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https://padlet.com/gamingwithchaz4/a-musical-exploration-into-the-entwined-history-and-culture--vijijqjchkaco38l

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Padlet Goals:

1. Investigate the complex relationship between Latin American History and Culture.

2. Link background information to key themes within the works to understand how history influences culture and vice-versa.

3. Explore the relationships between the works and theoretical concepts, such as feminism, colonialism, racism, to develop a deeper interpretation of the issues within Latin America.

4. Discuss related music to construct another cultural perspective on the entwined history and culture of Latin America - how did historic and cultural events affect music?

Personal Goals:

1. Challenge my creativity - present my ideas using unique mediums.

2. Use different types of digital sources (digital art, videos, newspapers) to see how much my access to digital technology can impact my learning.

Why Music as a Broader Theme?

Music is a social phenomenon which shapes environments and makes great impacts on society.

Present since the earliest civilisations where it was used for entertainment, communication, and social cohesion - as it is today.

Music is a way of communicating emotions, and therefore cultures. It develops with humanity, providing us with a strong insight into cultural and social attitudes from the time of the song - encapsulates culture in song.

Analysis of music will allow us further understand the dance between history and culture in Latin America.

References:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED614071.pdf

https://www.mi.edu/in-the-know/musics-historical-influence-ancient-greece-modern-times/#:~:text=Music%20has%20played%20an%20important,for%20social%20change%20and%20protest.

https://blogs.millersville.edu/whydopeoplelikemusic/music-in-history/

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América - Série de Alegorias dos Quatro Continentes - José Teófilo de Jesus - 1810

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Historic and Cultural Background:

Portugal colonised Brazil in the 1500s to monopolise the Paubrasilia (red wood for dye) trade. Brazil became land for plantations, worked by African slaves.

In 1808, the Portuguese Royal Family fled to Brazil to escape Napoleon's army.

The arrival of Dom João led to a cultural revolution in Brazil as he invested heavily into the arts - commissioning many works.

Around this time was when José Teófilo de Jesus painted his Four Continent Allegories.

Despite being Brazilian, De Jesus was trained in Portugal and Italy. Additionally, Dom João's cultural revolution produced works with a Portuguese colonising lens. The Allegory of America serves as an insight into how colonisers viewed Latin America.

Key Themes:

Indigenous Woman

Adorned with headdress and other 'indigenous accessories': shows exoticism.

Welcoming pose with hand gesturing towards her treasure: suggests that she is inviting colonisers to her land for wealth.

Bare breasted: suggesting that America is still a new country.

Sat on a box (when the other three allegories are mounted on animals): shows that she is underdeveloped compared with the others.

Exotic Animals + Abundance of Fruit

Shows land fertility and natural wealth. Flora and fauna native to Latin America which colonisers have exploited her land for.

References:

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/fodors/top/features/travel/destinations/centralandsouthamerica/brazil/riodejaneiro/fdrs_feat_129_9.html?n=Top%252FFeatures%252FTravel%252FDestinations%252FCentral+and+South+America%252FBrazil%252FRio+de+Janeiro#:~:text=Lisbon's%20early%20goals%20were%20simple,worked%20together%20to%20harvest%20trees.

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/am%C3%A9rica-s%C3%A9rie-de-alegorias-dos-quatro-continentes-jos%C3%A9-te%C3%B3filo-de-jesus/dwGbmj4qBCMxpA?hl=en

https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/jos%C3%A9-te%C3%B3filo-de-jesus/g121dw60_?hl=en

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Effects of Portuguese Colonisation on Brazilian Music:

The works of José Maurício Nunes Garcia.

Historic and Cultural Background:

Much like De Jesus, Nunes Garcia was active when Dom João and the Royal Court moved to Brazil. He was involved in the King's investment into the arts.

Similar to De Jesus, Nunes Garcia was also born in Brazil and was of colour, coming from enslaved families.

Nunes Garcia conducted an orchestra and choir for the mass of the safe arrival of the Prince-regent into Brazil. The Prince-regent was so impressed that he made José Maurício Nunes Garcia into 'master musician of the Royal Chapel' and therefore making him the first ever musician within the Portuguese Royal Court.

Key Themes:

Classicism = Colonisation

Garcia produced mostly classical music. Inspired by musicians such as Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart. He even produced Brazil's first opera 'Le Due Gemelle' (destroyed in fire in 1825) - inspired by Italian operas.

'Brazilian' music at this time was classical: this stemmed from colonialism and European pressure. Classical music oppressed the musical sounds of native Brazilians.

References:

https://serenademagazine.com/the-untold-legacy-of-jose-mauricio-nunes-garcia/

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/garcia-jose-mauricio-nunes-1767-1830/

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/jose-mauricio-nunes-garcia-classical-composer-first-brazilian-opera/

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José Maurício Nunes Garcia - Requiem (1816)

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Born in England, but lived in Scotland for 16 years, I struggle with my national identity. Kahlo's painting inspired me to create a digital collage to express and understand my mixed identity.

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1932: Self-portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States

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1932: Self-portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States

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Historical and Cultural Background:

The Mexico border was established in the 1830s and 40s by Texan and U.S. armies using force and violence. Stealing Mexican land like California and Texas.

In 1854, Dictator Santa Ana sold more Mexican land to the U.S. Moving the border again.

When the Mexican Revolution began in 1910s, violence on the border continued when U.S. militias were formed to keep Mexican refugees out.

In 1924, the U.S. established an official armed Border Patrol to stop Mexican immigrants.

Frida Kahlo painted her self-portrait when she was living in the U.S. during the Great Depression.

Key Themes:

The message of the piece is the juxtaposition between earthly Mexico and the capitalist U.S.

Composition: Kahlo stands between the countries signifying that she is a confused mix of both cultures.

Dress: She wears a colonial style dress while having indigenous jewellery, bone necklaces. She holds a Mexican flag in one hand, American cigarette in the other. These clothes and accessories again represent Kahlo as someone who understands both worlds.

Why?: This mix of culture symbolises the confusion Mexican people who live on the border feel. The violent oppression and racism from the U.S., causing the border to change throughout history, has separated families and created a confused sense of identity for many people.

References:

https://www.history.com/news/mexico-border-wall-military-facts

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1179/174581506x147641?needAccess=true

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How Cultural Tensions along the Borderline are Expressed in Music: the Mexican corrido genre.

Historic and Cultural Background:

A corrido is a type of Mexican song that developed along the Texas-Mexico border while the U.S. used violence to extend their territory into Mexico.

The fusion of cultures on the border - such as Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, Tejano, and Mestizo - formed the corrido.

It is important that these stories are Mexican stories. Via corridos, Mexican people can control the narrative and express the violence around the border.

Because corridos allowed Mexicans to control the narrative, they became one of the earliest forms of protest music.

They are ballads that tell stories - usually of Mexican heroes. The heroes usually defended their human and civil rights from racism and oppression.

Example Song: El Corrido de Gregorio Cortéz:

One of the most well-known corridos.

Based on a 1901 event where Cortez shot and killed a sheriff who shot his brother due to a racist accusation of thievery.

The event quickly came to symbolize the ongoing border conflicts, and the song it inspired grew into a whole genre as a means of expressing racial and cultural tensions along the border.

It is these tensions that Kahlo expresses in her self-portrait.

References:

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/el-corrido-de-gregorio-cortez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyAbYl_yBMI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKB62jxVeIw

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1968: Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

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1968: Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed

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Historic and Cultural Background:

Freire was born in 1921 in Brazil.

He became a Professor of History and Philosophy.

He was active in the 1960s, when a huge portion of Brazil was illiterate. He was involved in movements to teach the peasants literacy.

Working with the peasants, he experienced the stigma of psycho-emotional, socio-economic, and political dynamics of oppression and its effect in the lives of the urban labourers. This led Freire to believe that social awareness with critical thinking brings freedom.

He developed this thought into a pedagogy that would make the oppressed more aware of themselves as people within historical and cultural context and become empowered agents of social change.

He was imprisoned in 1964 after the coup d'état for subversive elements in his teaching.

Key Themes:

Critique of traditional education model: banking model where teacher 'deposits' information into students who 'withdraw' it for exams.

Freire suggests problem-posing education where people will develop their power to critically understand their place and existence in the world.

Critical consciousness ('conscientização') empowers the oppressed.

He argued that the oppressed do not unite for social change as they do not understand the structures that their oppressors created, or how they oppress.

Teachers should change from narrators to facilitators in conversation to develop consciousness.

References:

https://www.xu.edu.ph/images/Kinaadman_Research_Center/doc/kj36_Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed_Paulo_Freire.pdf

https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed/#:~:text=Pedagogy%20of%20the%20Oppressed%20is,published%20in%20English%20in%201970.

https://medium.com/bits-and-behavior/paulo-freires-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-a-manifesto-on-education-and-social-change-dbd63cd9fc17

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I decided to present this slide in video form. The transcript is written below.

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Brazilian 'Tropicália' Movement (late 1960s)

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Brazilian 'Tropicália' Movement (late 1960s)

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Another method of implementing critical and political consciousness into the Brazilian public was through art in the Tropicália movement, spearheaded by Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso (who we will discuss further in the next slides).

Historical and Cultural Context of the Movement:

In 1964, a military coup in Brazil, funded by the USA, brought an oppressive government into power.

The new government aimed to stop the rise of socialism in Brazil. It did this by cracking down on political expressions and student protests.

The new government repressed groups such as activists, gays, lesbians, and workers groups.

Motivated musicians, artists, and writers to fight for freedom of expression through their creativity.

About the movement:

"Tropicália was a creative movement that originated in the late 1960s in Brazil. Encompassing music, art and writing. It celebrated Brazil's culture and people. It was also a protest movement against the lack of freedom experienced under the oppressive regime of the military government".

"In musical terms, the Tropicália movement championed this concept by marrying classical Brazilian bossa nova music with the Afro-Brazilian rhythms of samba and the rock and roll riffs and jagged guitars of London's swinging 60s. The product of this cultural fusion was an exciting new genre of politically conscious music".

While Freire spread political consciousness via education, Gil and Veloso spread it via music.

References:

quote one: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/helio-oiticica-7730/story-helio-oiticica-and-tropicalia-movement#:~:text=Tropic%C3%A1lia%20was%20a%20creative%20movement,regime%20of%20the%20military%20government.

quote two: https://www.journeylatinamerica.com/travel-inspiration/culture-music-sport-and-festivals/tropicalia-the-music-of-a-brazilian-revolution/#:~:text=In%20musical%20terms%2C%20the%20Tropic%C3%A1lia,guitars%20of%20London's%20swinging%20sixties.

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Gilberto Gil - Aquele Abraço - My Favourite Performance

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Historical and Cultural Background:

Military dictatorship in Brazil began in 1964.

To retain power, the government purged congress, controlled election outcomes, and eliminated other parties.

They also restricted freedom of expression and protests were banned.

In 1968, the military began prosecuting 'national security crimes', the accused could be detained instantly and tortured.

Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso led the Tropicália movement to fight this oppression.

They were both arrested in 1968 for inciting the youth to rebel. It was in the military prison where Gil wrote Aquele Abraço.

The song is a mosaic of his emotions, an ode to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, and a goodbye as he was to be exiled.

Key Themes:

The symbolism in the song refers to culturally significant places, people, and events in Rio de Janeiro:

'Aquele Abraço' refers to the famous Cristo Redentor statue.

Realengo was the place where he was imprisoned.

The Flamengo football team is a club in Rio.

TV host Chacrinha is mentioned a lot. He represents joy and humour in a repressive, sad time.

Portela is the oldest samba school in Brazil.

The February carnival is referenced along with fixtures of the festival - Banda de Ipanema.

All these references signify Rio's cultural power. The song suggests that the city is one which will never be repressed. It sparks patriotism, motivating Brazilian people to sing, dance, and laugh.

References:

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/gil-prison-and-exile-instituto-gilberto-gil/ZgWB2EJIc5zTLQ?hl=en

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/%E2%80%9Caquele-abra%C3%A7o%E2%80%9D-the-pain-of-prison-became-joy-forgiveness-and-samba-instituto-gilberto-gil/aAWByfW8mEB4PA?hl=en

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Another Example of Music Bringing Joy and Hope in times of Brazilian Military Oppression:

Irene by Caetano Veloso, the co-spearhead of the Tropicália movement alongside Gilberto Gil.

Historical and Cultural Background:

Veloso faced the same situation as Gilberto Gil. Arrested for 'inciting the youth to rebel' in 1968 under the Brazilian military dictatorship.

While Gil was writing 'Aquele Abraço' in prison, Caetano Veloso was also working on his own music.

He wrote Irbene with help from Gil in the jail.

It provides yet another example of the power of music as a unifying and joy-bringing art at a sad time in Brazilian history.

Key Themes:

(Basing my analysis from a translation found online)

Simple repetitive lyrics make the song easy to memorise and sing: ideal for Brazilian protesters.

'I want to go, my people, I'm not from here' - He does not feel as though he belongs in this 'new' Brazil in which art is restricted. Perhaps also foreshadows his feelings towards his exile.

'I have nothing, I want to see Irene smile, I want to see Irene laugh' - Due to his arrest and the removal of his artistic voice, he has nothing left, only a smile could cheer him up.

The song is about smiling and laughter - it encourages Brazilians to continue spreading joy throughout repression. This links to Gil's Chacrinha references in 'Aquele Abraço'.

References:

https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/an-introduction-to-tropicalia-in-10-songs

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/irene-irene.html-3

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2016: The Adventures of China Iron - Gabriela Cabezon Camara

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2016: The Adventures of China Iron - Gabriela Cabezon Camara

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History and Cultural Context:

Argentina found independence from Spain circa 1810.

State violence has been a historical continuity in Argentina. Colonisation and Civil War.

History of literature: Gaucho literature was very popular.

Martín Fierro by José Hernández was a popular character, first appearing in 'The Gaucho Martín Fierro' 1872.

Martín Fierro is a national myth which favours those in power.

Today, he is a very masculine Argentinian ideal - Gabriela Cabezon Camara takes the character and reverses the gender narrative.

Her story centres on La China - the woman Martin Fierro left behind.

Key Themes:

Main themes in the story: Feminism, Queer, Post-colonialism, Eco-fiction.

Bildungsroman: China develops as a woman while exploring the country developing around her.

The story has three sections, each representing a section of the Argentine population: 'The Pampas' for Gauchos, 'The Fort' for Criollos, and 'Indian Territory' for the indigenous.

Inclusivity: the story includes characters who are women, indigenous, gay, gender nonconformist.

China and her companion Liz become lovers, learning that they do not need men for pleasure - highlights queer ideas and feminism.

A fictionalised version of José Hernández is portrayed as repressive, self-obsessed, selfish, drunk - Camara uses this character to call out the author for creating the story to paint the indigenous people as an enemy for criollos.

The story is a feminist masterpiece while also highlighting Argentina's failure to include all their citizens.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUwHjYcw2gQ

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/reclaimed-histories-on-gabriela-cabezon-camaras-the-adventures-of-china-iron/

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Rise of Contemporary Feminist Tango Music

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Rise of Contemporary Feminist Tango Music

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How is this push for inclusivity shown in Argentine music?:

The movement of updating tango music to eliminate sexism in the genre and create safer Tango spaces.

Historical and Cultural Context:

In the 1930s, tango was the most popular dance and music genre in Argentina.

However, the tango scene was incredibly male dominated, which reinforced the 'machist' Argentine ideal introduced by the gauchesque genre.

For example, Carlos Gardel wrote songs such as 'Tortazo' which was about keeping 'his woman in check' with physical violence.

The Change in Society and Tango:

Today, Argentinian women are leading a movement of new, queer, feminist, tango songs.

Patricia Malança writes songs about feminist and transgender issues.

There is also a rise in all-female and all-queer tango bands in Argentina singing contemporary tango songs.

For example, in the video above, all-female group, 'La Empoderada Orquesta Atípica' play 'Pendeja', a song about a girl who is forced to carry out her pregnancy after being raped - to highlight the importance of abortion access.

The Link to China Iron:

China Iron is a story to change the sexist Argentine view of women, started by the national masculine myths developed in Gaucho literature, these women strive for the same goal but via music.

This shows change in Argentine society, a rewriting of culture and history to make the country a more inclusive place.

References:

https://theworld.org/stories/2022/01/10/feminist-tango-collectives-take-center-stage-argentina

https://cso.org/experience/article/7731/from-argentina-to-the-world-the-tango#:~:text=As%20tango%20commenced%20its%20golden,number%20and%20increased%20in%20size.

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Pendeja (Cintia Trigo/Pacha González) - La Empoderada Orquesta Atípica

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Landscape With Beggars - Juan Manuel Roca

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Landscape With Beggars - Juan Manuel Roca

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Historical and Cultural Context:

Poetry in 21st century Latin America was often about social, ecological, or economic crisis.

Poverty in Columbia is a vast problem.

Columbia has faced decades of armed conflict with guerrillas and drug cartels.

Many Columbians faced internal displacement due to these conflicts. It is very hard for people to rebuild their assets and find housing once displaced which leads to extreme poverty.

Wold Bank estimates that Colombia has 5 million internally displaced people as of 2021.

Key Themes:

Poverty, social class, and economic inequality.

Perspective and prejudice:

Juxtaposition between 'good people' and 'tattered beggars' highlights prejudice towards the beggars.

The beggars are often referred to as 'them' while everyone else is named: 'the people' 'town mayors' 'the priests'. This strips the beggars of their humanity and creates an 'us' and 'them' perspective. They are shown to be on a different level than us, something we cannot relate to.

Beggars as foreigners:

'They are of another race, another country', highlights that a lot of the beggars are immigrants, for example, many Venezuelans fled to Colombia after their crisis.

Poverty Tourism.

'Beggars are extras for a film'. This line suggests that people in Colombia are embarrassed by the poverty.

References:

https://unequalscenes.com/bogota

https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-colombia-2/#:~:text=Many%20Colombians%20faced%20internal%20displacement,in%20poverty%20or%20extreme%20poverty.

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The Colombian poverty crisis is also presented in contemporary pop-music.

Song and Artist Background:

Juanes (Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez) is a pop music artist from Colombia.

He is well known for using his platform to address political and social issues via his music.

He has become an activist icon in Colombia and the Latin music sphere as his music often carries themes reflecting the struggles of people in Latin America, particularly in his home country of Colombia.

Key Themes in Fíjate Bien:

Similar to the poem, 'Landscape with Beggars', this song highlights the severe poverty and homelessness problem in Colombia..

While this song is more of a direct conversation with these impoverished people, and therefore does not show the same perspective and prejudice that the poem does, many of their themes are shared.

The line 'robbed you of your daily bread, removed you from your lands', highlights the violence from conflict with guerrillas and drug cartels which results in displacement and therefore poverty.

The line 'move without direction, son of nothing' is similar to line 48 of the poem: 'an echo carried from the land of Nobody'. Both these quotes signify how these displaced beggars have no sense of belonging as they have lost their homes and families due to the harsh Colombian economy.

References:

https://lyricstranslate.com/es/fijate-bien-look-carefully.html

https://lingopie.com/blog/social-and-political-messages-in-juanes-spanish-songs-language-and-activism/

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Chileans sign "A Rapist in Your Path" during Women's Day protest | AFP (Huge Performance)

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2019: Un Violador en tu camino - LasTesis

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2019: Un Violador en tu camino - LasTesis

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Historical and Cultural Context:

Political protest poetry and song is a long tradition in Chile, popularised under the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Protest songs and poems were written by political prisoners, such as Angel Parra who composed music in the Chacabuco concentration camp.

Another Chilean tradition is Funa: a staged public accusation for an unprosecuted crim.

In 2018, almost 40% of Chilean women had suffered violence from their partner.

In 2019, there were 4113 cases of rape and 13837 counts of sexual abuse.

LasTesis took Chilean tradition of protest song and Funa and created feminist song 'A Rapist in Your Path'.

The song spread globally, hitting over 200 cities - a sign of the importance and significance of its themes.

Key Themes:

The song calls out the institutionalized violence of the patriarchal state.

Institutionalised oppressive sexism from the Carabineros: Chile's national police force who were never reformed after the dictatorship. Involved in human rights violations and inherently patriarchal and sexist.

Sexism in law: the men rarely ever get punished for abusing women.

Gender violence: Stemmed from the Ni Una Menos feminist movement in Argentina. Woman are fed up with femicide and feminicide. Uniting by song to bring change. Similar to the Tropicália movement in Brazil.

References:

https://nacla.org/chile-art-protest-movement

https://www.statista.com/statistics/814703/perceptions-women-suffered-violence-partner-gender-chile/#:~:text=The%20source%20estimated%20that%20around,from%20their%20partner%20or%20spouse.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/20/chiles-a-rapist-in-your-path-chant-hits-200-cities-map

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/world/americas/chile-police-protests.html

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Chileans sign "A Rapist in Your Path" during Women's Day protest | AFP

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La Canción Es Protesta - My analysis will be based off a machine (Google) translation.

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Many other Chilean political protest songs where born within the same feminist movement as 'A Rapist in Your Path'.

One of which is 'The Song is a Protest'.

The song has amassed almost 700,000 listens on Spotify and 42,000 views on YouTube.

Common Themes with 'A Rapist in Your Path':

Solidarity.

Power in numbers.

Rape and sexist violence in Chile.

The power of protest music.

Solidarity and Power in Numbers:

The lines 'one million protest in demonstration', and 'from the north to the last region, the entire continent rebels' both show the vast number of people involved in this feminist uprising. It is almost a call to action, encouraging people to join forces against the oppressive government.

Rape and Sexist Violence in Chile:

The lines 'for those who fight, a guy rapes them', 'those who kill never tell the truth', and 'your armour, my bruise' are all lines which present imagery of gender based violence: rape, bruises, and even murder which is a call-out to femicide and feminicide.

Power of Protest Music:

'The song is a protest', 'The song is revolution', shows a belief and trust that music and songs, such as this one and 'A Rapist in Your Path' have the power to end sexism and oppressive gender violence in Chile, and across the world.

References:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/world/americas/chile-police-protests.html

https://genius.com/Yorka-la-cancion-es-protesta-lyrics

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I wrote a poem about the Amazon to encapsulate the delicate ecosystems within the rainforest and the indigenous spirit.

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Historical and Cultural Context:

In 2019, Brazil elected president Jair Bonsonaro.

One of he goals was to exploit the Amazon rainforest for the economic development of Brazil.

This led to extreme levels of deforestation and extractivism in the Brazilian Amazon.

Exploitation methods included: deforestation, mining, wildfires, agroindustries, and hydroelectric dams.

This exploitative expansion threatened flora and fauna: Over 10,000 species at risk.

Indigenous communities in the Amazon are going extinct as they have live in high interdependence with the rainforest and its wildlife.

Impacts climate change as the Amazon absorbs billions of tonnes of CO2 each year and produces 20% of the earth's oxygen.

Pope Francis produced 'Beloved Amazonia' to help prevent further deforestation and aid the indigenous with the Church.

Key Themes:

Social Dream: Pope Francis dreams that the Amazon region can be integrate and promote its inhabitants.

Cultural Dream: He wants to promote the unique culture of the Amazon region.

Ecological Dream: Caring for the environment and defending it.

Ecclesial Dream: Use the Church to help the people of the Amazon region, while accepting the indigenous spiritual values.

Pope Francis states that poetry is one of the ways we can give voice to the painful sensation the deforestation brings. Suggesting that like, the Tropicália movement, China Iron, A Rapist in Your Path, art and culture can bring changes and is a powerful medium.

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/02/amazonian-chief-raoni-metuktire-bolsonaro-has-been-the-worst-for-us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYlnoxgqEWo

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2023: Song For the Forests of Yasuní - Alex Lucitante

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2023: Song For the Forests of Yasuní - Alex Lucitante

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While Pope Francis suggests that poetry can be used to raise awareness of the ecocide of the Amazon, awareness is also spread through music. For example, this song about Amazon destruction in Ecuador.

Background and Cultural Context:

Like Brazil, Ecuador is also committing ecocide. Destroying their part of the Amazon for economical gain.

In the mid 2000s, Ecuador had the highest deforestation rate in South America.

They are destroying the rainforest for the oil industry. Today there are 9500km of roads built for pipelines which connect over 3430 oil wells.

Indigenous person, Alex Lucitante of the A'i Cofan tribe wrote the song to raise awareness of the Amazon by portraying the peaceful, cohesive atmosphere between nature and life in the rainforest.

Key Themes:

Anti-ecocide: raising awareness about nature and the delicate ecosystems within the Amazon rainforest to educate people on why the deforestation should be stopped.

Family love: There are lines about families bathing together and mothers preparing food for the families, this represents love within indigenous Amazon families and communities.

Indigenous Spiritual Values: Indigenous spiritual values are also present, for example the idea of death being a transition into a Jaguar. These are the values Pope Francis said the Church would embrace and protect.

References:

https://amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/a-song-of-love-and-resistance-for-the-forests-of-yasuni/

https://amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/deforestation-ecuador-amazon/

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Song for the Forests of #Yasuni by Indigenous Defender Alex Lucitante

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The Final Question:

This timeline focuses on events and arts from individual Latin American countries, to tie everything together and get a perspective of Latin American history and culture as a whole I decided to note the most common themes from the works:

Colonialism: Many of the works featured ideas and concepts of colonialism, putting a Eurocentric lens on Latin American Culture.

Oppression: A vast number of the works studied were made in a time of oppression. From military dictatorships to oppressive, sexist police forces. Teaching us that a lot of Latin American culture stems from a fight against a history of oppression.

Addressing Political Issues: Almost each work discussed in the timeline was created in response to political issues in Latin America. Highlighting that Latin America is a turbulent region suffering many problems, the Latin people are fighting their fight through arts and culture.

Conclusion:

Building this timeline, I witnessed the intense mix of culture and history in Latin America. It is clear how historical events influence art and culture (especially music), and how these works then change cultural perceptions - therefore creating a cycle of history and culture in these countries. Culture in Latin America seems to adapt to fight the battle towards equality, while finding themselves as countries and creating national identities.

Using digital technology and resources, I have been able to learn a lot about Latin American history and culture, while also presenting my findings in unique, modern, and creative ways.

This course has taught me so much that I never would have known otherwise, it has been an incredibly interesting journey, delighted I was a part of it.