In the rhythm of Nueva Ola: Chilean youth listens to the Global North

Abstract

Chile, period after the Second World War, marked by processes of economic transformations, transition from a rural society to the expansion of cities, followed by great development of the means of communication. We add to this historical context the characteristics of a globalized world polarized by the tensions of the Cold War. It was a moment of modernization of ways of life, morals, sexuality and cultural practices, which were translated into intentionally innovative musical expressions. Contrary to Neofolklore and Chilean New Song, the analysis of sound documents from the time allows us to list two trends among the interpreters of the so-called Chilean New Wave, the first identified as rock and the second as an interpretation
of ballads with slow rhythm and love themes. Both were presented in this article through six representative CD discs of this repertoire. Sound sources (records) and specialized press articles were analyzed so that it was possible to understand this musical production as a privileged medium for expressions of a youthful language that proposed itself as cosmopolitan, in a historical moment strongly characterized by cultural and political disputes around the local versus global