Abstract

FLORES MERCADO, B. Georgina. "We Are Distorting Our Traditional Sound": The Past and Present of Traditional Music and Woodwind Ensembles in Tingambato, Michoacan. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2009, vol.30, n.120, pp.267-296. ISSN 2448-7554.

This essay presents some results of ethnographic research on collective memory, cultural identity and traditional music among the musicians of woodwind ensembles in the Meseta Purépecha (Michoacan, Mexico). The fieldwork was carried out primarily in the town of Tingambato, Michoacán, where I interviewed not only woodwind musicians, but also music teachers and students, as well as radio announcers in other localities in the Meseta. From the perspective of cultural psychology, the article analyzes how the performances and practice of traditional music lead to the creation of narratives on cultural and local identity and on the past and present of Purépecha towns.

Keywords : collective memory; cultural identity; traditional music; indigenous peoples.