Folklore and "Engajamento" in the musical production of Violeta Parra and Woody Guthrie: Chile and the United States in perspectives.

• Grant number: 14/24502-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date until: September 01, 2015
• End date until: December 06, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of America
• Principal Investigator: Tania da Costa Garcia
• Grantee: Mariana Oliveira Arantes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/08959-3 - Folklore and "Engajamento" in the musical production of Violeta Parra and Woody Guthrie: Chile and the United States in perspectives, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The bibliography about the American popular song, specifically about the renovation movements of the folk repertoire occurred in the second half of the 20th century in Latin American countries, features as one of the principal characteristic of these trends the defense of the regional and/or national repertoire against the American "imperialism". However, throughout this academic journey, our researches evinced a circulation of ideas in the Americas that manifested extraordinary in popular music from different countries. There is a group of persons related to the American folk music aligned to the same issues raised by the musicians related to the Chilean folk repertoire and, further, Latin American. We argue that in a construction of the Americas History, especially of the American song history the United States should not be seen as a monolithic block of people and ideological-political positions. Thus, it is important to widen the field of the studies about the History and music in the Americas, paying attention to the processes of cultural circularity in the continent that point to two-way cultural exchanges among all the regions that comprise it. Aiming to emphasize possible cultural circulations were elected two subjects and two political and social contexts that should guide the present research. It is important to compare the sound work by two characters of great importance in the Chilean and American histories and that exhibit many similarities in their trajectories: the composers, singers, instrumentalists and artists Violeta Parra and Woody Guthrie. The central focus of the approach is the thematic of the works, paying attention to the place of the folklore in the artistic and musical works by both of the persons and the relation of the works with the aesthetic, political and social issues on the agenda throughout their lives.