Assignment for Tuesday May 21

Hola estudiantes,

For Tuesday's class please read the Bomfim article posted on Moodle, listen to and read the songs "Latinoamérica" and "Querido F.B.I." and write a blog post on how these two songs manifest issues of memory and identity.

At the end of your blog include the assignment that Dr. Quintero gave you this morning to find a hip-hop song (does not have to be in Spanish!) that displays the cultural, political, social, and aesthetic elements that we discussed today.

Great job today!
Profe

Blog assignment for Monday May 20

Hola estudiantes!

For Monday's class please write up a reflection blog on both of Friday's activities. Please include answers to the following questions as well as any other thoughts that you have.

1. What parts of the workshop and the concert were surprising or interesting to you? Explain why.
2. How did Rebel Diaz engage with issues of memory in both the workshop and the concert?  Think of all the ways in which they did this and explain them in detail.
3. How can we view issues that Rebel Diaz brought up in the workshop and/or the concert as relating to the discussion on hegemony and counter-hegemony that we discussed on Thursday?

Also for Monday, please read the readings on Moodle on 1) the Caribbean, Empire, and Slavery and 2) the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. You do not need to prepare a blog for these readings, but make sure that you are prepared to discuss them.

Gracias,
Profe

Welcome to Performing Memory in Latin America

Dear Fellow Explorers of Memory and Latin American Urban Art:

First of all, thank you for a fabulous first day of class!

If you are reading this, then you have found our course blog where you will find questions to guide you for upcoming readings.

As we discussed today, for tomorrow please write up 1) a blog post reflecting on today's class and the Borges and Assman readings, and 2) a blog post reflecting on the McSherry and Rojas readings for tomorrow based on the questions below.

Don't forget to send me the link to your blog once you have created it!

McSherry – “La nueva canción and its significance”

1. What was the political, social, and economic environment in which Chilean New Song emerged?

2. How can we characterize Chilean New Song, both musically and in terms of the content of its songs?

3. Who was the main audience for Chilean New Song? 

4. What was the role of Chilean New Song in Chile’s political process?

5. What was the social function of Chilean New Song?

6. What are some of the typical instruments that characterize Chilean New Song, and why is their use significant, especially as we examine issues of memory?

7. What was the social function of Chilean New Song, according to McSherry?

8. What is the importance of the figure of Violeta Parra according to many Chilean New Song artists?

9. What does Gramsci say about the relationship between culture and power, and how does McSherry apply Gramsci’s theories to the Chilean New Song movement?

10. After reading this chapter, what are some ways that you think Chilean New Song engages with the idea of cultural memory?

Rojas- “Rapping for a Revolution: Latino Hip-Hop Artists and the 2016 Presidential Election”

1. How does Gramsci’s view of elections fit into his idea of hegemony?

2. Why is music an effective tool in the counter-hegemonic arsenal?

3. How has communicative memory helped form Rebel Diaz’s identity and how does Rebel Diaz strive to cultivate cultural memory?

4. Analyze the many layers of cultural memory at play in the song “Which Side are You On”. 

5. How did Residente and Rebel Diaz engage the 2016 election differently?

6. What did Residente’s support for Bernie Sanders have to do with issues of memory?