¡Que viva la música!
Encyclopedia
"¡Que viva la música!" is a novel
of the Colombia
n writer Andrés Caicedo
, one of his most important works and considered by many observers as a masterpiece of the Colombian literature in modern times. He started to write it in his trip to Los Angeles
trying to get in touch with Roger Corman
in order to sell to the famous Hollywood director four of his play scripts, but he was not welcomed. Caicedo dedicated his time in USA to see movies, study blues and rock and write this novel. The publication of the book was finished in Cali
on March 4, 1977. In that same afternoon, its author committed suicide.
He described the book as a result of an "ephemeral curiosity." but there is a small but dedicated core of readers who believe the book to be one of the greatest novels among Colombian literature of the second half of the 20th century. It is in this work where Caicedo said that to live more than 25 years old is madness.
, known also as the "World Capital of Salsa
". It is also the native city of Caicedo who reflect its barrios and streets of the city and its people of the 1970s.
has been seen as an invitation to a party without end, where the main character comes to see the world as a bottomless pit of debauchery, which she relishes. There's a secret pact with death itself with the ever more frantic dance of María del Carmen Huerta, the blond protagonist of the book.
The novel also offers an affectionate view of the Colombian city of Cali as unique, magic, and different. Our introduction starts in the privileged North, with its Sixth Avenue ("la Sexta"), Parque Versalles, and its magical places, until you get to the ghetto in the South with its Caseta Panamericana (built especially for the 1971 Pan American Games
), the Pance River, the neighborhoods beyond upper-class Miraflores, the winged Andes
mountain range, and the hideouts of sex and salsa
in the final stretches of 15th Street ("la Quince").
of Hermann Hesse
, Maria del Carmen goes from group to group looking for a sense for her life.
The first group she found is of Marxists who used to go by the streets of Cali or Bogotá
with backpacks, untidy hair and Das Kapital
to read anywhere to anyone who dare to listen to them as a kind of preachers. She got bored of this first team and abandoned them soon to look more pure emotions
She came to the rock
world imported to the city by the children of daddies and mummies who were able to study in the USA and return to Cali wearing gang clothes. Maria del Carmen became a part of a gang to prove any kind of drugs while listening the Rolling Stones.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n writer Andrés Caicedo
Andrés Caicedo
Luis Andrés Caicedo Estela was a Colombian writer born in Cali, the city where he would spend most of his life. Despite his premature death, his work is considered one of the most original in Colombian literature...
, one of his most important works and considered by many observers as a masterpiece of the Colombian literature in modern times. He started to write it in his trip to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
trying to get in touch with Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
in order to sell to the famous Hollywood director four of his play scripts, but he was not welcomed. Caicedo dedicated his time in USA to see movies, study blues and rock and write this novel. The publication of the book was finished in Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
on March 4, 1977. In that same afternoon, its author committed suicide.
He described the book as a result of an "ephemeral curiosity." but there is a small but dedicated core of readers who believe the book to be one of the greatest novels among Colombian literature of the second half of the 20th century. It is in this work where Caicedo said that to live more than 25 years old is madness.
Context
The novel has scenery like the city of CaliCalì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
, known also as the "World Capital of Salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
". It is also the native city of Caicedo who reflect its barrios and streets of the city and its people of the 1970s.
Plot summary
The novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
has been seen as an invitation to a party without end, where the main character comes to see the world as a bottomless pit of debauchery, which she relishes. There's a secret pact with death itself with the ever more frantic dance of María del Carmen Huerta, the blond protagonist of the book.
The novel also offers an affectionate view of the Colombian city of Cali as unique, magic, and different. Our introduction starts in the privileged North, with its Sixth Avenue ("la Sexta"), Parque Versalles, and its magical places, until you get to the ghetto in the South with its Caseta Panamericana (built especially for the 1971 Pan American Games
1971 Pan American Games
The 6th Pan American Games were held in Cali, Colombia, from July 30 to August 13, 1971. The then called "Salsa World Capital", located at the foot of the Andes Mountains, hosted a total of 2,935 athletes from 32 countries, who participated in seventeen sports...
), the Pance River, the neighborhoods beyond upper-class Miraflores, the winged Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
mountain range, and the hideouts of sex and salsa
Salsa (dance)
Salsa is a syncretic dance form with origins in Cuba as the meeting point of Spanish and African cultures.Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms such as solo dancing "suelta" and "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle...
in the final stretches of 15th Street ("la Quince").
María del Carmen Huerta
She is a girl of good family, the daughter of a photographer of the Calean high society. But living in a high class comes to be for her boring and then she decided to explore the streets of the city. Through the eyes of Maria del Carmen, Caicedo shows the different social groups of the 1970s Cali, that reflects also the Colombian society and in a wider way Latin America. As a kind of SiddharthaSiddhartha (novel)
Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of an Indian man named Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha.The book, Hesse's ninth novel , was written in German, in a simple, powerful, and lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential...
of Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Maria del Carmen goes from group to group looking for a sense for her life.
The first group she found is of Marxists who used to go by the streets of Cali or Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
with backpacks, untidy hair and Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
to read anywhere to anyone who dare to listen to them as a kind of preachers. She got bored of this first team and abandoned them soon to look more pure emotions
She came to the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
world imported to the city by the children of daddies and mummies who were able to study in the USA and return to Cali wearing gang clothes. Maria del Carmen became a part of a gang to prove any kind of drugs while listening the Rolling Stones.
External links
- HERNÁNDEZ, Adriana, ¡Qué viva la música! La escritura desde abajo. Primeras Jornadas Virtuales de Esquizoanalisis - 2004.