Anthemic: The Unofficial Boricua Ballad

Popularly known as “the unofficial anthem of Puerto Rico,” a song by Rafael Hernández Marín (1891–1965) has helped create a cultural location that unifies national territory and places of diaspora. This cultural studies “Lamento borincano” and considers the history of the song and its reception with readings of late works by Hannah Arendt and Immanuel Kant, the former showing how the latter developed a philosophy of politics based on evaluations of beauty and designations of artistic, as opposed to entertainment, appreciation. These philosophic views lead to a comprehension of how the widespread dissemination of this song among people who judge it beautiful enough to learn and sing it for themselves has turned it into a locus of musical activity that continues to create a cultural space in which members of a society can engage in a dialogue more productive than those found in the public square, the marketplace, legislative assemblies, or—more recently—on social media and other overtly partisan fora. As the defined territory and political standing of Puerto Rico continue to create controversial discourse, this commonly accepted, even beloved, “anthem” holds together a cultural place Puerto Ricans have learned to identify as Boricua.