Affecting the Embargo: Displacing Politics in the Buena Vista Social Club

摘要

In an increasingly globalized world, the idea that open markets cultivate cross-cultural dialogue and exchange is a persistent one. More often than not, the genre of world music is claimed to be at the forefront of such progressive goals. This essay takes Ry Cooder's award winning album the Buena Vista Social Club and Wim Wenders' documentary of the same name as a case study to examine the possibilities for popular music to play such a role. Utilizing theoretical perspectives from the fields of cultural studies, music studies, and postcolonial analysis, this essay describes how the discursive logic of world music rearticulates the meaning and significance of the Buena Vista phenomenon.