Guitar culture in the Peruvian city of Arequipa

Abstract

This dissertation explores guitar culture in the Peruvian city of Arequipa through the dynamic elements which have contributed to its development within a socio-cultural context. The main question of this dissertation is: what elements (social, cultural, musical and others) have contributed to the making of this guitar culture as it exists in its orally transmitted form, in its classical sphere, as well as in the juxtaposition of these two aspects? This work investigates this musical culture both as it exists today as well as it existed in the past. It examines the music itself as much as the world in which the same music flourishes and the people that make it and consume it. For this purpose, this work relies on the theory and method of ethnomusicology with special emphasis on fieldwork and participant observation. Fieldwork in Arequipa included interviews with guitar tutors, street guitarists, luthiers, as well as guitar students and members of the public in general. Other sources include iconographies, recordings, and my own personal memories and experiences as a native guitarist brought up in this vibrant musical culture. This work brings forth the fact that there are regional and global influences which are both reflected in this guitar culture. Today’s guitar culture in Arequipa is still attached to its past while following at the same time the patterns of global markets.