Malung and Marketing National Identities

ow everybody loves Puerto Rican culture,” observed a Puerto Rican schoolteacher and festival organizer, “but that’s exactly the problem. Now you have people that don’t know culture but are putting together events because it’s fashionable. That’s why we need the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, so people don’t devalue our culture.” Culture is certainly fashionable in Puerto Rico. In addition to the hundreds of cultural festivals that are celebrated every year on the island, transnational corporations, well aware that culture sells, are drawing on images of Puerto Rican folklore and popular culture to advertise beer, cigarettes, and other products. Meanwhile, political supporters of U.S. statehood, of independence, and of commonwealth status variously claim to be pro-Puerto Rico and all things Puerto Rican. The current emphasis on cultural identity in Puerto Rico, a U.S. colony that continues to debate its political status, represents a significant development considering that overt demonstrations of Puerto Rican identity were once regarded as subversive. Once limited and associated with pro-independence sectors of society, manifestations of cultural identity are now widespread: musicians sing nationalist songs on prime-time television, and nationalist symbols, such as the Puerto Rican flag, decorate advertisements