"The tango betweem two centuries: past and present of an Argentine Music"

PUJOL, SERGIO A.

Birminghan ,USA

Simposio; Latin American Studies Symposium; 2007

Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Birmingham-Southern College

Among the not so little effects of globalization we can find a rebirth of several species which were thouth extinct long ago. It is clear that today we know more musical traditions of diverse geographies and times than before. Technology allows connecting us with cultural heritage which we could access sporadically and limitedly in others times. Thus, tango is inserted again in the world, at the same time its local rebirth seems to answer critically to powerful forces of globalization. This political dimension of tango between two centuries reveals a tension between the global scenario and national identity. When talking with the new tango generation, we discover the interest for "the own thing", "the distinctive sign", tha which referes to a limited location and to a history of identity reaffirmation. This statement is not fundamentalist, as it was in other times. Today people can like tango and rock at the same time since the cultural identities are in permanent change. But also, in this situation of liquation - to use the famous metaphor from Zygmunt Bauman -, where everything is uncertain and ephemeral, tango remains like a sort of cultural deed.