La guitarra con sentido y razón: How the Chilean New Song Defined a Generation

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the development of the New Song movement in Chile from its inception in the 1950s with the music recovery efforts of Violeta Parra, through its heyday in the 1960s and early 1970s during the years of Salvador Allende's Popular Unity government, to its legacy following the Pinochet coup of 1973. This thesis examines the New Song movement's musical origins, political messages, and connections to the most pressing issues of its time, including the domestic urban-rural divide and the involvement of the ordinary people in the nation's political sphere.