Uncovering the subject dimension of the musical artefact: Reconsiderations on Nueva Cancion Chilena (New Chilean Song) as practiced by Victor Jara

Abstract

Extant literature on Nueva Cancion Chilena or New Chilean Song (NCCh), a musical genre emerging in 1960s Chile, concerns itself largely with the socio-historical context and function of NCCh at the expense of the song as musical artefact. The present study aims to reverse this concern, proposing a new theoretical approach which temporarily suspends contextual considerations and focuses on the artefact itself. The study assumes a tripartite structure wherein the first part discusses problems of definition and biography in NCCh research, the second introduces the theoretical frameworks of persona and embodiment as means to discern and conceptualize the artefact's resonant quality, and, lastly, the third applies an analytic model from popular music studies and cultural studies to uncover the musical artefact's subject dimension, i.e. the work's author-mask as disclosed by its discernable attributes. The study throughout concentrates on NCCh as practiced by one of its leading exponents Victor Jara.