A conference to be held at the Institute of Romance Studies, University of London

Organisers: Dr Mark Sabine and Ms Patricia Montenegro (IRS)

The aim of this conference is to focus on the status of twentieth-century Latin American popular music forms and performance in a global, contemporary, cultural context, during a period when a range of Latin American musical movements are being taken up or borrowed from, and marketed globally by, the Anglophone mainstream pop industry.

The conference will bring together musicologists, cultural studies specialists and sociologists to discuss the adaptation and appropriation of pre-existent musical forms or performance traditions by contemporary musicians in the use of Latin American music in film, literature and advertising, and in the production and marketing of music, not only within the recording industry but also in tourism and 'heritage' industries. As well as looking at cultural translation across genres and socio-cultural locations within Latin America, the conference will also consider how the (perceived) emergence of a globalised popular culture impacts upon, and is influenced by, the composition, performance and marketing of popular music in Latin America. The conference will also consider the role of popular music in the negotiation of ethnic, generic, and other identities, and in the context of an increasingly trans-national, globalised entertainments industry.

Proposals (max. 250 words) for papers of twenty minutes' duration, covering any of the above issues in relation to the music of any part of Hispanophone America and Brazil, are encouraged. In particular, the organisers would very much welcome proposals that address the issues of cultural and economic globalisation, either as a primary or a secondary focus.

Deadline for proposals is 1 March 2003, but early submissions are welcome. Please send abstracts to:

Mark Sabine,
Institute of Romance Studies,
University of London,
Senate House,
Malet Street,
London WC1E 7HU
mark.sabine@sas.ac.uk