Troubling Gender: Youth and Cumbia in Argentina's Music Scene

230 Pages·2011·1.27 MB·English

by  Pablo Vila

Troubling Gender

Pablo Vila and Pablo Semán
with contributions by
Eloísa Martín and María Julia Carozzi
Troubling Gender
Youth and Cumbia
in Argentina’s Music Scene
temple university press philadelphia
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2011 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 2011
Lyrics to “María Rosa,” “A Mover el Culo,” “El Bombón Asesino,”
“Entregadora del Marrón,” “Se Te Ve la Tanga,” “La Sandra,” “La Transa,”
“Se Hacen los Piolas,” “Pamela Chu,” “La Piba Lechera,” “Alta Gata,” and
“El Bombazo”: Courtesy of SADAIC Latin Copyrights.
Lyrics to “Que Peteás” and “Embarrada y Sucia”: All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vila, Pablo, 1952–
Troubling gender : youth and cumbia in Argentina’s music scene /
Pablo Vila and Pablo Semán with contributions by Eloísa Martín and
María Julia Carozzi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4399-0266-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4399-0267-7
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4399-0268-4 (e-book)
1. Popular music—Argentina—History and criticism. 2. Cumbia
(Music)— Argentina—History and criticism. 3. Popular music—Social
aspects—Argentina. I. Semán, Pablo. II. Martín, Eloísa. III. Carozzi,
María Julia. IV. Title.
ML3487.A7V54 2011
306.4'84240982—dc22
2011006798
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992
Printed in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 T he History: Trajectory and Consolidation of the Cumbia
in the Field of Argentine Music | Eloísa Martín
(Translated by Pablo Vila) 23
2 The Lyrics 41
3 What Boys Have to Say 81
4 What Girls Have to Say 127
Conclusion 161
Postscript: Moving away from Name-Calling | María Julia Carozzi 173
Notes 179
References 203
Index 213

Acknowledgments
Agradecer supone (con arrogancia) que se conoce el don recibido. A todos
nuestros informantes, anfitriones y colaboradores, les ofrezco mis disculpas
por no haberlos entendido por completo.
To express appreciation assumes (arrogantly) that one knows the gift received.
To all of our informers, hosts, and contributors, I offer my apologies for not hav-
ing fully understood them.
Pablo Semán
Mexico City
March 21, 2011
Numerous people helped to make this book possible. It goes without saying
that I owe my first big thank-you to the young people who willingly shared with
us their experiences in the cumbia scene. Without their enthusiastic partici-
pation in this project, including the narratives about their lives, this endeavor
would not have been possible.
Several other people contributed in ways that were instrumental to the
completion of this book. Special thanks go to Malvina Silba, not only for her
outstanding fieldwork in the bailes and her superb interviews in the neighbor-
hoods but also for the intense dialogue we have maintained over the years,
which helped me to better understand the complex world that these young peo-
ple inhabit and cumbia’s place in that world. This acknowledgment does not
come close to showing the deep appreciation I have for Malvina’s contribution
to the book.
viii Acknowledgments
The work of Carolina Spataro, José Garriga Zucal, and David Drutman was
also vital to the completion of the research project. Their interviews and obser-
vations formed the bases for many of our analyses, and our gratitude to them
goes well beyond what I can express here.
Many of my students at Temple University participated, in one way or an-
other, in the manuscript development process. Ed Avery-Natale played a cen-
tral role by reading and rereading the manuscript innumerable times to prepare
it for publication and by helping compile the literature that we used to make
sense of what we encountered in the field. Carl Gunlefinger, Candace Hines,
Jennifer Kim, and especially Zakia Abukhdeir helped greatly in that regard as
well. Audra Winn contributed immensely to some of the most challenging tes-
timony translations, and Christina Stewart provided invaluable assistance in
the creation of the book’s index. Peggy Westwell, in Buenos Aires, also came
to our aid with some of the translations. Cecilia Serpa helped immeasurably
by sharing her unpublished manuscripts on various aspects of cumbia villera.
I received financial support from Temple University at several stages along
the way, including a summer research grant and small grants from the College
of Liberal Arts and the Department of Sociology. Two anonymous reviewers for
Temple University Press offered important criticisms that greatly improved the
final product. Janet Francendese and Joan Vidal at Temple University Press and
Susan Deeks, who copyedited the manuscript, were a pleasure to work with.
Janet helped me to navigate the usually difficult stage of presenting a book pro-
posal. Joan was invaluable in the final editing stages. And Susan performed
miracles with my particular version of the English language. Susana Groisman
willingly modified her artwork as needed for the cover design. Hernán Beillard
and Carlos Molinero helped me a lot with the difficult task of getting permis-
sion to quote the lyrics of the songs.
Finally, no academic work is accomplished without the help of friends and
family. First, I must acknowledge my children, Juanchi, Paloma, and Malena,
and my wife, Julia Chindemi Vila, for all their support. Many of my friends
also encouraged me during the most difficult stages of the project. To Anto-
nio and Alexandra Alfau; Enrique Figueroa; Eduardo Barrera; Raúl, Susana,
and Marcela Chindemi; James Coulton; Sherri Grasmuck; John Landreau;
Elizabeth Jelín; Carlos Molinero; Fernando Nachón; George Yúdice; Patricia
Oliart; Ramón Pelinski; Héctor Ramírez; Susan and Brian Roberts; Leslie Sal-
zinger; Fanny and Norberto Szmidt; Eddie Telles; and Luis Tulli, I owe many,
many thanks.
Pablo Vila
Philadelphia
March 22, 2011
Troubling Gender