The Cuecas as Aesthetic and Political Representation of Chilenidad in Santiago Between 1979 and 1989

Abstract

The following article has the purpose of analysing the various meanings of the cuecas as aesthetic and politicalrepresentations of chilenidad during the period of the military dictatorship, more specifically in Santiago between1979 and 1989. It was then that an authoritarian procedure was created which by means of multiple mechanismsimposed the mingling between a certain type of cueca making and the cultural identity of the cueca assumed by themilitary government as part of its communication policies. This article considers the cueca both as an instrument ofthe political establistment and as particular species reaching beyond its traditional significance, ie, the "cueca sola"(cueca danced by one person), cuecas of poor neighborhoods, also known as "brava" and "chora", and cuecas whichare definitely part of the Resistance. All of them are considered as acts and realities interacting within a pluralisticspace created by the process of cueca-making.