Dancing in the Fields:Imagined Landscapes and Virtual Locality in Indigenous Andean Music Videos

摘要

The move from analogue audio cassette to digital VCD (Video CompactDisc) in around 2003, as a primary format for recorded music, openedup a new era for music production and consumption in the BolivianAndes. This cheap digital technology both created new regional marketsamong low-income indigenous people, quickly making it almostunthinkable for regional artists to produce a commercial musicrecording without video images. This paper explores the character ofthese images, reflecting in particular on the tendency to depictmusicians and dancers performing in rural landscapes. It charts a longassociation between Andean music and landscape, both in the globalimagination and in local practices, relating this to the idea of an Andeanarcadia; a concept rooted in European classical imaginaries. It also goesbehind the scenes and explores the class-related practices, values andpriorities of music video producers, and how these play out in differentgenres.