Modernity and Colombian Identity in the Work of Carlos Vives Y La Provincia: Travels to the Land of Oblivion (Music, Culture, and Identity in Latin America)

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, a great number of TV shows and music acts blossomed in Colombia, all of which resorted to regional identity as the narrative core for a renewed idea of national identity. Among them was “Clasicos de la provincial,” an album by Colombian singer Carlos Vives and his band La Provincia (1993), which marked the beginning of a successful career that has spanned nearly three decades. Vives´s work not only earned much deserved recognition in the musical industry from the beginning, but most importantly, has come to be renowned as a landmark in the cultural history of Colombia. This book is the first in-depth analysis focused on the creation and production process of Vives´s work, its main musical and literary features, and its influence on other musicians and in the construction of a narrative about national identity that is still relevant today. More than fifty interviews with Vives and members of the band, musicians, journalists, radio programmers, musical producers, and other key players of the process, together with an extensive review of hundreds of documents, are the sources for this book, which earned its authors a national award in Colombia (2015).

Manuel Sevilla is professor in the Department of Art, Architecture and Design at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali. Juan Sebastián Ochoa is professor in the music department at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín. Carolina Santamaría-Delgado is associate professor in musicology and ethnomusicology at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín. Carlos Eduardo Cataño Arango is PhD student at Universidad Nacional de La Plata.

Juan Sebastián Ochoa is professor in the music department at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín.

Carolina Santamaría-Delgado is associate professor in musicology and ethnomusicology at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín.

Carlos Eduardo Cataño Arango is PhD student at Universidad Nacional de La Plata.