HUMAN VOCALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND ENACTION

An interdisciplinary analysis of four forms of vocal expression in Argentina

Abstract

In this study, I analyse different Argentinian forms of vocal expression regarding the development of musical skills that such forms need. In order to sort the analysis, I decided to set up the examination of a special issue of Pequeños Universos (Irigoyen and Cacopardo, 2012) as a starting point. The TV program Pequeños Universos is a production of Canal Encuentro, an initiative promoted by the Education Ministry of Argentina. Through a purely documentary style, his host, Chango Spasiuk, delves into the searching, understanding, and spreading of music from different regions of the country. It is an invaluable resource for the analysis, since it’s realization involves records of different characteristics: multimedia recordings (audio and video), statistical and historical data and interviews to important personalities. The chapter discussed here, a compilation entitled "Voice", belongs to the 4th Season of the program and focuses on documenting and comparing different modes of vocal expression that occur in the country. It mainly explores the characteristics of the vocal production of the Singing Women of Varvarco (Neuquén Province), the Payada (specifically in the town of General Madariaga), and the Opera Singing and Choir Practice (in Buenos Aires Province and Chubut Province). It is interesting to investigate the interactions the actors established with their different sociocultural context and the fundamental characteristics of these interactions. In particular, and in line with the proposal of various authors, I propose here that the emergence of such forms of vocalism is a meeting point between biological and cultural factors. The proposed analysis is discussed in terms of the current theoretical debate on Human Musicality, Cultural Interaction, Cognition, and Ontogenetic Development.