Cultural Identity and multiculturalism in the children's songs of the Argentinian Poet Maria Elena Walsh (Argentina 1930-2011)
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Abstract
The children's songs of the poet and singer María Elena Walsh (Argentina 1930-2011) are a milestone in the repertoire of the Spanish song in Argentina and Latin America. With simple metaphors and original melodies she dared to approach and incorporate the concept of cultural identity into children’s songs, and songs for students, who make up an especially sensitive sector of the population, in the decade of the seventies. Until then the themes of children's or student’s songs, which had always interested Argentinian musicians since the end of the XIXth century, were based on poetry which celebrated flora, fauna, customs and inhabitants, amongst other things, in Argentina, with music related to national folklore and popular tradition, all of which was aimed at provoking a feeling of belonging to the homeland.
Maria Elena Walsh belongs to the generation which aimed to renew the traditional view of children's songs. She incorporates the vision of Panamerica like Guillermo Graetzer (1914-1993) or Violeta Hemsy de Gainza, both pedagogues, did before her. These songs were released by Pro-Music de Rosario and continued by outstanding authors such as Sivia Malbran (Argentina) or Susana Bosch (Uruguay).
This paper studies the text and the cultural context which M.E. Walsh expresses in her songs when social and political changes were happening at the end of the XXth and the beginning of the XXIst centuries.