Page - 94 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

94 | Héctor M. Varela Rios www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 87–106 ees playing musical instruments, singing, and/or drinking; food about to be served under the gluttonous eye of a cat; men reaching for their machetes and staring menacingly at each other as if preparing to fight; the white-tur- baned mother smiling despondently and offering the priest a drink, while an hacendado (“landowner”, probably the jíbare father’s rich landlord) offers him gossip; a couple lusting in a dark corner; a jíbare headed home on horseback; and an old dark-skinned man (given the late-19th century context, probably an ex-slave) thoughtfully paying his respects to the dead child. Notably, this last participant is the only one focused on the dead body itself while the rest are, arguably, amid a party filled with laughter, lust, and liquor. In Puerto Rico, this wake is famously known as a bakiné. Grounded on the popular Christian belief that children who died at a young age are free of sins and therefore rise unimpeded to heaven, the bakiné celebrates the dead child, now an angel, and hence the funerary ritual is also called velorio del angelito (“angel’s wake”). The peculiar practice has roots in both Spanish and African religious traditions and in the 19th century is ubiquitous throughout Spain and Latin America, where it goes by several other names.20 The bakiné is a joyful family and community celebration, many times lasting several days. Indeed, songs were composed specifically for bakinés and drinking home-brewed alcoholic beverages (locally known as pitorros) was encour- aged. The ritual is well-documented in Puerto Rican and Spanish cultural histories.21 Its place in the island’s folklore is also secured by its presence in influential 20th-century Puerto Rican literature and popular culture.22 Elitist and Colonialized: (Re-)Interpreting El Velorio’s Background and Oller’s Worldview For Oller, as for many of the island’s “elite” (meaning richer, landed, and for- mally educated), 400 years of Spanish imperialism had left the island in dire need of economic development and social transformation while at the cusp of an autochthonous Puerto Rican-ness.23 The Spanish colonial project was 20 Some of these are velatorio del angelito, quiniván, and florón (Alegría 2001). In fact, a curso- ry online search yielded evidence that the practice continued deep into the 20th century but has been abandoned for decades, at least publicly. 21 See Abad y Lasierra 1788; Davillier 1874. 22 See Palés Matos/Steeves-Franco 1937/2010; Díaz Alfaro 1947/1996. 23 Delgado 1998, 42–44.