JOMEC Journal Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
Published by Cardiff University Press
Songs of Exile: Music, Activism, and Solidarity in the Latin American Diaspora
Claudia Bucciferro
Gonzaga University Email: [email protected]
Keywords Music Latin America Activism Exile Diasporic communities Abstract
This article addresses the long-standing connection between music and social activism in Latin America, centering on a discussion of ‘the music of exile’ as a cultural artifact of historical and conceptual significance for diasporic Latin American communities. The music produced by artists who were persecuted during the years of military rule was characterized by an engagement with social and political affairs, and often helped bring people together in the struggle for democratization. Despite censorship laws and other repressive measures enacted by the dictatorships, the music not only endured but traveled across nations and continents, carried by the millions of people who were displaced due to State-sponsored violence. Now distributed through new media platforms, such as YouTube, this music functions as a repository of memory and an emblem of solidarity that connects dispersed Latin American communities. Using Cultural Studies as a theoretical framework and employing an interpretive methodology, this study focuses on a selection of songs written between 1963 and 1992, presenting an analysis that centers on their lyrics and connects their meanings to larger social processes.
Contributor Note
Dr. Claudia Bucciferro is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Gonzaga University, in Spokane, Washington.
Citation
Bucciferro, Claudia (2017), ‘Songs of Exile: Music, Activism, and Solidarity in the Latin American Diaspora’, JOMEC Journal 11, ‘Diaspora beyond Nationalism’, ed. Idil Osman. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18573/j.2017.10147
Accepted for publication 1 June 2017
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Introduction exiled artists who continued their careers abroad produced work that Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, brutal referenced their countries of origin, so military dictatorships ruled most they helped raise awareness about countries in Latin America, with political human rights abuses and increase the prosecution being accompanied by international community’s pressure on detentions, torture, relegation, the dictatorships. Artists from other banishment, and death. Thousands of nations joined in solidarity, echoing their people were killed and millions were plight and working with non-profit forced into exile, as repression tightened organizations, such as Amnesty and economic opportunities narrowed International, to support democratizing throughout the region. The exile of initiatives. political dissidents was commonly mandated by the State and announced This article delineates how politically- through mainstream media (i.e., radio), so engaged music became a tool for social the measure served both as punishment activism and a repository of historical and deterrent for other people’s political memory for Latin American people, involvement. Passage into exile, when having a tangible influence on the granted, was accompanied by the threat democratization efforts and acquiring of torture and death, and for every intense meaning for communities formally exiled person, hundreds of abroad. The discussion focuses mainly others were killed or forced into hiding on the work of musicians from Chile and (Dorfman 1991). Exile implied social Argentina – two countries that had uprooting, economic insecurity, and particularly harsh dictatorships – and existential anguish, and as the years pays attention to the way in which music wore on, its consequences rippled helps us understand the experience of through territories and generations social struggle, uprooting, and re- (Roniger 2009). connection with our cultural heritage, uniting people in solidarity for a common In the case of musicians and artists, cause. The starting point for this study is banishment included a prohibition to an interest in the process that underlies feature or distribute their work to the the development of a musical repertoire public. As local media were shaped by that is linked to the fate of contemporary the forces of censorship and self- Latin America and its people. As Martín- censorship, the ‘music of exile’ that Barbero argues, it is by paying attention flourished beyond national borders and to ‘the process’ and considering ‘the way was played surreptitiously within the in which people communicate’ (Barbero affected Latin American countries 2012: 78) in everyday life that we can became interwoven with testimonies of arrive at conclusions that have resistance (Balabarca 2013). Many grassroots validity and convey the musicians, such as the Chilean bands particularities of the communicative Inti-Illimani and Illapu, wrote songs that context of Latin America. delved into the experience of banishment, and these songs were Using Cultural Studies as a theoretical picked up by others, such as the framework and taking into account Argentine Mercedes Sosa, and sung in writings by ethnomusicologists and activist gatherings. Furthermore, the scholars investigating transnationalism, 65 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
this study seeks to understand both the Chile during the time of Pinochet’s meanings conveyed by the songs and military dictatorship, and has been living the significance that they acquired over abroad for more than fifteen years. time. The methodology used is interpretive and the research process followed qualitative protocols. After Music, Politics, and Revolution gathering and reviewing 257 songs, 14 were selected for this analysis because The legend says that in the wake of the they have common features: they were Chilean coup d’état of September 11, written between 1963 and 1992, when 1973, Víctor Jara – the folklorist and repression prevailed in many places in member of the faculty at the Universidad Latin America; their writers and Técnica del Estado – sat on the steps performers were politically ‘marked’ outside his house and waited. A friend and/or persecuted because of their art; came to alert him to the brutal the songs were re-interpreted by other repression that was sure to engulf leftist musicians and embraced by the public political activists and urged him to go as symbolic expressions of historical into hiding or seek political asylum. His importance; the songs are still widely songs in support of the poor, the known and have a presence in digital marginalized, and the revolution were media platforms. During the analysis, well-known and would not be welcomed songs that speak about the experience by the military regime that had just taken of exile and political struggle were given over the government. ‘Don’t you know particular attention, though some that that they will be looking for you?’ they illustrate more broadly the connection say the friend asked, alarmed. ‘I know’, between music, activism, and voice are Jara responded, ‘and they will find me also included. All songs were written by here’. Latin American musicians and lyricists, except for two that were written by The next day, Jara, like thousands of European artists who have collaborated others, was detained at his workplace with Latin American musicians. All song and taken to the Estadio Nacional, which excerpts were obtained from original had been originally built to serve as a records (from either the initial releases venue for international soccer games. or later compilations), with the lyrics There, he became a political prisoner being cross-referenced with the archives and was subject to interrogation and posted on www.music.com and torture. He wrote his last song in a little www.letras.com. The review of the piece of paper that was smuggled out of original songs was accompanied by the place by someone else. Then, his multiple online searches that revealed torturers crushed and burned his hands, their notable presence on venues such before killing him with 44 bullets (Krajnc as YouTube and other music websites. 2008). This was meaningful, as the image The analysis was conducted in Spanish of Víctor Jara and his guitar was already in order to capture nuances of meaning, connected to a creative movement – the and the lyrics’ excerpts were then Nueva Canción – that sought to translated for inclusion in this article. challenge social, political, and economic Finally, the analysis benefited from the oppression (Schechter 1999; Balabarca fact that the author is bilingual 2013). Not long before the coup d’état, (Spanish/English), was born and raised in Jara had written Manifiesto, declaring in 66 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
a prescient manner that the power of people in various places for decades music transcended the life of any (Krajnc 2008). individual: Jara’s approach to folklore was built on a Yo no canto por cantar Latin American tradition that sees music Ni por tener buena voz as connected to social and political Canto porque la guitarra stirrings (Bernand 2014). In the peasant Tiene sentido y razón tradition, ‘popular culture’ and ‘popular music’ are not media artifacts of massive Tiene corazón de tierra appeal. Instead, music carries la voz del Y alas de palomita pueblo (the voice of the people). Like Es como el agua bendita storytelling, it is an authentic expression Santigua glorias y penas of what moves people and is imprinted with shared hopes, dreams, traumas, and Aquí se encajó mi canto concerns (Storey 2010). Bernand Como dijera Violeta explains that, from as early as the 16th Guitarra trabajadora century, a connection between the Con olor a primavera concept of ‘a people’ and particular musical tropes has existed, with music I don’t sing just because functioning as a device for sharing Or because I have a good voice emotions and identifications (Bernand I sing because the guitar 2014: 24). Has meaning and reason for being In the 1970s, musical movements that It has an earthen heart sought to reclaim and revitalize folk And the wings of a little dove traditions emerged throughout Latin It’s like holy water America. These movements were rooted It blesses joys and sorrows in locality, but also had a transnational scope (Schechter 1999). Thus, the Nueva Here is where my song cuts deep Canción or Canto Nuevo in Chile, the As Violeta has said Nuevo Cancionero in Argentina, and the This is a working guitar Nueva Trova in Cuba and Central With the scent of springtime America shared an interest in collecting traditional tunes and producing lyrics Martín-Barbero (2000) argues that that spoke of social realities, political folklore, seen through the lens of media commitments, and change. The artists in and popular culture, is ‘mediatized’ or these movements thought music had the transformed in a way that puts it in power to stir up social consciousness conversation with various social realities and give voice to the oppressed, and historical elements. As such, it rejecting the idea that its purpose was becomes an anchor of cultural memory, mere entertainment. In the words of its importance given by the manner in Schechter, ‘Nueva canción composers which it intertwines with people’s lives. and performers, then, presented music Víctor Jara’s music is an example of this, that addressed current social problems, with his life and work forever linked to expressing outrage at unprovoked the emergence of a type of music that violence and injustice, and seeking to has been a source of inspiration for provoke change’ (Schechter 1999: 433). 67 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
For example, the Cuban Silvio Rodríguez Haber apoyado el paro explained this in the lyrics of La Maza, in Que ya se había resuelto which he metaphorically speaks of the Si acaso esto es un motivo guitar, the singer, and the song as being Presa también voy, sargento, sí intertwined and bound to a higher calling. Artists from different countries Yo que me encuentro tan lejos embraced both a traditional heritage and Esperando una noticia opportunities for innovation, and often Me viene a decir la carta collaborated and sung each other’s Que en mi patria no hay justicia songs, which led to the development of a Los hambrientos piden pan shared musical repository rich in social Plomo les da la milicia, sí content. I got a letter in the early mail The revitalization of the folk roots of Latin And in that letter they tell me music had begun in the 1950s and That my brother is in jail 1960s, with artists, such as Violeta Parra Without pity they dragged him in (in Chile) and Atahualpa Yupanqui (in cuffs Argentina), undertaking a systematic Through the streets, yes effort to research, catalogue, and feature songs, instruments, and tunes from rural The letter explains the crime traditions, enriching them with their own That Roberto has committed compositions (Schechter 1999). This To have supported the strike involved an attempt to capture the That was already resolving. essence of oral traditions that were If that is enough reason being lost to urbanization and foreign Take me to jail also, sergeant, yes influence. It also represented a search for authenticity that challenged the Me being so far away idealized, bucolic, and tamed version of Awaiting any news folklore that was offered by elite bands in The letter comes to tell me the salons of the capital. In Parra and That there is no justice in my Yupanqui’s renderings, popular songs country and folklore emerge as a site of The hungry beg for bread denunciation, protest, and lament, And the military gives them bullets, portraying the struggles of those outside yes the circles of power. In La Carta, which speaks of solidarity and distance, Violeta As Ureña explains, when approached in Parra sings: this way, folklore ‘becomes a unifying identifier for a society, one that Me mandaron una carta transcends past and present, having the Por el correo temprano capacity to project itself toward the Y en esa carta me dicen future, and allowing popular culture to Que cayó preso mi hermano evolve without losing its essence’ (Ureña Sin lástima con grillos 2013: 52). Latin American peasant Por las calles lo arrastraron, sí traditions have always included cantores, people who play the guitar, sing, and La carta dice el motivo create music intuitively, and who learn Que ha cometido Roberto their craft by imitating others. In rural 68 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
communities, they are held in high Suena la sirena esteem and are called-in for weddings, De vuelta al trabajo funerals, and other events, where they Muchos no volvieron help conjure up an emotional tone. Their Tampoco Manuel craft is a mix of native elements (music was an important part of ritual for I remember you, Amanda indigenous communities) and On the wet street instruments and styles (like the guitar Running to the factory and accordion, suitable for melodies Where Manuel worked such as the tonada) brought to the New World by the Spanish conquistadors The wide smile (Bernand 2014; Moreno Chá 1999). The rain in your hair Nothing else mattered This cultural heritage was called forth by You where going to meet with him musicians from the Nueva Canción With him, with him, with him movements, and the link was embodied by them: Víctor Jara’s mother was a Him, who went to the sierra cantora and the family came from a rural Who never hurt anyone and impoverished environment, but his Who went to the sierra educational achievements gave him a And in five minutes platform for his work as a folklorist He was destroyed (Krajnc 2008). His activism was informed by his background and, in his songs, he The siren rings often invites the listener to identify with Time to get back to work those who suffer. Jara’s songs articulate Many never got back what could be defined as a politics of Neither did Manuel solidarity, which makes them particularly meaningful. One of his enduring songs is This kind of music was tied to a political Te Recuerdo Amanda: project: the Leftist movement that embraced the utopian promise of Te recuerdo, Amanda revolution and gained ground in the La calle mojada 1960s and 1970s. The Cuban revolution Corriendo a la fábrica and the success of the Cuban Trova Donde trabajaba Manuel helped fuel the desire for artistic and cultural work that would be La sonrisa ancha emancipatory, speaking up against La lluvia en el pelo injustice, imperialism, and oppression No importaba nada (Ureña 2013). As a foundational Ibas a encontrarte con él statement for the Nuevo Cancionero Con él, con él, con él, con él explains (Biografía 2016):
Que partió a la sierra El Nuevo Cancionero acoge en sus Que nunca hizo daño principios a todos los artistas Que partió a la sierra identificados con sus anhelos de Y en cinco minutos valorar, profundizar, crear y Quedó destrozado. desarrollar el arte popular y en ese sentido buscará la comunicación, 69 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
el diálogo y el intercambio con 2013). In this context, the role of the todos los artistas y movimientos musician and the artist was that of an similares del resto de América. (…) intellectual connected to el pueblo and [El Nuevo Cancionero] Afirma que engaged in la lucha (the struggle) for a el arte, como la vida, debe estar en just world (Krajnc 2008). These political permanente transformación y por and social commitments demanded eso, busca integrar el cancionero musicians’ involvement in current affairs, popular al desarrollo creador del which determined that the right-wing pueblo todo para acompañarlo en dictatorships viewed them as innately su destino, expresando sus sueños, subversive. sus alegrías, sus luchas y sus esperanzas. Carrying the Torch of Memory and The Nuevo Cancionero welcomes Hope all artists who identify with its desire to value, deepen, create, and The military dictatorships that took develop the popular arts, and in power in many countries in Latin that sense it will seek America in the 1970s and 1980s communication, dialogue, and established strong censorship rules, exchange with all artists and exercised tight control of the media, and similar movements throughout greatly limited social gatherings America. […] [The Nuevo (Balabarca 2013). They outlawed political Cancionero] states that art, like life, parties, shut down non-governmental must be in constant transformation organizations, ransacked the buildings of and hence seeks to integrate the the popular press, and infiltrated the popular repository of songs to the ranks at major universities. Movies, creative development of the music, theater, literature, and art exhibits people, to accompany them in that were deemed to be inappropriate by their destiny, expressing their the regimes were banned, and their dreams, their joys, their struggles, authors were prosecuted. For years after and their hopes. the coup d’états had taken place, political dissenters were mercilessly The music that emerged from these tortured, murdered, or forced into hiding movements was essentially activist. or exile, as the public sphere froze and Because it was collaborative and sought social agents were demobilized (Dorfman to articulate a continental popular 1991; Bucciferro 2009). In Argentina, the consciousness, it was transnational in military regime (1976-1983) killed about nature, affirming local heritages but 22,000 people and sent tens of striving to find commonalities in thousands more into exile; in Chile, experiences across postcolonial Latin during Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973- America (Bernand 2014). These 1990) about a million people were movements were also anti-imperialist forced into exile, more than 50,000 were and anti-elitist, rejecting both the subject to torture, and nearly 3,000 were influence exercised by the United States detained and disappeared. in the affairs of smaller nations and the control of local governments by Within this context, music – connected entrenched political elites (Balabarca as it is to matters of voice and emotion – 70 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
becomes a repository of memory and a Because it killed me so badly mediator of solidarity. As Shaw states, That I kept singing ‘Song can help give voice to a people who otherwise are not heard, can help Singing to the sun like a cricket amplify that voice, and can help create After a year underneath the earth solidarity’ (Shaw 2013: 1). After all the Just like a survivor potentially incriminating books were Who comes back from war burned or buried (including works by Dostoyevsky, Dorfman, and Neruda), Despite the systematic efforts when all political activities ceased and undertaken by the military regimes, the official curfew forced everyone to music kept alive not only the banished stay inside, and when speech was laced artists’ voices, but also their vision for a with fear, a melody had the power to stir different society. Carried forward by local an awakening. The guitar – which had singers and international artists, always been imbued with symbolic and eventually echoing in living rooms, spiritual powers in the countryside – concert halls, and political gatherings became an instrument of healing and of within and beyond Latin America, their political reactivation (Bernand 2014). Tied songs became emblematic of the to an oral tradition that could not be struggle against fear and political suppressed, and emerging during small, oppression (Krajnc 2008). León Gieco’s simple, furtive gatherings, the songs that Sólo le Pido a Dios is an example: belonged with artists who had been banished endured, speaking in Sólo le pido a Dios metaphors of transformation. Como La Que lo injusto no me sea Cigarra, with lyrics by María Elena Walsh indiferente and often sung by Mercedes Sosa, is Que no me abofeteen la otra illustrative: mejilla Después que una garra me arañó Tantas veces me mataron esta suerte. Tantas veces me morí Sin embargo estoy aquí Sólo le pido a Dios resucitando Que la guerra no me sea Gracias doy a la desgracia indiferente Y a la mano con puñal Es un monstruo grande y pisa Porque me mató tan mal fuerte Y seguí cantando. Toda la pobre inocencia de la gente. Cantando al sol como la cigarra Después de un año bajo la tierra Sólo le pido a Dios Igual que sobreviviente Que el engaño no me sea Que vuelve de la guerra. indiferente Si un traidor puede más que unos So many times they killed me cuantos So many times I died Que esos cuantos no lo olviden And yet here I am, resuscitating fácilmente. I give thanks to the misfortune And to the hand with the knife Sólo le pido a Dios 71 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
Que el futuro no me sea indiferente vision for an international community. Desahuciado está el que tiene que Within this context, the power of song as marchar a beacon of hope and a mediator for the A vivir una cultura diferente. conceptual negotiation of the self vis-á- vis the nation is important. As the people I only ask God displaced by the dictatorships traveled to That I may not be indifferent to other territories and formed diasporic injustice communities, music helped them That they don’t slap me on the maintain emotional and conceptual ties other cheek to each other and to their homelands. A After a claw ripped my luck user named Salvador explains this in a YouTube post offered in response to a I only ask God video by Los Jaivas: That I may not be indifferent to war It’s a big monster that tramples Donde quiera que me encuentre, over muy lejos de mi patria, teniendo All of people’s poor innocence música de Los Jaivas no me sentiré solo, tendré un pedazo de I only ask God mi tierra, esa patria llamada Chile. That I may not be indifferent to Un abrazo al pueblo y a mis deception músicos que ya son universales. If a traitor is more powerful than many others Wherever I may find myself, far May the others not forget it so away from my homeland, as long easily as a I have music by Los Jaivas, I won’t feel alone, I will have a piece I only ask God of my country, that land called That I may not be indifferent to the Chile. A hug to the people and to future my musicians who are by now Disempowered is the one who universal. must go To live in a foreign culture Within the context of political persecution, art became a preferred Roniger explains that ‘exile is an venue for expressing emotions that were institutionalized mechanism of political otherwise difficult to discuss. As Dorfman exclusion’ (Roniger 2009: 83) that implies says, even within the confines of the a systematic effort to marginalize certain torture centers kept by the dictatorships, people from the public sphere of ‘the prisoners discovered the importance particular nations. Exiled people lose not of art and culture as a means of drawing only their right to live in their country, a line between the oppressors and but also their capacity to exercise themselves’ (Dorfman 1991: 137). Music citizenship and participate in local could capture the essence of an debates. Along with the personal and experience in verses and melodies, and collective challenges brought on by musicians produced poetic lyrics that uprooting, exiled people often struggle to spoke of loss and change. The song retain their voice, yet their perspectives Cambia Todo Cambia, written by Julio are fundamental for articulating the Numhauser, one of the founders of the 72 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
Chilean band Quilapayún, also speaks of Through the song, those displaced by the growth and love beyond boundaries: dictatorships were able to sort through issues of identity, nostalgia, uncertainty, Cambia el sol en su carrera and change – music created a realm of Cuando la noche subsiste experience that was at once personal Cambia la planta y se viste and shared, historical yet timeless. Many De verde en la primavera songs were highly metaphorical, but others tackled historical conjunctures Cambia el pelaje la fiera (Ureña 2013). The song Para que Nunca Cambia el cabello el anciano Más en Chile, by the band Sol y Lluvia, Y así como todo cambia invokes the power of memory and Que yo cambie no es extraño solidarity to counteract the effects of State-sponsored violence: Pero no cambia mi amor Por más lejos que me encuentre Al contemplar tu mirada tan triste Ni el recuerdo ni el dolor Vuelvo a pensar en ayer De mi pueblo y de mi gente Que caminaba sin miedo a tu lado Sin preguntar el por qué Y lo que cambió ayer Donde se oían todas las voces Tendrá que cambiar mañana Y el canto de todos se hacía Así como cambio yo escuchar En esta tierra lejana Cambia, todo cambia Hay que apretar el presente con brazos The sun changes its usual run Y voces que puedan cantar When the night persists Para que nunca más en Chile The plant changes and it puts on Para que nunca más Green in the springtime Para que nunca más en Chile los The coat of the fierce beast secretos calabozos changes Vuelvan a morder la humanidad de The hair of the elderly man mi pueblo changes Para que nunca más en Chile And as everything changes El hambre vuelva a estar en la It is not strange that I do, too boca de mi humilde pueblo Para que nunca más en Chile But my love doesn’t change La sangre hermana sea derramada No matter how far I am Y no se deje florecer la libertad Nor the memory or the pain Of my people and my kin When I contemplate your very sad gaze And what didn’t change yesterday I think about yesterday again Will surely change tomorrow When I walked without fear by your Just as I, myself, change side In this faraway land Without asking why It changes, everything changes Where all the voices were listened to 73 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
And everyone’s song could be a loyal Latin American audience and the heard scorn of the military regimes. Protected by their foreign citizenship, these singers We have to hold on to the present could be very explicit in their lyrics: in With arms and with voices the song They Dance Alone, Sting called That can still sing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet by So never again in Chile name and asked him about how his own Never again mother would feel if his son was detained and disappeared: So never again in Chile The secret dungeons They’re dancing with the missing May bite again my people’s They’re dancing with the dead humanity They dance with the invisible ones So never again in Chile Their anguish is unsaid Hunger may be in the mouth of my They’re dancing with their fathers humble people They’re dancing with their sons So never again in Chile They’re dancing with their The blood of kin may be spilled husbands And liberty may not be allowed to They dance alone flourish It’s the only form of protest they’re For years, music was a territory of allowed contention where real-world struggles I’ve seen their silent faces, they got played out. In fact, the dictatorships scream so loud counteracted the efforts to use music for If they were to speak these words, emancipatory purposes by turning it into they’d go missing, too an instrument of torture: in the Another woman on a torture table, concentration camps, some songs were what else can they do? played loudly, again and again, so as to disrupt the detainees’ sleep and muffle Hey, Mr. Pinochet, their screams. Former detainees say that You’ve sown a bitter crop their ability to enjoy some pieces of It’s foreign money that supports music was lost forever, as the tunes you became too intertwined with painful One day the money is going to stop memories. No wages for your torturers No budget for your guns Abroad, music served as an anchor for Can you think of your own mother activism for those who worked to raise Dancing with her invisible son? awareness about the human rights violations taking place in Latin America. Songs like this reached European Solidarity concerts were organized in audiences that knew little about the various countries in the 1980s, and dictatorships, while suggesting to Latin European and U.S.-based artists American people that their struggles broadened the scope of these events. were being observed by the international Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and community. Thus, they became Joan Baez were among those who mediators of solidarity both conceptually participated in these efforts, earning both and materially. As the democratization 74 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
efforts increased in the 1980s, the music Because without the dictatorship, produced by artists in exile, along with joy will come the songs that had been banned Because I’m thinking of the future, I because of their links to Leftist political will say no causes, provided a backdrop for various civic campaigns. In Chile, during the We are going to say no, with the 1988 plebiscite, the campaign that said power of my voice ‘no’ to Pinochet staying in power We are going to say no, I sing it represented a broad coalition of political without fear parties and made creative use of the We are going to say no, all together media. Showcasing artists and we will triumph intellectuals who dared to openly declare For life and for peace their stance against the dictator, the campaign included a catchy song and a Let’s end the death toll video inviting people to shake off fear This is the opportunity to defeat and stand together for a better future: violence With the weapons of peace Porque nace el arco iris después Because I believe that my country de la tempestad needs dignity Porque quiero que florezca mi For a Chile for everyone, we are manera de pensar going to say no Porque sin la dictadura la alegría va a llegar Upon the long-awaited return to Porque pienso en el futuro voy a democracy in Chile in the year 1990, a decir que no major concert was organized by Amnesty International in Santiago, bringing Vamos a decir que no, con la together artists from around the world fuerza de mi voz and uniting everyone in celebration. The Vamos a decir que no, yo lo canto locale was the National Stadium, where sin temor Peter Gabriel joined Inti-Illimani in Vamos a decir que no, vamos singing El Arado and Bruce Springsteen juntos a triunfar sung Manifiesto, both famous songs by Por la vida y por la paz Víctor Jara. Thirty one years after Jara’s death, in 2004, a stadium in Santiago Terminemos con la muerte was re-named after him. Es la oportunidad de vencer a la violencia Con las armas de la paz Music and Diasporic Experiences Porque creo que mi Patria necesita dignidad The practice of using exile as a form of Por un Chile para todos, vamos a punishment and a tool for political decir que no control dates back centuries in Spain and Latin America (McClennen 2004). Because the rainbow is born after References to the experience of exile the storm also appear in ancient songs and poems. Because I want my way of thinking In fact, El Cid, a foundational piece of to flower Spanish literature, begins with the hero 75 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
weeping as he marches into exile. During the 20th century, numerous writers and Show me the stone you fell over artists produced work inspired by their And the wood on which they experiences abroad. In the analysis of crucified you Silvia Spitta (1995), transnationalism and Light up the old flints for me displacement have been part of the The old lamps, the whips still stuck Spanish and Latin American cultural Through the centuries in the map for as far back as the history of wounds conquest and colonization goes. The And the bloody axes shining. result is the emergence of diasporic I come to speak for your dead awareness and hybridity, which becomes mouth apparent in various cultural artifacts (Roniger 2009). Furthermore, different Tell me everything, chain by chain forms of art combine to produce Link by link, step by step multilayered meanings, as it happens Sharpen the knives that you kept when certain themes cut across song Put them in my chest and in my and literature. For example, the song hand Sube a Nacer Conmigo Hermano by Los Like a river of yellow lighting Jaivas is a musical rendering of a poem Like a river of buried tigers by Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize- And let me weep winning poet and diplomat who died Hours, days, years soon after the Chilean coup d’état. The Blind ages, astral centuries song speaks of a kinship that transcends ages and enables the living to speak for The work created by artists in exile gives the dead: glimpses into the enduring impact of uprooting, capturing the anguish that Señaladme la piedra en que caíste accompanies the exile’s journey and Y la madera en que os crucificaron speaking of a socio-political context that Encendedme los viejos pedernales is at once specific and universal (Spita Las viejas lámparas, los látigos 1995). The song Cantares by Joan pegados Manuel Serrat, a Basque/Spanish singer- A través de los siglos en las llagas songwriter, builds on verses originally Y las hachas de brillo written by the poet Antonio Machado, ensangrentado. who was persecuted by Franco’s regime: Yo vengo a hablar por vuestra boca muerta Hace algún tiempo en ese lugar Donde hoy los bosques se visten Contadme todo, cadena a cadena de espinos Eslabón a eslabón, paso a paso Se oyó la voz de un poeta gritar Afilad los cuchillos que guardasteis ‘Caminante no hay camino, se hace Ponedlos en mi pecho y en mi camino al andar’ mano Golpe a golpe, verso a verso Como un río de rayos amarillos Como un río de tigres enterrados Murió el poeta lejos del hogar Y dejadme llorar Le cubre el polvo de un país vecino Horas, días, años Al alejarse, le vieron llorar Edades ciegas, siglos estelares 76 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
‘Caminante, no hay camino, se Recuerdo que mucho estrago hace camino al andar’ De niña vio el alma mía Golpe a golpe, verso a verso Miserias y alevosías Anudan mis pensamientos In a time past, in that place Entre las aguas y el viento Where the forests are now turning Me pierdo en la lejanía to thorns They heard the voice of a poet Mi brazo derecho en Buin scream Quedó, señores oyentes ‘Wanderer, there is no path, you El otro por San Vicente make the path as you walk’ Quedó, no sé con qué fin Strike by strike, verse by verse Mi pecho en Curacautín Lo veo en un jardincillo The poet died away from home Mis manos, en Maitencillo His body is covered by the dust of Saludan en Pelequén a neighboring country Mi blusa en Perquilauquén When he went away, they saw him Recoge unos pececillos cry ‘Wanderer, there is no path, you An eye I left in Los Lagos make the path as you walk’ In a moment of carelessness Strike by strike, verse by verse The other one was left in Parral In a run-down bar Transcending time and place, and uniting I remember that much damage people living in different countries and My soul saw as a child circumstances, music calls forth a Miseries and wrongdoings collective experience. Since the 1990s, Tie up my thoughts collaborations between artists who are In between the waters and the legendary and musicians from younger wind generations have renewed people’s I am lost in the distance interest in old musical traditions. As a response to the fragmentation of identity My right arm in Buin that has characterized the Latin Was left, my dear listeners American experience in recent decades The other one in San Vicente (Martín-Barbero 2000), music offers a Stayed, I don’t know why bridge that invites people to reclaim a My chest is in Curacautín shared cultural heritage. For example, in I see it in a little garden 2006, various Latin American bands My hands in Maitencillo joined in the performance of songs by Greet everyone in Pelequén Violeta Parra. Inti-Illimani and Los My shirt in Perquilauquén Bunkers played La Exiliada del Sur, Collects a few little fishes which describes the lasting aftereffects of trauma and uprooting: Many exiles went back to their homelands after the dictatorships ended, Un ojo dejé en Los Lagos but others stayed in new territories, and Por un descuido casual others felt forever torn between two El otro quedó en Parral places. Some who did return En un boliche de tragos encountered difficult circumstances – 77 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
their country changed while they were Friendship and fraternity from other gone, and the memories were lands bittersweet (McClennen 2004). I leave behind sorrows and Sometimes, it was the children of the despairs exiled who demanded a revisit of the I come back to live again whole journey because their identities had also been affected by it. The yearning for the The music of exile reaffirmed voices and homeland and the appreciation for experiences that had been marginalized foreign friendships is captured in Illapu’s and invited people to identify with them, Vuelvo Para Vivir, which in some versions challenging oppression everywhere. Born is preceded by the audio recording of from a grassroots effort and embraced the edict that expelled the band by Latin American people living in members from Chile: various territories, the songs traveled far and wide, and continue to be cherished Vuelvo a casa, vuelvo compañera (Shaw 2013). While in the past the Vuelvo mar, montaña, vuelvo cancioneros were sold on the street, now puerto they are available online and new Vuelvo sur, saludo mi desierto renderings have kept the music current. Vuelvo a renacer amado pueblo On digital venues such as YouTube, it is possible to find many of the original Vuelvo, amor, vuelvo recordings, along with rare videos by A saciar mi sed de tí various artists, archival footage, musical Vuelvo, vida, vuelvo biographies, interview excerpts, and fan- A vivir en tí, país developed content. No amount of censorship has been able to erase this Traigo en mi equipaje del music from history. Furthermore, the destierro digital content is being viewed by people Amistad fraterna de otros suelos of all ages, from all over the world, as is Atrás dejo penas y desvelos evidenced in the comments posted in Vuelvo por vivir de nuevo entero response to the videos. Many of these comments express nostalgia and I come back, I come back, my solidarity. For example, Facundo Cabral’s partner No Soy de Aquí Ni Soy de Allá has I come back sea, mountain, I come surpassed 13 million views on YouTube back port (as of July 2016) and speaks of the ‘in- I come back south, I greet my between’ space inhabited by those who desert embrace a wandering destiny grounded I come back to be reborn, my by small pleasures: beloved people No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá I come back, love, I come back No tengo edad, ni porvenir To quench my thirst for you Y ser feliz es mi color de identidad I come back, life, I come back To live in you, country Me gusta el vino tanto como las flores I bring in my baggage from exile Y los conejos y los viejos pastores
78 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
El pan casero y la voz de Dolores groups. The musical movements that Y el mar mojándome los pies shaped it conceptualized musicians in the tradition of troubadours, as cultural I’m not from here, I’m not from agents who spoke of the events of their there time (Ureña 2013). Although the I don’t have age, or any future sociopolitical and economic landscape And being happy is my color and of Latin America has changed, the issues identity raised during those years continue to influence current events. For example, it I like wine as much as flowers was only recently (in June 2016) that the And rabbits and old shepherds man who killed Víctor Jara at the Homemade bread and Dolores’s National Stadium was sentenced in voice court. This outcome was due in part to And the sea wetting my feet the work of numerous musicians who, along with Jara’s family, kept his memory Several of the musicians who were alive. Moreover, as this article is written, representative of the music of exile have news of a coup d’état in Turkey covers died in recent years, while others are still the front pages of major U.S. performing but are slowly retreating from newspapers, and State-sponsored the musical scene. As the songs are oppression and politically-motivated taken up by younger artists, their links to displacement is a reality in many a particular historical period weaken, territories around the world. The themes and their meaning shifts to encompass explored by the songs of exile are as broader experiences. But even as timely as ever. people’s lives are shaped by the new social configurations that accompany the During the years of political repression in forces of globalization, music continues Latin America, music played an to be, as Carmen Bernand states, ‘un important role both within and beyond puente entre los pueblos’ (a bridge national borders. Within the countries between people) (Bernand 2014: 27). still under the grip of military rule, music helped maintain a sense of hope and kinship. Among Latin communities in Conclusion exile, it helped connect people from diverse regions and unite them in the Lauren Shaw argues that ‘Song, with its effort to raise awareness and push for ability to put into words a particular social and political change. Today, this moment in time and the experience of a music still functions as an emblem of whole collective of people, accesses and solidarity and a repository of diasporic articulates the feelings of individuals who memory, even as its meaning is might otherwise consider their plight a perceived differently by younger singular struggle’ (Shaw 2013: 5). The generations. No longer attached to a music of exile emerged during a specific political agenda, the lyrics particular historical moment and carries resonate with people because they within it the memory of people whose speak of fundamental human lives are interwoven not only with the experiences involving oppression, fate of their countries, but also with that struggle, and displacement, but also of other nations and other oppressed 79 www.cf.ac.uk/jomecjournal @JOMECjournal
hope and change. As Jesús Martín- keep it current: first, they show that the Barbero says: music is being re-imagined and rendered in novel ways by younger En los medios se entrelazan performers, whose work is appealing to a formatos contemporáneos con new generation. Second, by featuring modos de narrar, de imaginar y de original recordings and historical footage expresar que tienen memorias de by artists from the 1970s and 1980s, largo alcance which would otherwise be difficult to access, they keep the material in The media interweave con- circulation. Finally, allowing people to temporary formats with modes of post their own videos and recordings narrating, imagining, and supports a sharing community in which expressing that have long-lasting there is no single authority determining memories (Barbero 2000: 6). what is available. In this sense, considering that the music of exile was Against the expectation that the music of once so heavily censored, perhaps the exile would eventually become outdated biggest testimony to its historical and fade into oblivion, within the global importance and enduring appeal is its mediascape it is alive and well, and it ability to go viral. may be reaching more people than ever. Digital media platforms are helping to
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Discography
Facundo Cabral & Alberto Cortéz, Lo Cortéz No Quita lo Cabral. Parlophone/Warner Music, Argentina, 1994.
Illapu, 33, Música y Entretenimiento/Bizarro Records, Chile, 2005.
Inti + Quila, Juntos en Chile: Música en la Memoria. Música y Entretenimiento, Chile, 2005.
Inti-Illimani, Inti-Illimani Interpreta a Víctor Jara. Emi Odeon, Chile, 2000.
Inti-Illimani Histórico, Antología en Vivo. Música y Entretenimiento, Chile, 2006.
Joan Manuel Serrat, Antología: 1968-1974. RCA Internacional, España, 1994.
Los Jaivas, Obras de Violeta Parra. Sony Music, Chile, 1995.
Los Jaivas, Obras Cumbres, Sony Music, Chile, 2002.
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Mercedes Sosa, Oro: Grandes Éxitos. Universal Music, Argentina, 2001.
Mercedes Sosa, En Argentina. Universal Music, Argentina, 1994.
Sting, … Nothing Like the Sun. A&M, UK, 1987.
Víctor Jara, Antología Musical. Warner Music, Chile, 2001.
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