“Urban Provincianos”: La Música Chicha and Cultural Identity in 1970s and 1980s Lima, Perú

Location

King Building 321

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-28-2017 4:30 PM

End Date

4-28-2017 5:50 PM

Abstract

Can music help a community define its identity? “La música chicha”, a genre of Peruvian music that arose in the ‘70s, began when migrants to Lima fused melodies from their highland communities with the Colombian cumbia rhythm. Researching in Lima, I examined print sources, conducted interviews with musicians and academics, and attended concerts. I also analyzed song lyrics and public performances as two manifestations of cultural expression in Lima’s working-class barrios. I conclude that Chicha helped unite many around their shared identity as impoverished, working-class, migrant campesinxs now living together in a large city. Chicha is an excellent case study of what Pablo Vila calls the "[importance of] popular music in the process of identity construction [in Latin America]."

Keywords:

Latin America, Peru, music, ethnomusicology, culture, Spanish

Notes

Session III, Panel 14 - Art | Identity
Moderator: Jennifer Fraser, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology

Major

Latin American Studies

Award

Selch Fellowship for the Study of American Culture

Advisor(s)

Claire Solomon, Hispanic Studies

Project Mentor(s)

Kristina Mani , Politics
Claire Solomon, Hispanic Studies; Comparative Literature
James O'Leary, Musicology

April 2017

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 28th, 4:30 PM Apr 28th, 5:50 PM

“Urban Provincianos”: La Música Chicha and Cultural Identity in 1970s and 1980s Lima, Perú

King Building 321

Can music help a community define its identity? “La música chicha”, a genre of Peruvian music that arose in the ‘70s, began when migrants to Lima fused melodies from their highland communities with the Colombian cumbia rhythm. Researching in Lima, I examined print sources, conducted interviews with musicians and academics, and attended concerts. I also analyzed song lyrics and public performances as two manifestations of cultural expression in Lima’s working-class barrios. I conclude that Chicha helped unite many around their shared identity as impoverished, working-class, migrant campesinxs now living together in a large city. Chicha is an excellent case study of what Pablo Vila calls the "[importance of] popular music in the process of identity construction [in Latin America]."