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The Diablos Cojuelos: Mischievous Devils of the Dominican Republic
| Article
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10433 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1993 |
771 Words |
| Author
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Veronique Deplanne
Veronique Deplanne is free-lance photojournalist and a
frequent contributor to THE WORLD & I. |
The wearing of masks, prevalent in so-called primitive societies as well as the great civilizations of the East and West, continues today. Created from various materials, masks have been and still are used in magic and religious rituals. Their wearers don them to celebrate, terrorize, and entertain.
The oldest masks known to date were found in the Greater Antilles with the remains of Indians who lived more than two thousand years ago. These masks are made of clay and represent human faces. Later, when the conquistadors arrived in the Greater Antilles, the medieval Christian celebrations of the Old World were introduced to the Caribbean and to the rest of Hispanic America. Since ancient times, the ancestors of these arriving colonists had used masks in celebrations in the Iberian Peninsula, among them Carnival, the celebrations of Corpus Christi, and festival dedicated to various Christian saints. In Spain, the masks were made of wood, papier-mâché, or cardboard. The masks represented mythological or fantastic beings, or heroes like the Spanish Crusaders who fought with the Apostle Santiago against the Moors and Muslims. Frequently, the latter were represented by horned devil masks, a tradition that continues throughout the islands of the Caribbean.
In the Dominican Republic masqueraders called diablos cojuelos are a most important part of the Carnival celebration. Each Carnival parade included a group dressed as the diablos cojuelos. They differ in appearance from city to city. Each region has its own version and name for its devil masks: diablos cojuelos or casuals in Santo Domingo and La Vega; lechones in Santo ago; torros in Montecristi; cachuas in Cabra; and papeluses in Cotui
These masks represent the old European concept of the eternal fight between good and evil. They represent the freedom that permits all kinds of pleasure and excess in drinking, eating, and sexual behavior. A temporary rupture of the rigid laws that govern social life occurs in the days preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the forty-day period of fasting and spiritual observance.
The diablos cojuelos begin to come out in the first weekend of February. Their presence in the street is a sign that Carnival is fast approaching. They dress in colorful costumes made of shiny fabrics and wear devil masks while swinging their vejigas, balloon like cow bladders. The devils take over the streets; running around and trying to scare the population in a friendly way. People are happy to see the diablos cojuelos; without them, it would not be Carnival!
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