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Abstract: The emblematic music of the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the chilena, thrives in one of the most ethnically diverse regions of Mexico. A broad array of subgenres, in traditional as well as contemporar y hybrid styles, ser ves geographically and culturally distinct populations. This article examines the discourse and rhetorical strategies underlying the chilena's origin narratives and effor ts to include it within the family of Mexi- can regional sones. Musical and social aspects of genre construction are related to historical and contemporar y narratives concerning mestizaje, race, regionalism, and nation.
keywords: Costa Chica, chilena, son mexicano, cueca, ar tesa, transnational music, genre
Resumen: La musica emblematica de los estados sure?os de Oaxaca y Guerrero, la chi- lena, florece en una de las regiones de M?xico con mayor diversidad ?tnica. Una amplia co- lecci?n de subg?neros, en estilos tanto tradicionales como h?bridos contempor?neos, sirve poblaciones que son geogr?ficamente y culturalmente distintas. Este ar t?culo examina el discurso y las estrategias ret?ricas subyacentes en los relatos que cuentan el origen de la chilena y los esfuerzos por incluirla en la familia de sones regionales de M?xico. Los aspec- tos musicales y sociales de la construcci?n del g?nero est?n relacionados a las narrativas hist?ricas y contempor?neas que tratan temas de mestizaje, raza, regionalismo y naci?n.
palabras clave: Costa Chica, chilena, son mexicano, cueca, ar tesa, m?sica trasnacional, g?nero
During the nineteenth century, South American music and dance genres such as the cueca spread up the Pacific coast from Chile and Peru to Mex- ico and as far north as California. Some forms took root in these coastal areas, combining with native genres and taking on distinctive local char- acteristics. In the Costa Chica of the southern Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, in honor of the music's South American origins, one new form became known generically as the chilena. As evidenced in contem- porary and historical discourse, like other postindependence genres, the cueca and chilena contributed to coalescing national and regional imag- inaries. Much as the cueca was ordained the official music and dance genre of Chile, the chilena became the emblematic performance genre of the Costa Chica.
Despite its transnational origins, over time the chilena has come to be viewed as...
