On the Break of Dawn: Approaching the Origin of Panamanian Military Drum Calls through the French Diane

Abstract

In this article, we address the French history and heritage of fin-de-siècle Panamanian military music, particularly military drum calls, with an emphasis on the case of the diane or reveille call. We explore the history of the diane within the framework of French batteries d’ordonnance and their transmission to Colombia and the Isthmus during the nineteenth century. Likewise, we analyze the ways in which military calls were incorporated into Panamanian independence celebrations through a process of adoption/adaptation and the social repercussions of this process in subsequent centuries. The French diane was transformed by cultural agents of the Isthmus into a vehicle for identity construction through the preservation of memory, the reinterpretation and resignification of cultural artifacts, as well as social inclusion and cohesion. The Panamanian diana emerges from this complex cultural process as a platform for permanent cultural dialogue.