ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the representation of sound and music in a selection of writings by Porto Rican poet Luis Palés Matos (1898-1959) through their relation with cultural memory in the Antilles. It examines the significance of musicality in two different levels: at the level of aesthetic form - of sound and rhythm - and at the level of social and political representations - of popular culture, African and mestizo heritage, which had been considered marginal until then. These two levels of the musical phenomenon point to Palés Matos' intent to transform the relation between aesthetic discourse and social collectivity through the creation of a new understanding of Antillean culture, language and religious ritual in the context of modern Puerto Rico.
KEYWORDS
Luis Palés Matos; collective memory; Antillean culture; sound