Solimar Otero
Professor, Folklore and Ethnomusicology; Gender Studies
Director, Latino Studies
Editor, Journal of Folklore Research
Solimar Otero, who officially joined the IU community from Louisiana State University in 2019, has traveled the world as an interdisciplinary folklorist. From Nigeria to Cuba, she has explored gender, sexuality, Afro-Caribbean spirituality, and Yoruba traditional religion through fieldwork, archival practices, and critical methodologies.
Solimar is a fellow of the American Folklore Society and has published several books and edited collections — most recently, Theorizing Folklore from the Margins with Mintzi Martinez-Rivera and Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures, which won the 2021 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions.
Q: What drew you to the study of folklore, and how do you define folklore?
A: I grew up in a Caribbean household. My Cuban mother and Puerto Rican father always told stories about growing up on their islands, recited proverbs when we misbehaved, and fed us traditional foods like arroz con frijoles negro (rice and black beans). In high school, I was an excellent student in the subjects of English and Social Science because I was interested in how storytelling and other cultural expressions related to a people’s histories, struggles, and hopes. When I went to UC Berkeley for my undergraduate degree, I took a class with Alan Dundes, a famous professor of folklore, and I found what I was looking for. Under his mentorship, I decided to study Afro-Cuban cultures and narratives with an emphasis on the expression of their African roots. This led to me getting my PhD in Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania where I was prepared as a performance studies scholar to conduct fieldwork in Nigeria and Cuba with an expertise on oral tradition and ritual. Folklore allowed me to study both the narrative and cultural structures in depth.
Folklore is a tricky term to define. The American Folklore Society has several definitions on their website, including calling folklore “our cultural DNA.” My definition is that “folklore” is the unofficial creative expressions of a community, broadly defined, that include narrative, behavioral, and material traditions. Folklore can change and always has many versions of itself. For example, a recipe can be re-interpreted and passed on in multiple ways due to elements like migration and technology through many generations of a family or community. What folklorists focus on is the community’s own understandings of the meaning of the art and culture they produce and change.
Q: How has your relationship with Indiana University changed over time?
A: I arrived at IU in the fall of 2019. Then in the spring of 2020, just a semester and a half in, Covid broke out. We were fortunate and were able to rejoin the university’s classes and activities in good health. Since 2022, I have been getting to know the campus, which is beautiful, much better. What I treasure are my talented colleagues from across the campus who have made me feel at home in the Midwest. I am especially grateful to the faculty in the Latino Studies Program for their ongoing support of my work, and for our collaborative efforts in bringing students immersive and impactful learning experiences. During February 29 and March 1, for example, we hosted the César Chávez Undergraduate Symposium, which is one of my favorite IU events. I was asked to be a keynote speaker in 2014, years before coming here, and it was wonderful to experience it “full circle” this year.
Q: How do you see your students engaging and growing as they work with the material of your classes?
A: For several years in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, I taught the F497 proseminar for undergraduate majors. This capstone course is a culmination of what they have learned through coursework and is designed to have students present a research project at a symposium at the end of the class. Students learn valuable skills like writing an abstract, biography, and bibliography alongside the major project. In my classes, students can write papers, of course, but they also are invited to utilize any other skills they have obtained at IU from other majors and minors. Thus, students have created films, websites, and graphic art in conjunction with written documentation for their final projects. Subjects over the years included Jewish folklore in Oklahoma, Witchtok, and Irish laments.
I am taking a similar approach for my Women’s Folklore course that I will be teaching this fall, which is joint listed with Gender Studies, and combines undergraduate and graduate students. It will include a range of genres like fairytales, rituals, foodways, and narratives that stem from a variety of perspectives, like Afrofuturism, feminist approaches to Classical Studies, and Caribbean Diaspora Studies. I am excited to engage with the students in the class, as they always help me see new ways of understanding course materials in relation to their lives.
Q: How would you describe your orientation toward collaboration — with colleagues across disciplines as well as with the individuals/communities centered in your research?
A: As you can see from my other responses, collaboration across disciplines is a passion of mine. Whether it is in my research, teaching, or service work, I am fueled by the exchange of ideas and by thinking with people. In my research, I work with communities of spirit mediums in contemporary Cuba, and we speak about the ways that technology, history, and economic conditions shape how they innovatively carry out traditional cultural practices like altar building and healing through herbal medicine. Here at IU, the Latino Studies Program has been promoting programming that highlights the presence of Afrolatino communities and cultural practices through film showings, dance and drumming demonstrations, and talks.
I am partnering in several initiatives and working groups across campus, like the 2024 NEH Residential Summer Institute, “Content Warning: Engaging Trauma and Controversy in Research Collections,” that deal with how we can think about cultural and historical experiences of difference, trauma, and care through the work that we do as people, as scholars, and as educators. These difficult conversations and rich activities can only take place because of the positive relationships I have developed here at IU with my colleagues, students, and the community.
Q: What are some rituals important to your daily life in Bloomington?
A: It’s almost spring so - gardening! As a city girl from L.A., this is something that I have learned to love here in Bloomington. I look forward to that day, usually in May, when I can plant my zinnia, marigold, and snap dragon seeds. I do not look forward to all the weeding that then takes place – a tortuous yet necessary ritual. Also, I like to kick-box and swing kettle bells.
Bonus: Are there any upcoming events you want to direct people’s attention to?
A: Yes! Please check out the last talk of the Latino Studies 2024 Afrolatine Film and Performance Festival, “Thinking with the Dead: Intellectual Labor as Spirit Work,” by Dr. Carlos Decena (Rutgers University) on April 15 at 3 p.m. in 328 Lindley Hall. Dr. Decena is a specialist on Caribbean migration and diaspora studies. A reception in Lindley 230 will follow.
