Essay: El Tango – a reflection of Argentine identity

Course: Regional orientation: history, society and culture of Latin America and the Caribbean, Part II (Social and Cultural Identity Construction)

October 2008

Master: Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Utrecht

...¡Morocho!

Te conozco de otras tierras

Embarcaste en tu país

Con los zuecos de madera

Y en cabina de tercera

Te encontrabas muy feliz...

Pero despúes te cambiaste.

Convencido por engrupir

Empezaste por decir:

- ¿Yo?...¡Argentino, señor!

(Verses from the Tango ‘Morocho’ which deals withself-denial of an immigrant who tries to strip himself of his social and ethnic descent)

When thinking of Tango, the association with Argentina is not far out of reach, as it is known worldwide for its Argentinian roots. Yet it is a common mistake to say that Tango is thé music of Argentina, Tango being the cultural expression of the Rio de la Plata. I wanted to find out more about the origins of the Tango and in what way it is actually embedded in Argentine society. The main question that I asked myself was: How did the Tango become a ‘legitimate’ model of Argentine identity? This essay is a perfect opportunity for me to explore the matter, by looking into the history of Tango with respect to the development of a national identity within the modern nation-state of Argentina. It is hereby essential to look at the national and the foreign context, thus the evolution of Tango within and outside the geographical boundaries of Argentina. Larrain’s (2000) historical-structural conception of national identity, the concept of popular culture and the hitherto ongoing discours of nationality, social class and ethnicity, will serve as relevant points of reference in this the exploration.

Tango is often referred to as a reflection, or rather a projection, of Argentine identity which has been affected and transformed through historical circumstances in Argentina and Europe since it’s origin in the late nineteenth century. The transformations have manifested themselves in the music and lyrics of Tango, both reflecting the evolution of Argentine national identity, as has been constituted by Gustavo Varela¹ amongst other Tango-specialists. This transformation can be placed within Larrain’s historical-structural approach, conceptualizing national identity as a continuous (re-)construction within new historical contexts, as something dynamic that cannot be “constituted as a fixed set of values and common experiences” (Larrain, 2000: 38). His approach underlines the the historical past but also anticipates the future which contribute to the project of a national identity, and needs to be understood in terms of public discourse as well as in the terms of individuals and group experiences. It is thus important to consider the roles of the different social layers of Argentine society who have all played different, but prominent parts in the evolution of Tango and more importantly national identity.

In Argentina the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decennia of the following century are marked by massive immigration, modifying the constellation of the population and encouraging new social unions. Values, types of involvement, and bonds needed to be redefined. Varela emphasized that the new immigrants urged for a distraction to ease their sense of rootlessness and disfranchisement as "strangers in a strange land." Immigrants came mainly from Europe (Italy, Spain, Germany, etc.), a minority from Asia the Middle East (Libanon, Syria, etc.).

Back in that time and nowadays still, Buenos Aires was thé center of attention and major action in Argentina. Apart from the new immigrants that started to populate Buenos Aires, it was home to the poor, black former slaves, gauchos from the country side and mestizos who had survived the civil wars, the elite and to some small extend the indigenous population. The region literally became a melting pot of multiple cultures and nationalities. This hybridization is evident in the creation of national symbols, such as the Tango.

Complex urban and cultural product

Tango is a complex urban and cultural product that originated in lower-class neighborhoods of Buenos Aires city (Ferradás 2006)², associated with the porteño³ culture that developed out of this hybridization. Scholars argue about the exact origins of the Tango, but it is generally accepted that it’s roots ly in the rhythms of African drumming, the candombe, influenced by the milonga⁴, the habanera⁵ and later on musical genres and instruments imported by the immigrants (Birkenstock&Rüegg 2003, Sebastián&Labraña 1990, Savigliano 1995). In its beginning, the Tango started as a cheerful music danced and played in the arrabal (outskirts of the city) of Buenos Aires, where the lower classes of society dwelled. At first, the Tango was especially heard in the bordellos and pubs, giving Tango a scandalous reputation yet wrapping it in a special air. The dance especially was regarded as scandalous (by the elite) through its daring interaction of man and woman. The oligarchy refused to see tango as a national cultural product, associating it with moral threat since it called into question the legitimacy of the elite to represent the nation.

From there it spread to the neighborhoods of the working and middle class and eventually, after a long and slow process, the Tango would be adopted by the elite of Buenos Aires in the course of the twentieth century.

Adoption of the Tango

There is almost no doubt about how this adoption of the Tango among the various social classes in Argentine society took place. Musical historians highlight the fact that the people from these various social layers became acquainted with Tango during their (frequent) visits to the bordellos, pubs and the streets of the arrabal, driven by curiosity and sense of sensation (Sebastián&Labraña 1990: 39). Until the beginning of twentieth century the center of Buenos Aires had been monopolized by the oligarchy. But as it started to open up to the growing middle and industrial working class sector from 1910 onwards this changed. Their social and political demands for a better living standard were soon exposed through unions and different organizations and challenged the oligarchic rule.

This new impulse also made its way into the arrabal of the city, where the working and middle class established themselves, converting the poor quarters into civil barrios (Birkenstock&Rüegg 2003: 113-115). This change in demography led to the relocation of the pubs and bordellos to the center of town, creating a new ‘historical’ and social context for the Tango to develop in terms of music, dance and lyrics and simultaneously for the search for identity. This process alone did not suffice in establishing Tango as a national symbol for Argentine identity. The oligarchy, back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, still held hegemony over the establishment of national identity by means of its control over the state and class, ethnic and gender superiority (Larrain 2000: 78, Savigliano 1995: 137). In this period the resention of the notion of Tango was common among the oligarchy, as it did not correspond with their norms and values. Another (external) impulse was needed which eventually crystallized in Europe to empower the Tango in Buenos Aires. It was only after it became popular in the main capitals of Europe (especially in the 1910’s and after WWII) that Tango gained popularity in Argentina.

Subsequently Tango was adopted and legitimized by the richer of the Western hegemonic culture. According to Savigliano, “the acceptance of Tango in Europe affected the class and moral identification of the Tango in its local settings”. But not only that, it also affected “the hegemonic power of national representation based in the economic, political, and moral superiority of the local elites” (Savigliano 1995: 138). Yet, paradoxically, it seems that members of the elite were in fact the ones that exported the Tango into Europe spending time abroad (every so often Paris). The population of the arrabal did not have access to the right means in order to travel (Birkenstock&Rüegg 2003: 106).

Exportation of Tango

With respect to the exportation of Tango, there is often talk about misrepresentation of Argentina. It assumed national Argentinian representation abroad even though back home it was at first only popular amongst a particular sector of society, namely the porteños. According to Savigliano, an Argentine, Argentinian identity was doubly misrepresented abroad through the Tango. She argues that, firstly, national identity was being manipulated through the “projection of a ‘popular’ image of the national culture an image that challenged the ‘civilized’ image the Argentinian elite wished to project”. Secondly, the national identity was manipulated through the “appropriation and distortion” of the Tango, meaning that the Tango took on more polite and social accepted forms when it got to Europe, different from the Tango danced by the porteños (Savigliano 1995: 142). Class, racial and generational issues intertwine with these aspects to further complicate the Tango’s legitimacy to represent Argentina as a people (Sebastián&Labraña 1990: 73, Savigliano 1995: 3). Suddenly and because of the popularity of the Tango abroad, the Argentine elite became fond of the dance and the music and accepted it as their ‘national symbol’, so admired by Parisians and other capital cities in Europe and Asia. The Tango was thus ennobled by the elite, as Savigliano puts it, and was now ready and legitimized to enter into the more sophisticated whereabouts (salons, etc.) of the Argentine elite back in Buenos Aires. This evolution of the Tango took place approximately in th 1920’s.

A national identity construct

Larrain (2000) emphasizes in his work the consideration of popular interpretations, meanings and traditions with respect to longstanding practices, in order to construct a national identity (ibid: 39). Within the context described above, disputes started about the means and effects of popular culture. Tango, as popular culture, became the dance floor in which national identity was constantly redefined with regard to gender, race, class, ethnicity in terms of sexuality and power. The dispute revolved around the struggles to determine for which ‘people’ and in the name of what ‘culture’ popular culture is practiced (Savigliano 1995: 3). Whom, in Argentine society, did the Tango represent how and to which extend is the question that needed to be asked. As I have already mentioned Larrain’s approach underlines the the historical past but also anticipates the future which contribute to the project of a national identity. This approach is relevant in the analyzing of Tango as a model of national identity since it allows for a fleeting grasp of a changing identity patterns of Argentine society in which past and future ‘ideals’ have shaped each era. Tango has gone through dramatic changes from its emergence in the late nineteenth century to the present day. One cannot speak of ‘one’ Tango or of a consistant Tango, since it has experienced great variations in accordance to different social and historical contexts. It has known its ups and downs, different interpretations and adjustments due to the appropriation of the different social layers of society

As an expression of popular culture it has participated in Argentine and global developments. Popular culture is synonymous for mass culture associated with the lower classes and contrasts the concept of high culture (commonly exercised by the upper middle class and the elite). Beezley and Curcio-Nagy (2000) have written about the interaction of popular and high culture. Their text about this interaction in Latin America is relevant in the case of Argentina. Using their text as framework, one can conclude that in Argentina Tango, being primarily a practice of popular culture, has been ‘hygienized’ and modified by the upper social layers of society in the determination to create a national Argentine identity. In the furthering of the twentieth century, as said before, Tango has been appropriated by the elite, refashioned and stripped of its ‘vulgarity’ (ibid: xviii), .

Conclusion

Larrain (2000) states that a historical and structural approach needs to be studied in terms of public discourse and simultaneously individuals and group experiences. It is thus important to consider the roles of the different social layers of Argentine society who have all played different, but prominent parts in the evolution of Tango and more importantly national identity. Tango first developed in the arrabal of Buenos Aires city and was characteristic for the porteño culture, a hybrid mix of various nationalities, immigrants and cultures. In its beginnings the Tango was rejected by the upper classes of society for it scandalous air, being played and danced in the bordellos, pubs and streets in the poor district of Buenos Aires. When the Tango was shipped over to Europa, it reached a popular status almost instantly and was adopted by the upper classes of many capital metropolitan cities, especially Paris. In this context the Argentinian elite no longer restrained and took the Tango back home into their salons, and appropriated the Tango putting variations into the music and the dance to their own liking. The Tango was thus, in a particular way, both a popular culture and high culture.

Put into the historical and social context I have just summarized, I can conclude that the Tango has become a national symbol of Argentina and with its many facades is a reflection of national identity in contemporary Argentina, projecting the different influences of the various social layers of society and not to forget the exportation of the Tango. Argentina is known for its hybrid en heterogene society and I think the variations of the Tango which mark different times in Argentine history and social development with respect to different social layers of Argentine society.

When the Tango was still in its early stages its representation was more that of a subculture, but as it was adopted by the Argentine middle and upper classes it became a projection and symbol a whole nation could identify with, therefore I find it a righteous answer to my question to say that the Tango is indeed a reflection, and maybe even model, of Argentine national identity.

Bibliography

• Beezley W. H. & Curco-Nagy L. A. 2000 Latin American Popular Culture, an Introduction. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Re sources Inc.

• Birkenstock A. & Rüegg H. 2003 Tango, Geschichte und Geschichten. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag

• Larrain, J. 2000 Identity and Modernity in Latin America. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc.

• Savigliano M. E. 1995 Tango and the Political Economy of Passion. Oxford: Westview Press

• Sebastián A. & Labraña L. 1990 De geschiedenis van de Tango. Breda: Uitgeverij de Geus

Websites

visited during the month of October, 2008

• http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Argentina.html

• http://www.tangoconcepts.com/history.html

• http://www.argentina.ar/_en/culture/C745-tango-a-reflection-of-argentine-identity.php

1 A philosophy professor and musician, he teaches at the University of Buenos Aires and the Film University. He is the author of the book ‘Mal de Tango’ (Paidós, 2005), source:  http://www.argentina.ar/_en/culture/C745-tango-a-reflection-of-argentine-identity.php

2 http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Argentina.html

3 The men and women whose lives were centered around the docks.

4 The popular music of the pampas (flatlands) which combined Indian rhythms with the music of early Spanish colonists.

5 A Cuban musical style or genre and the first Cuban dance to be exported all over the world.