National imaginaries

Esta tesis buscó indagar desde las herramientas analíticas de los estudios culturales por las relaciones existentes entre la música, el poder y la representación. En esta oportunidad me interesa exponer un debate que se ha iniciado en los últimos años en Colombia, en el ámbito de lo que se conoce como Nueva Música Colombiana (NMC) que está relacionado con el interés que han tenido varios músicos jóvenes de las principales ciudades del país (Bogotá, Cali y Medellín) por recuperar y reinterpretar músicas tradicionales colombianas al mezclarlas con géneros “modernos” como el jazz, el hip-hop, el funk entre otros.  Frente a esta emergencia han nacido agrupaciones como Bomba Estéreo, Monsieur Periné, Chocquibtown, La Mojarra Eléctrica, La Revuelta, Curupira, Systema Solar entre otros.

La pregunta a responder en esta investigación es ¿cómo se establecen disputas e imaginarios de la colombianidad en la configuración de lo que se llama Nueva Música Colombiana?. Para poder responderla el documento está dividido en tres capitulos que son: El primero, hace un recorrido sobre los antecedentes históricos de las imágenes de colombianidad y la manera en la que se han articulado con la construcción de los sonidos nacionales, sumado a los roles que han jugado los saberes expertos del folclor, el World Music y los discursos multiculturalistas que se materializaron en la constitución de 1991.

En el segundo capítulo, se construye la historia del surgimiento de la NMC que incluye la herencia de músicos tradicionales en las ciudades y de músicos que se arriesgaron a poner en un mismo escenario géneros académicos con músicas tradicionales, dando como resultado una primera cosecha de jóvenes músicos de las principales ciudades del país. Al verse nutridos, no sólo por el panorama musical sino también el social y político de los 90’s, estos músicos deciden apostarle a una nueva manera de hacer música colombiana con base en las músicas tradicionales que llamarían, desde la institucionalidad, la prensa y la academia, NMC.

El tercer capítulo problematiza las escenificaciones de Colombia y los colombianos a través de las agrupaciones escogidas para el estudio, de manera que sea posible indagar sobre los imaginarios que se han mantenido en el tiempo, han cambiado o han entrado en disputa.

Finalmente, se establece el por qué se considera que la NMC es una invención de la colombianidad y se señalan las conclusiones que surgen de ahí.


This thesis aimed to establish from the analytical tools of cultural studies on the relationship between music, power and representation. I'm interested in this opportunity to expose a debate that has begun in recent years in Colombia, in the context of what is known as New Colombian Music (NMC) which is related to the interest they have had several young musicians from major cities (Bogotá, Cali and Medellín) to recover and reinterpret traditional Colombian music to mix with "modern" genres like jazz, hip-hop, funk and others. Faced with this emergency born groups like Bomba Estereo, Monsieur Perine, Chocquibtown, La Mojarra Eléctrica, La Revuelta, Curupira, Systema Solar and others.

The question to be answered in this research is ¿How the disputes and imaginarys Colombianness set in shaping what is called New Colombian Music ?. To answer document is divided into three chapters are: First, make a tour on the historical background of images of Colombian and the way in which they have articulated with the construction of national sounds, added to the roles have played expert knowledge of folklore, World Music and multiculturalist discourses that materialized in the 1991 Constitution.

In the second chapter, the story of the rise of NMC which includes the heritage of traditional musicians in cities and musicians who dared to put in the same academic genres with traditional music scene is constructed, resulting in a first crop of young musicians major cities. To be nourished not only by the also the social and political 90s music scene but these musicians decide to bet on a new way to make Colombian music based on traditional music would call from the institutions, the press and academia NMC.

The third chapter problematizes the performances of Colombia and Colombians through clusters chosen for the study, so that it is possible to investigate the imaginary that have been maintained over time, have changed or entered in dispute.

Finally, it establishes why it is considered that the NMC is an invention of the Colombianness and conclusions arising listed there.

"The year 2010 in Mexico marked both the 200th anniversary of the start of its independence movement and the 100th anniversary of its revolution. Besides several public events, a number of items including commemorative coins, banknotes, and stamps were produced to mark the occasion.
This article analyses the postage stamps issued to commemorate the Mexican bicentennial. It does so by comparing these stamps with the ones issued for previous independence anniversaries, and then tracking changes and continuities in their messages.
It is found that, on the one hand, the bicentennial postage stamps of Mexico promoted a particular narrative regarding the historical, territorial, and ethnic features of the Mexican independence process, which in many ways departs from previous, long-established nationalist narratives. But on the other hand, bicentennial stamps also demonstrate the influence of traditional interpretations of the national past – particularly those related to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional's (Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI) revolutionary nationalism doctrine – which are still being reproduced even after the 2000 democratic transition."

Chile's geographical remoteness has largely defined the imaginaries people share about this Latin American country. Despite its historical image as finis terrae (“the end of the world”), migrants from all corners found their way to these isolated peripheral lands. Thanks to new means of transport and communication, Chile nowadays is as exposed to the global circulation of people, objects and ideas as the rest of the world. Based on a combination of archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, this article traces how old (and originally foreign) imaginaries about Chile as an inaccessible island keep on influencing how contemporary Chileans participate in and frame their perceived exclusion from a plethora of new transnational mobilities, regardless of whether they have the means and freedom to cross imaginary boundaries and real borders or not. Although increasingly under outside pressure, the value of immobility remains at the core of the Chilean social imaginary, geo-politics and cultural life.

This paper examines the outcomes of the exhibition “Israels: Portraits of Israel”, held in 2020-2021 at the Gershon and Judith Leiber Center for Jewish Art Exhibitions, Bar-Ilan University. By describing the exhibition’s structure and analyzing a selection of its frames, it presents the results of the apposition of photobooks and tourist guidebooks that were produced during the first seventy years of Israel’s statehood. Putting the volumes side by side, according to different themes and timelines, the exhibition brought out the ways in which Israel’s collective memory and portrait were constructed and represented at various moments of its existence to both the resident and the visitor.

The 2018 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was an important event for many queer people in Australia, celebrating both forty years of Mardi Gras as well as the legalisation of same sex-same marriage in December of 2017. This significance was reflected in the events theme 40 Years of Evolution. In this context, it's important to consider which queer lives have been the focus and celebration of Mardi Gras since 1978, and what it means to celebrate evolution of law and narratives that emphasise reform inside the settler state.

"In recent years in Colombia a debate begun, in the context of what is known as New Colombian Music (NMC) which is related to the interest that several young musicians from major cities have had to recover and reinterpret traditional Colombian music and mix it with ""modern"" genres like jazz, and others. Groups like Bomba Estereo, Monsieur Perine, Chocquibtown, La Mojarra Electrica, Systema Solar and others were born in NMC. The question is: ?How disputes and imaginaries of Colombianness are set to shape what is called New Colombian Music ?. To answer this question, first make a tour on the historical background of Colombian images and the way in which they have articulated with the construction of national sounds, roles played by folklore, World Music and multiculturalist discourses.Later, the story of the rise of NMC is constructed. The heritage of traditional musicians in cities and musicians who dared to put in the same academic genres with traditional music scene is included, resulting in a first crop of young musicians in major cities. Nourished not only by the music scene but also the social and political 90s environment these musicians decide to bet on a new way to make Colombian music based on traditional music that would be call NMC. Finally, problematizes the performances of Colombia and Colombians through clusters chosen for the study, so that it is possible to investigate the imaginaries that have been maintained over time, have changed or entered in dispute."

The Anglo-Saxon world possesses an almost mythical ability to create and believe its own chimeras. From the rosy utopia of the American Dream represented in the “melting pot,” to the peculiar historiography of Britain as the “Good and Civilized Empire,” the Anglophone world often demonstrates its world hegemony by engaging in cultural imperialism. The phenomenon that the controversial American scholar Marian Combs calls “Making the Whole World England,” started centuries before the British and the American Empires jumped to center of the world stage, for one of the first literary utopian myths crossing national borders is the legend of the “medieval” King Arthur, that so enthralled the rest of Europe that by the year 1100 Italian citizens were naming their offspring “Arturo.” In spite of the dearth of historical evidence regarding the authenticity of the myth, the fabled King has “created” an imaginary world in which he becomes the king of his people and of the whole world. This essay analyses Arthur as a British national hero, tracing his path from early Welsh tales to the re-branding of the legend in the late nineteenth century, while it also contrasts this myth of glory, military might, utopian triumph and world domination with Spain’s national hero, Don Quijote de La Mancha, a dystopian myth that can be traced back to Arthur’s influence.