“Cuban author and musicologist Alejo Carpentier wrote that Latin American music is a phenomenon like an explosion whose history and evolution, unlike the history of European music, cannot be traced in a linear or coherent pattern. According to Carpentier, Latin American music arises from nowhere as a series of accidents, unplanned events and startling surprises. One might argue that all culture is an accident, but Carpentier's point is intended to emphasize the arbitrary and even violent roots of Latin American music. The music now associated with the countries and regions of Latin America originated from three cultural formations: indigenous American, European and African, but the genealogies of the many products of these sources are not easily traced. Once the Europeans had arrived in the Americas, followed later by the Africans they brought as slaves, the three traditions began to mix and alter, so that it was no longer possible to speak in terms of pure forms, whether European, African or indigenous.”

 

 

This course will examine the role of music in Latin American cultural expression. From the tango to reggaetón, Latin American musical forms have not only become global sensations, but they also constitute significant components of regional literature, painting, films, etc. Over the course of the semester, we will discuss particular genres of music and analyze their relationship with other cultural forms as well as their contribution to the evolution of Latin American self-expression.