The Chamamé origins is associated with Spanish colonizers’ arrival in Peru at the end of the 15th century and their subsequent political, commercial, and cultural trade in South America through Paraguay in the 16th century. This movement made it possible for different cultures to interact, creatin the identity of new social groups.

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The researchers Cesar Oliveira and Tiago Martins emphasize the impact of the Spanish commercial trade in South America as being responsible for “creating social bonds that helped the cultural exchange between its inhabitants in the field of poetry and music.”[1] When Spanish colonizers arrived in Peru, they found a modern and sophisticated society, the Incas, with an established social and cultural environment. Inevitably, incorporating cultural elements among the natives and Europeans propelled the advancement of new expressions that reflected attributes common to both cultures. For instance, the diffusion of the Spanish musical genre fandango, in contact with the natives of Peru, gained local features such as the addition of the harp, an instrument already familiar to the native indigenous people. In this acculturation process, in addition to integrating the harp, native elements were assimilated into the songs portraying facts and places familiar to both cultures. As a result, from this Hispanic-Peruvian blend emerged the fandango valseado, which led to the development of the chamamé.[2]

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Evandro Higa, in his analysis of the assimilation of the Paraguayan polka in Brazil, associates the origins of the chamamé with this genre. He explains that this musical genre “emerged from the rural Paraguayan area in affiliation with the musical heritage of traditional Spanish music and represented aspects of cultural identity not only of Paraguay but also from the northern regions of Argentina.”[3] This culture represented the “ancestral sense of identity of the Guarani peoples, which survived the process of miscegenation arising from colonization in the 16th century.”[4] In this context, the culture and traditions cultivated by the indigenous people were a common element among the three countries and inspired the dance, the music, and the practice of the chamamé, which Higa called “the myth of the Guarani Soul.”

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In the first half of the 20th century, wars and civil conflicts led the Paraguayan polka to spread to Argentina and Brazil. The War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870), the Chaco War (1932–1935), and the Civil War of 1947 led the Paraguayans to seek refuge in neighboring countries, especially northern Argentina and Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. These conflicts brought extreme poverty for the locals who sought neighboring countries for safety and work opportunities. Consequently, the workforce and knowledge inherited from their Guarani ancestors, particularly their culture and music, greatly influenced the regions in which they migrated.[5]

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The researcher Rossini Xavier points out that the Paraguayan composer Samuel Aguayo, in the 1930s, created the term chamamé intending to increase the sales of his recordings. Based on the Guarani language, the term means something that is “done quickly, improvised,”[6] and was intended to attract the listeners in the region of Corrientes, Argentina. Nonetheless, chamamé became very popular in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and it is considered one of the musical styles that symbolizes the state’s culture, alongside the guarânia, the rasqueado sul-matogrossense, and the Paraguayan polka. The genre’s popularity in Mato Grosso do Sul is evidenced by state law, which created a “Chamamé Day” and instituted Rio Brilhante as the “Capital of Chamamé.”[7]

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Notes:

 

[1] César Peixoto Oliveira and Tiago Costa Martins, “O Chamamé: expressão sociocultural da mesopotâmia argentina?” (paper presented at II Encontro Missioneiro de Estudos Interdisciplinares em Cultura, São Luiz Gonzaga, August 25-26, 2016), 16.

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[2] César Peixoto Oliveira and Tiago Costa Martins, “O Chamamé: expressão sociocultural da mesopotâmia argentina?” 17.

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[3] Evandro Higa, “Para fazer chorar as pedras: o gênero musical guarânia no Brasil, décadas de 1940/50. 2013” (PhD diss., UNESP Instituto de Artes. São Paulo, 2013), 21.

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[4] Evandro Higa, “A assimilação dos gêneros polca paraguaia, guarânia e chamamé no Brasil e suas transformações estruturais” (Master 's thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, 2005), 2.

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[5] Rossini Antonio da Silva Xavier, “ As escolas acordeonistas a partir do documentário O Milagre de Santa Luzia” (Master's thesis, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 2018), 77.

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[6] Ibid., 78.

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[7] Ibid., 77.