Indigenous Folk Music of Northern Andean Ecuador as a Means of Resistance (2011)

Undergraduate: Sarah Booker

Faculty Advisor: Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld
Department: Comparative Literature

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This presentation is founded on my senior honors thesis in comparative literature in which I examine the potential for art to function as resistance in South America. In order to analyze this I compare Teatro Abierto, a theater company that formed in the final years of Argentina’s Dirty War as a response to the violence and cultural oppression of the Junta, with the indigenous folk music of the northern Ecuadorian Andes, which validates cultural identity and supports the indigenous movement. Both Teatro Abierto and indigenous folk music are examples of how marginalized groups are able to use cultural expressions to resist against an oppressive force and to assert themselves into the public sphere. This presentation focuses on the Inti Raymi (summer solstice) festival and the popular music that has developed out of this Ecuadorian tradition. I argue that in much the same way as Teatro Abierto, the autochthonous music of Andean Ecuador invokes cultural identity and audience participation in order to empower individuals and urge individuals to take action. The analysis primarily focuses on three main issues inherent in the movement: national identity, gender, and audience participation.