The trutruka playing as a representation of Mapuche resistance in the urban popular music scene in the Region of Los Lagos, Chile

Abstract

This article aims to inform the first findings from a research that examines some urban musics performed in the Region of Los Lagos, which incorporate music elements linked to the mapuche-williche culture. In this article, we present the background information that shows the construction of a mapuche-williche musical movement, as well as the analysis developed that allowed us to determine the emergence of some music elements that could be understood as topic representations. As a result of that, we found the presence of a musical topic that we regard as “mapuche in resistance”, which expressed through musical items performed by a trutruka or that incorporate mimetic allusions about this instrument. Finally, we discuss the possible uses of this analysis and its influence for decentralizing the ethnomusicology practices in the chilean context, as well as the capability of diverse approaches to determine musical topics.

Keywords

• music
• mapuche
• williche
• topic
• ethnomusicology