Rock ’n’ Roll, Tango, and Italian Boogie-Woogie: Transnational Music and Immigrant Life in Buenos Aires
Keyword(s):
This article explores the immigration experiences of Italian migrants from the Campani region who travelled to and settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It does so by exploring their relationship to popular music throughout three periods in Argentine history: the rise of tango leading up to the First World War; the post-Second World War boom of ‘pop’ music and media; and the politicized Rock'n'Roll of the ensuing decades. Using these three periods as reference, the article argues that immigrants from the Campania region used music as a ripe field for negotiating and developing ideas of ethnic identity that traversed borders and oceans and created a transnational musical exchange.