Transitional Music: Popular Music as Agent of Social Change in Chile and Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT Periods of social and political change, at least since the second half of the twentieth century, have had their own musical soundtracks. These soundtracks have broadly been understood and analyzed either as reflections of the social, political and economic climate of the societies that have produced them or as productive forces with a certain degree of autonomy and political agency. From a cultural studies perspective, this article introduces the concept of transitional music, partially based on Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of the minor, in order to open a space for the consideration of popular music as an expression that, although tied to a specific sociohistorical context, carries the potential of political change. We understand the political in the broad sense as the way in which people construct and perceive themselves, both as individuals and as members of a community. This article analyzes two independent occurrences of transitional music in Chile and Spain.