness.2
The primary focus, in all of the discussions on
Argentine cultural origins, is on what is essentially
the culture of the city of Buenos Aires, and not that
of the interior. This is true even when the discus
sion centers on the literature of the rural interior,
e.g., the gaucho epic and the rural thematic theatre
productions. This debate has involved some of the
leading cultural figures of Argentina and Uruguay
and is far from being resolved. Many authors can be
cited as participants in this debate. Only two are
most noted here because of their ideas' impact on
the perception of the cultural role of the Afro
Argentine (Afro-Uruguayan): Raul H. Castagnino
and Vicente Rossi. More modern authors are still
debating and reacting to the arguments presented by
these authors as long ago as in the early 1900s.
Raul H. Castagnino, the author of many
books on the Argentine circus, early theatre, and on
the tango, has argued specifically in favor of the
idea of a regional culture and of the early identifi
cation of the tango-milonga with blacks. His only
disagreement with Vicente Rossi is where the
Creole theatre originated, as a separate cultural phen
omenon (Castagnino) or as part of the Creole circus
(Rossi).3 Vicente Rossi, a long-term resident in Ar
gentina of Uruguayan origin, was one of the first to
write on the role of the African in the culture of the
Rio de la Plata. He wrote three major studies in
which he discussed the cultural role of blacks in the
Ri'o de la Plata: Teatro national rioplatense:
Contribution a su analisis y a su historia [The
Rioplatine National Theatre: Contribution to Its
Analysis and to Its History] (1910); El gaucho: su
origen y evolution [The Gaucho: His Origin and
Evolution] (1921), and Cosas de Negros [Things
Related to Blacks] (1926). In these studies, he indi
cated the cultural debt owed to blacks by Argen
tines. By using the word "Rioplatine," Rossi made
a forceful statement on the interconnectedness of
culture in the Rfo de la Plata region. By using the
title Cosas de Negros, Rossi also made a definite
statement that things related to blacks were not fool
ish but were significant. This was at variance with
the standard Argentine meaning of the term, cosas
de negros, which equated it with foolish things or
with sex. In the Rossi thesis, blacks in the Rfo de
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la Plata were totally dislocated from their cultural
African home with a loss of language, religion, and
tribal affiliation (Cosas de negros 9). From a
cultural point of view, Rossi suggested blacks
became perhaps more Creole than did the other com
ponents of Rioplatine society. In the rural areas,
they became gauchos, were the backbone of the
montonera forces [irregular mounted troops],
symbols of patriotism and local autonomy, and in
the city of Buenos Aires, they became the origi
nators of the tango. Rossi argued that there were
two musical cultural symbols of Argentineness, the
urban tango and the rural payada musical tradition
of the gaucho.
Clearly the Afro-Argentine played an important
role in the formation of these symbols of Argentine
ness: the tango and the payada. Even as shown by
Rossi, as the gaucho became more a subject for lit
erate authors and thus became a "folk hero," he was
whitened and shorn of his Indian and Black heritage.
As stated by Rossi metaphorically, "...la herencia
autoctona esta en la savia, aunque la nieguen las
hojas" ["...the intrinsic essence of a tree is in its
sap, even though the leaves deny their origin"]
(Teatro nacional 105). Yet this denial was impos
sible to maintain because the folk tradition of the
gaucho payador [gaucho troubador], the itinerant
folk singer who was the preserver of oral traditions,
includes the Afro-Argentine as shown, for example,
in the second part of Martin Fierro ("La vuelta"
["The Return"], 1879) and later with Gabino
Ezeiza.
A number of authors, including George Reid
Andrews and Nestor Ortiz Oderigo, have arugued
that the close association of the Afro-Argentine to
the payador tradition is very understandable. Their
arguments differ from the earlier Rossi view.
Rossi's arguments focus on an American cultural
origin and not on any African influence as such.
Therefore, the Afro-Argentine contribution is based
on an American experience instead of an African
carry-over. This has generated controversy among
more modern authors who have argued an African
cultural origin transmitted by Afro-Argentines
because of their African roots and not due to exper
iences gained in the Americas (Andrews 213).4
These authors present the argument that the payador
tradition is African in origin. Wherever there was
an African presence in the Americas, a musical con
trapuntal tradition developed. It could take the form
of either an instrumental or vocal counterpoint.
Examples of the African inspired contrapuntal

tradition range from the instrumental "duels" in
American jazz (cutting contests) and in Afro-Carib
bean music (cf. tapada or drum duel) to the "answer
back" songs of the American South, of Brazil
{canto de desafio), and of Argentina (payadd). These
musical traditions, they argue, developed in a direct
lineal fashion from their African roots and were
brought to the Americas by slaves as early as the
sixteenth century (Andrews 170-173 and Ortiz
Oderigo 130-121). While Reid Andrews' sources
for his support of the African origin of the payador
tradition are second-hand, those cited by Ortiz
include aged Afro-Argentine informants and original
research in the area of ethnomusicology. However,
if this conclusion is correct, it strongly supports
the carry-over traditions of the African in the Rfo
de la Plata region. However, Ortiz does recognize
that there is no way to conclusively prove the
African origin of the payada (103). Nevertheless,
circumstancial evidence supports the conclusion
drawn and provides "modern" support of the earlier
conclusions drawn less scientifically by Vicente
Rossi of at least a significant role of the Afro
creole in the payador tradition.
Unlike the tango, the circus, the puppet
theatre, or even the popular theatre, the evidence of
an Afro-Argentine contribution is irrefutable in the
payador tradition. If the evidence on the Afro-Argen
tine contribution was not conclusive, on the basis
of what happened historically in other areas of Rio
platine culture, the contribution could (and would)
be minimized and the tradition whitened.5 This did
not happen in the case of the payador tradition.
There is no debate among Argentines on the signif
icance of this tradition in rural Argentina, nor of its
intimate relationship to the gaucho persona.
Authors such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, in
his classic work Facundo (1845), Jose Hernandez,
in his gaucho epic Martin Fierro (1872), or
Leopoldo Lugones in his 1916 study El payador,
have noted the payador tradition as integral to the
gaucho experience. What is also clear is that many
rural Afro-creoles were gauchos and were payadores.
What can be debated is the thesis suggested by
Nestor Ortiz Oderigo, and others, that the payada is
African in origin (103ff). For example, one author
has suggested that the origin of the payada is to be
found in the customs of the Pampa-mapuche
Indians, others infer it came to Argentina as part of
the Spanish heritage (Roman 179).6 The origins of
the payada, like the tango's origins, can be debated
without end and never with a satisfactory definitive
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Donald S. Castro
conclusion. What is irrefutable, however, is the
essential role the Afro-Argentine played in advan
cing this tradition, and in moving it from the
countryside to the city.
What is also clear from this debate is that the
payador tradition was regional, that is, Rioplatine,
and not exclusively Argentine. This affected the
role of the Afro-Argentine. Because ethnocentric
Argentines could not lay claim to an exclusively
Argentine origin, as was the case of the tango, they
could be less proprietary and less concerned with
the "whiteness" of the tradition. Thereby, it could
include blacks, and even originate with blacks.
Whether it came from a generalized Afro-creole
origin or a more geographic specific Afro-Argentine
or Afro-Uruguayan origin, it did not matter. Yet,
the significance of the payada in Argentine rural
culture is clear, and to be able to demonstrate an
African association or origin this most "creole
traditional" cultural phenomena is a triumph for
those who argue a strong African presence in Argen
tine culture. Unlike other examples of Argentine
culture, the puppet theatre, for example, which had
their origins in the Ri'o de la Plata region (usually
another way of expressing Uruguayan roots), the
payador tradition clearly contains a well-defined Ar
gentine base. This alone may support the argu
ments of an Argentine origin versus an Uruguayan
one and that origin may, in fact, be Afro-Argentine
specific.
n
The role the Afro-Argentine has played in the
payada is twofold: one negative-as a symbol of
evil, and the other positive-as the maintainer of
traditional gaucho-rural folk customs. The black as
evil, savage or wild, or as the personification of the
devil, is a cultural heritage from Western Europe
and in Argentina these images took many forms.
For example, the term cimarron means a wild
animal, especially a dog, or the bitter Paraguayan
tea (mate amargo) [literally bitter tea or tea without
sugar]. It also means a runaway slave who is per
ceived as a threat to society as a brigand, etc. As
noted by Jose Hernandez in Martin Fierro ("La
vuelta," 1879): "Pintael bianco negro al diablo..."
["The white paints the devil black..."] (199). Also,
in popular Argentine Spanish, "mandingo" [a term
normally used to describe a cultural group from
West Africa] means the devil. Perhaps the most
common role given by whites to blacks to play is
The Afro-Argentine Payador Tradition
as the devil character in the folk tradition of Santos
Vega.
Santos Vega was a Creole gaucho payador of
supreme skill in the 1820s. His fame was enor
mous. One day, he was challenged by another
payador to a contrapuntal duel, a payada. After two
full days and nights, Vega ran out of words, lost
the payada, and died. According to the popular
tradition that grew up after the real man died, only
the devil could have had enough skill to defeat the
human Santos Vega. As the story circulated, Vega
was made into a legend and the duel became symbol
ic of the eternal battle between man (Santos Vega)
and the devil (sometimes euphemistically called
Juan Sin Ropa, or Naked John), or the battle in
defense of the old Creole ways against the chal
lenges of the gringo and modernization. Santos
Vega became the symbol of the eternal gaucho,
who would live on, if not as flesh and blood, at
least as a spirit of Argentineness.7
Many Creole authors have used the legend as
inspiration: Hilario Ascasubi, Bartolome Mitre,
Eduardo Gutierrez, and Rafael Obligado, among
others. In a series of four poems written in the
1880s, Rafael Obligado described the life and death
of the immortal payador. In "La muerte del
payador" ["The Death of the Payador"], Obligado
described the contrapuntal duel Santos Vega had
with Juan Sin Ropa. The poem ends with the death
of Santos Vega:
Y si cantando murio
aquel que vivio cantando
porque el diablo lo vencio.
[And if he died singing,
he who lived singing.
It was bccause the devil beat him.] (199)8
In the well-known version of Hilario Ascasubi's
Santos Vega (1872), the famous payador is defeated
by the devil in the form of a black payador. This tra
dition was furthered by Eduardo Gutierrez in his
novel Santos Vega (1881). Elbio Bernandez Jaques,
in his novel El gaucho del Tuyu (1936), continued
the tradition well into the twentieth century by
presenting a payada between a gaucho and "el
mandingo," a duel between light (luz) and darkness
(el noche), good versus evil with the black as evil.
The incorporation of the Creole Santos Vega tra
dition into white literature furthered the use of the
Afro-Argentine as a negative force in Argentine
culture. While the myth of Santos Vega may have
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originated in popular folk traditions, it became a
morality lesson between good and evil, with the
black as evil and the whitened gaucho as good. The
shift of the literary black payador figure from the
time of Hernandez {Martin Fierro, 1872) to the
payador figure in the Santos Vega poems of Hilario
Ascasubi (1871) and Rafael Obligado (1883)
through the novels of Eduardo Gutierrez (1881) up
to the novel by Elbio Bernandez Jaques (1936), is
one in which the black payador becomes more evil.
In Martin Fierro, Hernandez gives the reader a sense
of pathos for the defeated black, while in the novel
of Jaques, the black is simply evil. The argument
can be made that the personification of the black in
Martin Fierro is a far more accurate portrayal of the
black in rural Creole tradition than is true in the
more elite poetic form of the Santos Vega tra
dition.9 While there is documentation that the epic
Martin Fierro was a "best seller" in rural Argen
tina, it is unlikely that the rural population "read"
the creole Santos Vega poems.
By using the image of the black as satanic,
white failure could be excused. This was especially
true in the description of black payadores who were
so skilled that they could defeat the best of the
Creole payadores in the contrapuntal duels of the
payadas (cf. Santos Vega tradition). How was this
possible when blacks were inferior to Creoles? The
black payador must have had the assistance of the
devil, or he must have been the devil himself. The
underlying fact of this belief is the awe Creoles
must have had for the skill of black payadores. This
skill is borne out by the real-life black payadores.
While the most famous black payador was
Gabino Ezeiza, he was not the only Afro-Argentine
payador. One of the earliest references to a non
literary black payador is in the Ventura R. Lynch
work, La Provincia de Buenos Aires hasta la
definicion de la cuestion Capital de la Republica
[The Province of Buenos Aires up to the Defining
of the Question of the Capital of the Republic]
(1883), where he made reference to a black payador
Valentin Ferreyra ("un paisanito pardo," "a black
country boy") from the town of Nueve de Julio,
who was much valued in the province of Buenos
Aires (20).10 Other authors have referenced the exis
tence of precursors to the payador tradition who
were noted black gaucho singer-story tellers, such
as Guasquito from the outskirts of the city of
Buenos Aires, and Pancho Luna from the province
of Buenos Aires. Both men lived in the time of
Bernardino Rivadavia (circa 1820s) (Roman 179).
 Donald S. Castro

Ismael Moya, an Argentine who has written exten 1891 in what would prove to be a very popular
sively on the payador, made note that there were event repeated for many years (1891-1894) as much
many famous black payadores during the period publicized duels of skill (Podesta 72 and Moya
1874-1910, such as Facundo Galvan (b. circa 281). One of the most famous payadas in which
1830), Pablo Jerez, "El moreno" Puanes, and Felix these men participated took place at the Teatro
Juarez.11 Other well-known black payadores were Florida to a sold-out house in the town of
Higinio D. Cazon (1830-1914) from the province Pergamino, Province of Buenos Aires, in 1894.
of Buenos Aires, and Luis Garcia (1875-1961), also This event was considered so important that th
from Buenos Aires province. Both these men elitist Buenos Aires daily La Prensa [The Press]
traveled extensively throughout the country, were sent its best reporter, the well-known essayist
well-known poets and theatre artists (Ortiz Oderigo Joaquin B. Gonzalez, to cover the event.13 Fortu
110-113). But most black payadores were nately, somene had the presence of mind to steno
remembered without a name, and recalled only as graphically record the entire event so that we have
"un negro payador" (Roman 179).12 the complete contrapuntal duel, the only complet
Regardless of other black payadores' fame, on payada of that era so preserved (Contrapunto).
ly one has been called the "payador of the The event went on for two nights. It is evident
payadores," and this was Gabino Ezeiza (1858 from an analysis of the verses sung during th
1916). If ever the spirit of the payador who had the payada that the payadores were not rough gauchos
skill to defeat Santos Vega came back, it would but well-read men. The same techniques of improvi
have had to be in the body of Ezeiza. Largely due to sation used by the gauchos were still used, but the
his skill, the art of the payada moved from an enter topics of the payada (for example, the significanc
tainment found only in the rural bars (pulper'ias) of Christopher Columbus, idea of progress, patriot
and at the gaucho campfire, to become part of cir ism, etc.) clearly proved that the audience was not
cus and theatrical productions. One Argentine au composed of rude countryfolk. This fact was noted
thor has described the fame of Ezeiza as follows: by Ezeiza when he greeted the audience as "...noble
pueblo...nacionales y estranjeros" ["...noble
...su celebridad ensanchaba constantemente people...nationals and foreigners"] (Contrapunto
las fronteras de su difusion. Su nombre se 56). In another part of the payada, in a long ex
afianzaba en los distintos proscenios change on the future of Argentina, both Vazquez
arti'sticos en que actuaban. Los sitios de and Ezeiza acknowledged the role of the immigrant
diversion se disputaban su presencia... in the creation of the new modern fatherland (69
Habi'ase convertido en una figura inimada 73). This was cheered. Even though Vazquez noted
en el ambiente del canto popular, [...his many times the fact he was a Creole, Ezeiza did not
fame constantly defined the limits of his so note his own ethnicity. The color of his skin
exposure. His reputation was made in the clearly told who he was. Furthermore, it was the
many artistic places where he performed. pcrccpLive Ezeiza who noted the composition of the
Entertainment sites fought over his appear audience when he initiated the topic on the role of
ance.... He had been converted into the the immigrant in Argentina. Thus, he played to the
most desired entertainer in the world of the audience's good will and left Vazquez alone in his
popular song] (Ortiz Oderigo 113). self-contemplation. The art of the payada was now
something far more sophisticated than in the days
The gauge of the skill of a payador was foundof Sarmiento or even of Hernandez.
in the improvised contrapuntal poetic duel of the During the payada, in the heat of the exchange,
payada. These became very popular in the period af the issue of race surfaced briefly as the frustration
ter 1880 and were staged in theatres in provincialof Vazquez increased (cf. the exchange at the end of
towns and cities and even in Buenos Aires. Many the first night, when he called upon Ezeiza to say
theatre and circus impresarios saw this form of en things "a lo bianco negro," that is, use the white
way and not the black way, e.g., honest versus
tertainment as a draw to their places of business and
devious way) (30). Ezeiza, as he went on to a new
offered it as a part of regular programs in the theatre
and circus performances. For example, Jose J.topic, passed off the Vazquez remark with the com
Podesta brought together for the first time the ment that truth could be found if Vazquez were to
payadores Pablo Vazquez and Gabino Ezeiza in "dccirle a lo negro bianco" ["say it the black way,

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The Afro-Argentine Payador Tradition
White man"] (33). Also, one can ask why was
Vazquez so insistent in defining himself as a
creole-was this an oblique way of raising the issue
of Ezeiza's race? If so, apparently it had no effect
on Ezeiza, who ignored the possibility of insult.
While Vazquez acknowledged the reputation of
Ezeiza as the "rey de los payadores" ["Payador
King"], it would be Vazquez, he announced, who
would wear the crown at the end of the payada (38).
Vazquez's hope was dashed. The judges ruled Ezeiza
the victor. The crown as king would stay on
Ezeiza's head and go with him to his grave in
1916. He would never be defeated.
In another series of payadas, Gabino Ezeiza
was pitted against another Creole payador,
Maximiliano Santillan, called "El payador de la
Pampa" ["the Pampa Payador"]. In a final confron
tation, held in the town of Rauch, Province of
Buenos Aires, in 1898, Ezeiza, after a grueling day
and night-long payada, defeated Santillan
definitively. In the duel, Santillan's sense of defeat
turned to the bitterness of racial slurs:
^Donde esta ese negro poeta
que tanta fama le dan?
jDigale que Saniillan
a ningun negro respecta!
[Where is this black poet
who has been given so much fame?
Tell him that Santillan
has little truck for any black!]
(Moya 313)
Again, as in the payada of 1894, Ezeiza did not let
himself be drawn into a racial confrontation.
What is evident from a review of the 1894
payada, and from the published works of Gabino
Ezeiza, is that Ezeiza did not present himself as a
black payador, he was simply a payador. His poetry
is quiet and unassuming. The topics are traditional
ones: patriotism, romantic love, country scenes,
etc. (see Works Cited). There is also a sense of
melancholy in his work. For example, in his poem
"La Guitarra" ["The Guitar"]:
Esta guitarra que toca
y tiene tanta armonia
se liga a la vida mfa
por una secreta union,
sin ella ya no podria
cantar en este momcnto,
como canlo con su acento
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lamentos del corazon.
[This guilar that I play
and with whom I have felt such harmony
is linked to my life
by a secret union
without my guitar I would not be able
to sing as I do now
with its accompaniment
my heartfelt laments.]
(Recuerdos 14-15)
Perhaps this melancholy can be attributed to his
life-long experiences of discrimination he suffered
as an Afro-Argentine in his most beloved country.
Nevertheless, issues of race, social criticism and
comment are absent in most of his published
works. Yet he was not apolitical, he was a strong
supporter of the middle class party Union Ci'vica
Radical [Radical Civic Union] and of its leaders
Leandro Alem (he composed a patriotic verse in his
honor) and Hipolilo Yrigoyen.14
What made his work popular, according to one
author, was his skill in the use of words; he was
able to communicate to the public through a
"...persuasivo idioma cuajado de emocion"
["...persuasive idiom filled with emotion"] (Ortiz
Oderigo 115). This was recognized by other
payadores, such as Jose Betinotti, who dedicated
their own work to the "inmortal payador" (Ezeiza
Contrapunto 94-95).15 When the recording industry
began to operate on a fairly large scale in Argen
tina, the baritone voice and poetic vision of Ezeiza
found a new method of dissemination. From 1905
until his death, he was a major recording star (Ortiz
Oderigo 120). As in the case of the tango, where
there is only one preeminent personality, Carlos
Gardel, Argentines think only of Gabino Ezeiza
when the topic of the payada is discussed. Such was
the talent of this man, this Afro-Argentine.
The Creole lower classes, both rural and urban,
rcspecled and supported Gabino Ezeiza as a man and
as an artist. He was part of their world, the world of
popular entertainment such as the cirucs and the
rural theatre. He was not part of white defined Euro
pcanized Argentine culture of his time. He could be
black, there was no need to "whiten" him because
his audience was of mixed racial background and it
did not need to pretend to be anything other than
what it was. Nevertheless, the elite world of
porteno culture was fascinated by Ezeiza, as demon
strated by La Prensa sending the Creole essayist
Gonzalez to cover the 1894 payada. Even when
 Donald S. Castro

Ezeiza's audience became more sophisticated and Venezuela and the issue of white defined culture, see
Winthrop R. Wright, Cafe con Leche: Race, Class, and
included immigrants, even if the content of the
National Image in Venezuela (Austin: University of
payadas became more reflective of the interests of
Texas Press, 1990).
the demographically changing audiences, the format 3For a complete citation of Castagnino's works, see
of the presentation remained true to its Creole ori Works Cited. For a discussion of the Rossi-Castagnino
gins. dispute, see Raul Hector Castagnino, Circo, teatro
Ezeiza was the personification of a real payador gauchesco y tango (Buenos Aires: Institute nacional de
tradition, not an artificial construct for the porteno estudios de teatro, 1981), pp. 159-160.
salon. In this latter instance, the black as evil be 4Rossi's point of view has generated much
came a literary device used against the reality of the controversy and George Reid Andrews has taken
exception to the Rossi contention. The points made by
true rural tradition of respect for the black gaucho,
Reid Andrews are well taken; however, the fact remains
especially the gaucho payador. In addition, since the
that Rossi's book is still one of the only comprehensive
porteno elite could not lay exclusive claim to the studies on the Afro-Argentine. Perhaps this fact is
payador tradition, it did not need to be exclusively sufficient commentary on the level of study the topic of
white, nor did it need to be whitened, as in other the Afro-Argentine has generated among Argentine
cultural symbols of "Argentineness," such as the scholars.

tango. The black presence could be tolerated, even 5Probably the best example of this process of
accepted, yet in almost a malicious sense there was "whitening" is to be found in the discussion of the
a need to demean the Afro-Argentine payador origins of the tango. Cf. Donald S. Castro, The
Argentine Tango as Social History, 1880-1955 (New
through the Creole attribution of the literary black
York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1991), Chapter 2.
payador as satanic. Gabino Ezeiza proved the Creole 6Leopoldo Lugones sugggested that the payador
authors wrong. As a flesh-and-blood payador, tradition was an extension of the Southern European
Ezeiza did not need the devil to be great, he needed troubador tradition and the word payada came from
only his sublime human-given talent. ballada. See Leopoldo Lugones, El payador (Buenos
Aires: Editorial Huemul, 1972, 4th edition), p. 20. First
printed in 1916. Contents of the book are based on a
NOTES series of lectures given by Lugones in 1913.
7This symbolism of the gaucho is probably most
beautifully expressed in the novel Don Segundo Sombra
1 This is most evident in the organizational plan of
by Ricardo Giiiraldes, written in the 1920s. For a
the work. Cf. Historia de la literatura argenlina: Ensayo
filosdfico sobre la evolucion de la cultura en la Platadiscussion of the gaucho in general, see Richard W.
(Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada, 1948), 7 vols. First Slatta, Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier (Lincoln:
printed in 1917-1922. University of Nebraska Press, 1983). In his article on
2Creole in Argentine usage takes on a number gaucho of banditry "Images of Social Banditry on the
meanings and at times its usage is contradictory to Argentine
the Pampa," lie presents a brief but interesting
more traditional usage describing a person of European comment on the Santos Vega myth. See Richard W.
Slatta, ed., Bandidos: The Varieties of Latin American
parents, or (later) white ancestry, born in the Amcricas.
It also came to mean a person bom in the Americas Banditry
and (New York: Greenwood Press, 1987), pp. 60
a product of the "American" experience-nativist culture61. In 1938, in recognition of the centenary of the
versus European oriented culture. The term when used publication of the poem "Santos Vega" by Bartolome
in that case became a cultural and not necessarily Mitre,
a The Argentine Folkore Association presented a
racial descriptor. Therefore, it was possible to have special
a program on the significance of the Santos Vega
Creole (white person) denouncing Creoles (personstradition
of in the Argentina of that time. The basic theme
mixed racial ancestry and products of the American of the program was how Mitre was able to identify the
experience) for being blocks to progress (e.g., the universal truths of the myth and inspire other authors to
importation of European values and culture). When further the tradition in which the mythic Vega became
Creole is used in the subsequent text, it will either the
be symbol and the essence of the true Argentine spirit.
See Asociacion Folklorica Argentina, El mito de Santos
capitalized (Creole) or written in lower case (creole).
When capitalized, it will be used in the traditional sense
Vega, por Santos Fare. En el centenario de la primera
evocacidn de Santos Vega, por Elbio Bernarde2 Jacques
of white (versus mestizo, mulatto, zambo, Indian, etc.)
and when used in lower case, it will mean a person who(Buenos Aires: Imprenta Mercali, 1939).
is a product of the American experience, regardless of SJuan Sin Ropa after his victory turns into a snake.
ethnic or racial make-up. Afro-Argentine is also given 9Nicolas Shumway argues that the image of the
as Afro-creole and mestizo is also given as Euro Afro-Argentine portrayed in Martin Fierro is completely
Indian. For a comparative discussion of conditions in negative and the duels between Martin Fierro and the

AFRO-HISPANIC REVIEW FALL 1994

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The Afro-Argentine Pay ado r Tradition
moreno, and later with El negro, are clear indications of
the disdain Martin Fierro had for the Afro-Argentine.
While I do not agree with this evaluation, the number of
black gauchos and other rural personas and their
interaction with their non-black counterparts is a subject
for further study. What is significant is the words that
Hernandez used in blacks' dialog which convey a sense
of pathos for the plight of the rural Afro-Argentine. See
Shumway, The Invention of Argentina (Berkeley: Uni
versity of California Press, 1991), pp. 140, 271-272.
lOAlso cited in Nestor Ortiz Oderigo (104). Lynch
in his essay included a discussion of the origin of the
contrapuntal payada and suggested that it came from the
Argentine province of Cordoba (7).
liSee Romancero (Buenos Aires: Imprenta de la
Universidad, 1941), pp. 342-344. See also Ismael
Moya, El arte de lospa.yad.ores (Buenos Aires: Editorial
P. Beruti, 1959), pp. 277-279, 311-313.
l2This seems to be another example of not giving
importance to the person because of his race.
13Nestor Ortiz Oderigo, Aspectos de la cultura
africana, p. 113.
l4The verse was written in 1896 and entitled "La
sombra de Alem." Ezeiza died on the day of the
inauguration of Hipolito Yrigoyen as President in 1916.
ISThis poem is also contained in Jose Betinoti, De
mi cosecha, coleccion completa de las composiciones
del malogrado payador Betinoti (Buenos Aires: Editorial
Perez Cuberes, n.d.), p. 39. As can be seen by this
payador's name (seems to be spelled two ways), even
Italian immigrants could now be payadores. The edition
used of Ezeiza's payada of 1894 was a reprint published
to commemorate Ezeiza's death in 1916.
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1854 y otras poesias ineditas. Buenos Aires: Casa
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cantando y combatiendo contra los tirano de las
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forward and commentary by Felix Weinberg
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S.A., 1974. Careful reconstruction of the original
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Becco, Horacio Jorge. Negros y morenos en el
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Argentina de Americanistas, n.d. (1953).
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 Donald S. Castro

Moya, Ismael. El arte de los payadores. Buenos Aires:

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