Imaginario nacional y cambio cultural: circulación, recepción y pervivencia de la "zamacueca" en Chile durante el siglo XIX

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to present a historical reconstruction of the Creole dance known as the zamacueca during the nineteenth century in Chile. Using an ethno-historical approach similar to that used in cultural history, the author describes its arrival, growth and subsequent implantation in three periods (1823/1824-1856, 1856-1879, 1879-1910). With the aid of a wide range of bibliographical resources and tools, both the public and private settings in which dance took place are established, as well as their special characteristics (ubiquity, wide social appeal and representativeness), and its role in the cultural transformation that took place during the mid-nineteenth century. Finally, the relationship between this musical genre and the concept of nationalism in nineteenth-century Chilean culture is also examined.