Hi Everyone
Here are the lecture notes for this week.
Blog Homework: Discuss in the comment section how both the Nueva canción movement and the Rock/pank movement each, in their own way, reflect Ortiz’s idea of “transculturation”, or if they do.
Songs: Nueva canción
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDc9-DyeZj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHm-eFZYGiA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8yqVxuT-U
Rock/Pank
I will provide an English translation of the lyrics as soon as I can. Here, also is the documentary we looked at.
Blog Homework: Discuss in the comment section how both the Nueva canción movement and the Rock/pank movement each, in their own way, reflect Ortiz’s idea of “transculturation”, or if they do.
They both reflect Ortiz’s thesis since both came as a result of a mixture between different cultures. The Nueva Canción movement supports Ortiz’s idea since this movement uses modern instruments and the Spanish language while also incorporating aspects of indigenous cultures such as their beliefs and instruments. The Nueva Canción came about because of the combination of the indigenous culture of the people of Chile, which Violeta Parra so carefully used in her own work.
The Chilean Rock and Punk movements also fit into Ortiz’s idea since they also were a mixture of Western music and Latin American culture (language, for example). The Rock and Punk movements used a European/North American style of music but using the Spanish language and also with lyrics that show the grievances of the people of Chile. Although this mixture did not happen dialectically, given that the Pinochet Regime took steps to censor political lyrics and foreign musicians who were critical of the government, the advent of this movement in Chile shared both Western aspects as well as Chilean cultural traits.
Ortiz’s idea of transculturation is essentially the dialectical process of the incoming culture and the indigenous process merging (unlike Acculturation in which people acquire the incoming, dominant culture and the indigenous culture is wiped out in the process). In my opinion Nueva canción fits this definition of transculturation because it incorporates folk melodies and instruments into socio-political subject matter. As Neustadt puts it, “musicians in the Nueva Canción movement embraced indigenous instruments and rhythms thus rejecting both the imperialism associated with U.S popular culture and the Latin American elite’s dismissal of indigenous culture”. It brings the Indigenous culture into the modern social movements, and rejects the process of acculturation and the US hegemony in the process. A part of Ortiz’s argument was around the many different ethnic groups and smaller cultures that compose Cuba’s culture, using transculturation as the theory to explain this merging of so many distinct cultures. We see this same idea in the Nueva Canción movement, with the songs involving fusions of multiple different styles and influences, such as Spanish folklore, Cueca, Indigenous music, and Andean influence.
The Rock/punk movement similarly reflects Ortiz’s movement in that it merges incoming culture with Indigenous culture, rather than acculturating to one or the other. It is influenced by American rock and pop songs, but incorporated folklore stylings (Andean rhythms and instruments) and influenced by reggae, techno, synth-pop and ska. Although it was influenced by American punk and rock, the content was focused on comments and critiques of Chilean society and governments. Multiple influences merge together to form a youth culture of rebellion and expression of dissatisfaction with society and governmental regimes, which is why I think this would be an example of transculturation as well.
Both Nueva Canción and the rock/punk movement are a reflection of transculturation. On the one hand, Nueva Canción brings together indigenous music and instruments with a more modern sound and lyrics and Spanish, while also having a somewhat poetic meaning, representing in that way all the different cultures that have influenced the movement. On the other hand, the rock/punk movement brings together both American and Latin American culture. The main inspiration for these artists was the current rock music movement that was going on in English-speaking countries, which inspired the Latin American artists, also creating music that was a mix of cultures.
The music movements that occurred in Chile in the second half of the 20th century definitely can be traced back to Ortiz’s theory of transculturation in Latin America. Nueva Cancion is influenced by the indigenous motives and sounds, bringing modern instruments and production to the mix. Violeta Parra’s songs really show this connection, and her poetic lyricism makes the songs relatable for every class and backgrounds people have. Rock movement was far more blunt with their rebellious attitude, putting lyrics right and center of the songs. Sometimes, the songs have very fun melodies, contradicting the serious and dark messages the lyrics bring. It brings together the movements in music that occurred in Europe and North America and gives them an essential Latin American twist, with all of its variety. It shows the mix of cultures that is so present in South America.
The Nueva Cancion movement in Chile can draw parallels to Ortiz’s idea of “transculturation” in Cuba. Both concepts combine distinct cultures into a cohesive being. Nueva Canción was born out of the discontent of the Chilean society with their oppressive government. It was a form of active protest whilst supporting the Allende’s government. The cultural movement, as referred to by its name, moved away from popular culture (government censored propaganda). It combined all the different aspects of Chilean society, such as embracing indigenous instruments and rhythms. While the transculturation in Cuba wasn’t by choice, it captures the different phases of multiple cultures and the integration occurred in a short span of time. Ortiz explains that while The Spaniards oppressed indigenous community and Slaves. It was the slaves that were worst off than the rest. Spaniards held power and thus implemented their culture, the indigenous population although oppressed had their native land. In contrast to Slaves who were stripped away from their culture and land. Both of this movement represented a group of people who did not feel identified by the culture and land they occupied. In contrast to Cuba it was the slaves stripped of their identity, and in Chile, it was the new generation that did not feel a strong bond with the current culture reflecting their political world; thus, creating a new identity.
During the Nueva Cancion movement, we can note the combination of indigenous Latin American culture/instruments with modern music/sounds. By doing so, this movement not only allowed Chileans to create a new identity for themselves, but as well it served the purpose of promoting injustices in society. This movement connected Chileans across time and space as well as becoming a responsive piece that citizens could engage in in-order to address the political/social issues that were happening at the time. Similar to this movement was the rock/punk movement which also combined two cultures as a way to respond to social issues. By combining western European culture and latin American culture, in a sense a new identity was born. The music that was created, although disliked by Pinochet, approached issues more directly and seriously yet still with an upbeat and more aesthetic rhythm.
Transculturation is clearly visible in both the Nueva Cancion movement and the Rock movement. First lets examine the movement of Nueva Cancion. This movement was heavily influenced by the indigenous people since the songs took many of the flutes and melodies from these. Now this movement was an immersion of indigenous culture and the urban culture of Chile. Having a mix of the indigenous melodies while carrying an air of discontent from the urban oppression. Now we move to the Rock Movement. This was the immersion of the West and European culture, which where bringing the ideas of rock, while the mix of the rebellious and discontent from Pinochet’s Rule in Chile.
As seen, both movements reflect Ortiz’s idea of transculturation. The similarity in both movements is that the Chileans where bringing ideas from abroad and mixing them with the idea of rebelling against the current dictator.
Nueva cancion fits with Ortiz’s concept of transculturation more directly as Ortiz emphasizes the aspect of indigenous culture which was a key feature of Nueva cancion (done well by Violeta). It incorporated Chile’s indigenous culture and Chile as a collective’s concerns and wishes and beauty while remaining respectful to the indigenous and appealing to a broader audience. The Rock and punk movements is a process seen within most countries, especially those who suffer under oppression. As these movements were getting more popular in the US, Chilean artists took this style on while using their own oppression as a form of rebellion and expression, and still remaining true to their own issues, music, and folk culture. Therefore I would argue that transculturation is occurring in both these movements.
Both Nueva Cancion and the subsequent Rock/Punk music similarly displayed ideas of transculturation in their own ways. Nueva Cancion brought traditional, romantic elements of the indigenous past into music – Andean instruments were often used, and Violeta Para, for instance, incorporated and preserved numerous ancient Chilean songs and proverbs, which shows through her music. This more ‘traditional’ approach to music, mixed with use of the Spanish language, current themes of governmental oppression, and some modern instruments clearly represents the theory of transculturation.
This can be similarly seen in the Rock/Punk movement, which included Spanish covers of popular American/European rock songs, as well as original punk/rock songs, which – similar to the Nueva Cancion movement – included current social and political issues (despite seeing significantly less politically specific as its former). Both these musical movements clearly display a mixture of different times and cultures, representing the theory of transculturation .
I think both movement represented Ortiz’s idea of transculturation. In both the lyrics and the music you can appreciate how other music styles influence each other and have a big impact in people’s life. I like how people use music to express how they perceive the context of what was going on in their country. Personally, Soda Stereo is one of my favorite groups and I can definitely hear some influence in the songs we listened in the class. Since I’m Mexican and I can understand the lyrics of the song I believe that behind the lyrics are a lot of mixed feelings regarding the culture of the country. The music is also part of the culture of a country so if another people embrace some things of that music style you can say that they are also embracing part of the culture. By listening to this songs you can clearly say that there are different cultural context in them.
I do believe that both Nueva canción and the rock/ punk movements reflect Ortiz’ idea of transculturation because according to his definition, it is a heterogenous mix of genres which aims to frame the multiplicity of unity. Although both music types aimed to respond to political realities at each respective time period, they both had a unifying message, which is why in my opinion, they were so effective. Nueva canción borrowed from the indigenous cultures of the Andes and the rock/punk movement borrowed from the North American and European songs that were being released at the time. Both processes included a certain amount of deculturation as well as acculturation, which leads to Ortiz’ definition of transculturation, reflecting this idea.
If I have understood the concept of transculturation, I think both Nueva Cancion and the Chilean Rock and Punk is reflecting Ortiz’s idea of transculturation. First, Nueva Cancion was mixture of indigenous culture, Spanish instruments and other modern musical consonants. Similarly, Rock and Punk was hybrid of North American, European and Latin American culture and both Nueva Cancion and Rock/Punk is not an original culture of any nation, but it is mixture of different cultures. Thus, it can be the representation of tranculturation concept. And personally, I think that the mixture of culture brought more power to them to resist to regimes and political power suppressing public.
Both the Punk movement and the Nueva Cancion movement exemplify Ortiz’s idea of transculturation because of their respective cultural roots. The punk movement of Chile and South America borrowed from the punk movements of the US, the UK and Europe. They took musical influence from famous punk bands and made original music that expressed their energy, angst and frustration with their specific socio political situation. The Nueva Cancion movement started as a project to document old and forgotten folk songs from the Chilean countryside and later turned into the research that supported the new genre. It was a genre that, again, borrowed stylistically from an already existing culture but what was created was original and had lyrics specific to the situation.
The Nueva Cancion movement as well as the Chilean Rock and Punk movements both reflect Ortiz’s idea of transculturation, albeit in very different ways. The first is transcultural in the sense that it incorporates indigenous instruments and sounds into the songs, a way of acknowledging the presence and influence of the indigenous populations of Chile, and encouraging their inclusion into popular culture. This is the case, for example, in Inti Illimani’s song “El Aparecido”, where pan pipes are used in the background. The rock and punk movements, on the other hand, are more reflective of the climate created by the dictatorship starting in 1972. They are also the result of transcultural processes, this time because they take movements in the United States and Europe as starting points, making similar sounding music; the themes of their songs are, however, completely different, since they explicitly address the situation in Chile and call for social awakening and change. Certain groups such as “Los Prisioneros” even go as far as asking those who do not value their Chilean roots to leave the country and go live in Europe or North America if they appreciate the culture so much more than their own.
I believe that both Nueva Cancion and the Chilean Rock and Punk scene can be traced back to Ortiz’s theory of transculturation. Both styles of music came from the mixing of styles of music, from many different cultures. Nueva Cancion, in particular, is closely linked to Ortiz’s theory as it mixes traditional, indigenous, folk songs with modern sounds and instruments in Spanish. The Chilean Rock and Punk music was a mix of “Western” style rock music and Chilean culture, or for the rest of Latin America Latin culture. Mixing the North American style rock music with Spanish lyrics, and the occasional Spanish sounds created a new style of rock and punk. Artists used this music to voice their concern with how Chile was being politically run, and to protest things against their beliefs. Both Nueva Cancion and Chilean Rock and Punk music can be seen to reflect Ortiz’s idea of Transculturation.
Ambos movimientos reflejan transculturación. Estos documentan la evolución política de chile mediante el uso de diferentes elementos culturales. Nueva canción es una mixtura cultural que utiliza el folklore y el lenguaje para perdurar la tradición y yuxtaponer valores contextuales con el medio político del cual los autores son partícipes. Por otro lado, movimientos menos tradicionanel y que comparten orígenes extranjeros como el rock y el punk presentan en su práctica una nueva identidad chilena cual se asocia al contexto contemporáneo.
The Chilean Rock and Punk scene as well as the Nueva Canción movement were both able to exemplify Ortiz’s idea of transculturation. Nueva Canción was known for incorporating traditional sounds and instruments, which for the artists and audience was a means of recognizing the indigenous peoples of Chile, while simultaneously encouraging other artists to follow suit due to its popularity. This mixing of style, culture, and inclusion of old sounds allowed the Nueva Canción movement to gain public approval in Chile. Moreover, the punk and rock scene also represented Ortiz’ ideas. This movement was more of a push back to government and expressed the dangerous atmosphere created by the current dictatorship. Punk and rock artists used this music to show the world the dangers of Chile’s political instability at the time. In conclusion, it can be said that Ortiz’ definition of transculturation was well represented by the Nueva Canción movement and Punk Rock era of Chile.
Neuvo Cancion seems to me to be the poster child for Ortiz’s transculturation philosophy. Unlike the indigenous and spanish cultures he first used to describe the theory, the music generated by the mix of cultures that is Neuvo Cancion, everything is put on equal footing. The product of the Violetta Parra’s work (among others) is a blend of cultures old and new, but with no particular importance placed on one over the other; exactly how ortiz would have liked it. The effort behind Neuvo Cancion was born out of an appreciation for other cultures and produced, happily, a good way of sheltering culture that was threatened. Unlike colonial powers, Neuvo Cancion focused on the proliferation and preservation of cultures, not the domination of one by another. In this regard, I believe it is strongly representative of the ideal of transculturation.
Both the Nueva Cancion movement and the Rock and Punk movement reflect ortiz’s idea of transculturation in the sense that both of the movements are byproducts of a country shaped by transculturation. Rock and punk in Chile, for instance, were created as an outlet for people who were feeling the effects of transculturation in their country. This genre of music is all about being mad and letting that anger out through musical expression, it’s very essence is rebellious and for the people and youth in Chile it gave them a way to be heard and voice their opinions during a time of great change. Rock and punk in Chile was the result of their transculturation with American hits in the rock and pop genre. The Nueva Cancion Movement took from music of cultures such as Andean, Spanish folklore, Cueca, Indigenous music – the result of cultures blending into a new creation as Ortiz described transculturation. It also integrated socio-political subject matter and was in a sense a backlash to the preference for European and North American content that can be attributed to transculturation once again. Both the Nueva Cancion movement and the Rock and Punk movement are products of transculturation and both gave people a way to express themselves and relate on common ground when the country became less open to individual expression during the dictatorship.
I think that in both The Nueva Cancion movement as well as the Chilean Rock and Punk movements both show Ortiz ideas of transculturalation. We see this is through a combination in the blend of music. Similarly, Ortiz’s ideas of blending tradition through music. This allows for different types of music from different cultures and traditions to come together. We see the importance of music and dance, as a way to express yourself and show your tradition and heritage. We see the blends of music such as rock and punk in today’s society today. Overall I enjoy the music in the videos and found to be very enjoyable to listen to.
Both Nueva Canción and Canto Nuevo Rock exemplify Ortiz’s theory of Transculturation in their inclusion of multiple cultures and influences in their music which led to a style that became all their own. By using a blend of instruments and indigenous and folk styles, Nueva Canción became a voice of a generation of people who wanted to create an identity all their own, built upon the experiences of what it was to be Chilean. The bands that formed Canto Nuevo Rock did the same, using European and American influences as a stepping stone to learn how to construct their own identity in music differentiating from the identity the state wanted to impose on them.
There are elements of transculturation in both of the music movements we studied (Nueva Cancion and Rock/Punk). In the Nueva Cancion, the most obvious element of transculturation was seen by the musical and political influence of indigenous people within the music. The songs used many of the flutes that were considered to be traditional indigenous instruments. It also made use of some of the more traditionally indigenous melodies. So, from a transculturation perspective, this movement became a mish-mash of the increasingly urbanized culture in Chile, as well as indigenous culture. Thus, the music managed to send the political message of the discontent with urban oppression, while simultaneously incorporating traditional melodies.
The Rock/Punk movement, which was also a product of transculturation, was slightly different. The main difference laid in the fact that, as opposed to being indigenous peoples involved in the transculturation, this movement layered the influence of Western European Colonial culture, which was where the whole idea of rock was coming from. This was paired with the voicing of the rebellion and unhappiness from Pinochet’s rule in Chile.
In a way, both of the movements reflected Ortiz’s idea of transculturation, and, despite the differences between the two movements, the similarity was that Chileans were voicing their political discontent through the incorporation of different cultures in their music scene.
Nueva Cancion in particular to me really exemplifies Ortiz’s idea of transculturation because it combines aspects from Indigenous culture, Spanish culture, African culture and mixes it all together in a way that could really only be appreciated or created by a culture that was already a balanced mix of many different backgrounds like Latin America is. Yet, the songs focus on parts of their culture that would have been washed away if, as some argue, the colonizing nations had completely over taken the original one. There are flutes and melodies in this type of music that is a specific call back to those created by more traditional Indigenous nations. The Rock/Punk movement is a slightly different take on the transculturation that is present in Latin America. However, this movement focused more strongly on making a connection between the European culture( where resistance rock originated) and the unhappy populace under Pinochet in Chile.
Nueva Cancion and Canto Nuevo Rock, express Ortiz’s theory of transculturation in their music because they were able to include multiple cultures and the multiple influences in their music, which lead the bands to a style that became solely there own. Using a large blend of different instruments as well as folk influences, Nueva Cancion became the voice of a generation in desperate need of one. The generation was in desperate need of an identity, this was to be built from the experiences of what it meant to be Chilean, this is what made Nueva Cancion what it was. The bands that combined to form Canto Nuevo rock did the same but used European and American influences as the stepping stone in creating their music, and coming up with new ideas. Doing this made it possible for the new band to differentiate themselves from what the state wanted them to become.
Transculturation, when Ortiz was writing about it, was happening at a pace so much slower than it is today. Even by the 60s to 80s, in the era of Nueva Cancion and Chilean Punk Rock, cultural influences were becoming increasingly disembedded from spatiality, with inter-cultural exchange increasing at exponential levels. Today, with the advent of the internet together with social media platforms, cultural production from around the world is available for access, and as individuals we are able to absorb, remix, and reproject these cultural fragments into an infinitessimal potentiality of permutations. Transculturation, I believe is decreasingly apt to understanding contemporary media and information flows. Internet and world culture exists now within a unified network, with lines between cultures decreasingly apaprent.
Nueva Cancion’s most central influence came from indigenous musical instruments and cultural subject matter; transculturated with influences from Europe and North America to fit the four-minute attention spans of Westernized music fans, it laid the ground for indigenous art and music movements which are still innovating today.
Latin American Rock/Punk, on the other hand, was adapted the other way around from an innately Western set of instruments and style of production. The aesthetic and subject of these songs takes cultural artifacts from the indigenous population, and the occasional trill of flute.
The Nueva Canción and the rock/punk movement are a reflection of transculturation. This was because Nueva Cación brought both indigenous music together with a modern flair. Ortiz describes it as the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures and this is what this movement achieved. I particularly found the Rock/ Punk movement interesting. I like how the origins of North American sound and rock transitioned to Latin America and became its own form of genre. The sound of it also wasn’t quite like anything else, but it is still obvious certain sounds have been adopted. I find the mixing of cultures to be really interesting and one of my favorite singers Selena was really good at doing that as well. She incorporated folk music with pop music and made it her own.
I think both Nueva cancion and Punk rock movements well reflect Ortiz’s transculturation theories. Nueva Cancion brings together indigenous music with modern latin sounds and spanish lyrics. They often discussed indigenous culture and modern day societal blends. The rock movement in Latin america took heavy influence from the american and british rock sounds, and combined them with spanish lyrics referencing political affairs of that time. Transculturation is definitely evident here, as we can clearly see and hear the blends of different cultures blending together to form toward one similar over riding culture. In this case it’s the indigenous/ latin with laitn/ american cultures all blending together to contribute toward the ultimate latin culture.
The theory of transculturation surrounded the thought of foreign cultures coexisting together to create an amalgamated sense of culture. Nueva Cancion and the rock movements both show qualities of transcultural influence in the musical stylings. In Inti Illimani’s El Aparecido there are elements of folk and indigenous musical influences evident with the balladeering , classical guitar, and flute sounds. The punk movement that followed was more of a representation of different energies and abstract feelings. The Los Jaivas song La Poderaso Muerte has transcultural influences in the music that give is a cosmic and universal feel. The array of sounds from electric guitars, bells, drums, synthesizers and more add to this effect.
It is interesting to observe the various influences you can find within the Chilean punk scene. In terms of the themes of non-conformism found in early punk music in the U.S. and Britain, with bands such as the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, respectively, these subjects seem to be prevalent in the Chilean scene as well with Los Prisioneros and Los Pinochet Boys. The Sex Pistols, who were famously anti-Royalist and anti-establishment, seemed to have further influenced the music generated in Chile during the time of an oppressive dictatorship to the extent that it was lyrically related to the youth’s reaction to a unpopular regime. This could be said to all stem from Ortiz’s initial concept of transculturation as a phenomenon of the elements of one culture converging with the trappings of another.
The Nueva canción movement was and is heavily reliant on the amalgamation of Western sounds and Spanish music – this movement is reflective of a type of globalisation, on a cultural scale. Ortiz’s idea of ‘neoculturation’ is key in this discussion of the Nueva canción movement as we see a new genre of music develop, with the already formed genres not being uprooted.
Furthermore, the Nueva canción movement aims at reconciling two previously clashing cultures to form a mid-way point – to this end, Oritz’s idea of transculturation is valid when discussing the Nueva canción movement.