‘José María Arguedas is My John Lennon’: Arguedas as Cultural Hero in Lima’s Independent Music Scene

Abstract

This article discusses the way that young people in Lima establish themselves as heirs to Arguedas, specifically through the analysis of music by contemporary fusion bands Crónica de Mendigos and Tayta Bird. I argue that they use Arguedas as a signifier in their music to show their cultural capital, legitimize their musical projects, search for belonging as young limeños with roots in other places in Peru, and celebrate cultural diversity. These two bands-in contrast to those founded in the 1990s that have been studied in relation to Arguedas-actually include excerpts of Arguedas' texts or sound clips of him singing in their songs. Unlike academics, however, these musicians are not trying to establish whether or not Arguedas was 'right', and more often dialogue with ideas about Arguedas-his notion of mestizaje as celebratory multiculturalism, his idea of an inclusive nation as one of todas las sangres, his own search for belonging as a mestizo-rather than with the texts themselves. Through establishing themselves as heirs to Arguedas and creating music which mixes autochthonous and global genres, these musicians establish themselves as cosmopolitans who 'belong' both in the Andes and in Lima or any other global city.

“Apagando el sistema”: Fusion Music as Protest Soundscape in Lima, Peru

“…Cultural heterogeneity which is a source of richness and possibility.” Echoing these ideas in a 2015 interview (Lima, July 7), Ricardo López expressed admiration for Arguedas, whom he considered ahead of his time in his vision of distinct Peruvian cultures living together harmoniously. Many fusion musicians look to Arguedas as a cultural hero and seek to continue his unfinished work, using their music to celebrate Peru’s cultural manifold and call for a more equal society (see Rozas, 2007; Tucker, 2011; Oliart, 2014; Zevallos-Aguilar, 2016; Vik, 2018).…”