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To the Beat of “The Walrus”: Uruguayan Communists and Youth Culture in the Global Sixties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2015

Vania Markarian
Vania Markarian*
Affiliation:
Universidad de la RepúblicaMontevideo, Uruguay
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Extract

In the 1960s, a generation of Latin American youth entered political life inspired by a heroic view of activism tiiat coincided, often contentiously, with the spread of new cultural trends from youth movements in Europe and the United States. This study focuses on how the notions of “being young” in circulation at the time affected the construction of political identities in Uruguay, particularly among the different branches of the Uruguayan left. I am especially interested in analyzing the relationship between the cultural representations of youth and the requirements for activism as conceived by these Uruguayan leftist groups.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , January 2014 , pp. 363 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 2014 

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References

I am grateful to Janice Jaffe for her translation of this article into English, as well as to Eric Zolov and the anonymous reader of The Americas for their insightful comments on the original manuscript in Spanish. In April 2013,1 discussed a previous version at the New York City Latin American History Workshop with a distinguished group of scholars and colleagues, to whom I am also indebted.

1. See especially Leibner, Gerardo, Camaradasy compañeros: una historia política y social de los comunistas del Uruguay (Montevideo: Trilce, 2011).Google Scholar

2. Lange, Peter, Irvin, Cynthia, and Tarrow, Sidney, , “Mobilization, Social Movements and Party Recruitment: The Italian Communist Party since the 1960s,” British Journal ofPolitical Science 20:1 (January, 1990); and PCI: Teoría, política, organización (Mexico: Ediciones de Cultura Popular, 1977).Google Scholar

3. Grandin, Greg, The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), p. .15–.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4. Marchesi, Aldo, and Markarian, Vania, “Cinco décadas de estudios sobre la crisis, la democracia y cl autoritarismo en Uruguay”, Contemporánea 3 (2012).Google Scholar

5. For the U.S. case, see for example Rossinow, Douglas C., The Politics of Authenticity: Liberalism, Christianity, and the New Left in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998);Google Scholar and Brauns-tein, Peter and Doyle, Michael William, eds., Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s (New York: Routledge, 2001).Google Scholar

6. Zolov, Eric, “Expanding Our Conceptual Horizons: The Shift from an Old to a New Left in Latin America”, A Contracorriente 5: 2 (Winter 2008);Google Scholar Gould, Jeffrey, “Solidarity under Siege: The Latin American Left, 1968”, American Historical Review: 114: 2 (April, 2009), pp. 348–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7. Statistics from Gerardo Caetano, Javier Gallardo, and Rilla, José, La izquierda uruguaya: tradición, innovación y política (Montevideo: Trike, 1995), 149.Google Scholar

8. For Uruguay, see La fundación, Fernando, López D’Alejandro, del Partido Comunista y la división del anarquismo, 1919–1923 (Montevideo: Vintén Editor, 1992).Google Scholar For a very brief description of the split on the global level, see Hobsbawm, Eric, Era dos extremos: o breve secalo XX, 1914–1991 (Sao Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1995), pp.75–77.Google Scholar

9. For a more detailed study of this process, see Leibner, , Camaradas y compañeros, pp. 227–268.Google Scholar See also Silva, Marisa, Aquellos comunistas, 1955–1973 (Montevideo: Taurus, 2009), pp. 106–111.Google Scholar

10. “Era imperioso formar la fuerza de avanzada de la juventud uruguaya,” UJOTACE, August 25,1970, p. 6; and “Los primeros antecedentes de la UJC: dos testimonios,” UJOTACE, August, 29, 1970, pp. 8–9.

11. Report by Rodney Arismendi to the Sixteenth Congress of the Uruguayan Communist Party, quoted in Gerardo Leibner, “Afiliate y baila” (Unpublished, 2006).

12. Leibner, Cantaradas y compañeros, pp. 227–268, 300–327.

13. Ibid., pp. 300–327.

14. The student population doubled between 1950 and 1960 and continued to grow afterward. German Rama, Grupos sociales y enseñanza secundaria (Montevideo: Arca, 1963).

15. Leibner, Cantaradas y compañeros, pp. 300–327.

16. Ibid., pp. 461–77.

17. “Imposible poner de rodillas a una juventud indómita: conversando con Pepe Massera,” UJOTACE, August 22, 1970, 9.

18. For a more detailed examination of the founding of the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Leftist Movement) in 1963, see Tristán, Eduardo Rey, A la vuelta de la esquina: la izquierda revolucionaria uruguaya, 1955–1973 (Montevideo: Fin de Siglo, 2006), pp. 63–122.Google Scholar

19. See for example Arismendi’s, Rodney, document presented to the Communist Party congress in December of 1970, in Arismendi, Uruguay y America Latina en los años 70 (Mexico: Ediciones de Cultura Popular, 1979), pp. 22–33.Google Scholar

20. See for example Luis Massera, José, “A manera de presentación”, in Arismendi, Rodney, Insurgencia Juvenil: ¿Revuelta o revolución? (Montevideo: EPU, 1972), pp. 37–43.Google Scholar

21. Markarian, Vania, “Sobre viejas y nuevas izquierdas: los jóvenes comunistas uruguayos y el movimiento estudiantil de 1968”, Revista Secuencia 81 (September-December, 2011), pp. 161–186.Google Scholar

22. Leibner, Gerardo, “Las ideologías sociales de los revolucionarios uruguayos de los 60”, Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos, 2007, http://nuevomundo.revues.Org//indexll682.htm, accessed October 23, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23. “6000 nuevos afiliados durante 1969!!,” UJOTACE, December 13, 1969, p. 3; “607.000 jóvenes uruguayos de 15 a 29 años,” UJOTACE, August 15, 1970, p. 8; “Los convencionales,” UJOTACE, May 29, 1971, p. 3; “Los nuevos afiliados,” UJOTACE, December 2, 1971, p. 7.

24. See the report of León Lev to the UJCConvention in May of 1971: “Por una UJC de masas, organizada y combativa,” UJOTACE, June 5, 1971, p. 3.See also Altesor, Alberto, ¿Cuáles son las tareas de los secretarios de organización? (Montevideo: Ediciones de la Convención Nacional de Organización del PC, 1967).Google Scholar

25. “Alicia, 17 años,” UJOTACE, August 15, 1970, p. 3.

26. Sanseviero, Walter, “La juventud en las primeras filas”, Estudios 42 (July-October, 1967).Google Scholar

27. See for example the Manifiesto del Coordinador Juvenil Universitario Antiimperialista published in the readers’ letters section of Marcha, January 20, 1967. Regarding the internal differences on the left concerning the emergence of youth as political actors during this stage, see Markarian, Vania, El 68 uruguayo: el movimiento estudiantil entre molotovs y música beat (Buenos Aires: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, 2012).Google Scholar

28. Arismendi, Rodney, “Sobre la insurgencia juvenil,” Estudios 47 (October, 1968).Google Scholar

29. Ibid.

30. “Estudios y la juventud,” UJOTACE, June 5, 1971, p. 6. Regarding the role of the middle classes, especially students, and critiques of other positions, including those of Garaudy and Marcuse, see Massera, “A manera de presentación,” in Arismendi, Insurgencia juvenil.

31. “El joven … la elección,” UJOTACE, June 6,1970, p. 13. See also “Algo huele a podrido, Shakespeare,” UJOTACE, November 1, 1969, p. 6.

32. Silva, Aquellos comunistas, pp. 159–176.

33. “El Correo de Samar,” Magazine, June 7, 1970, p. 2. See also, “Frustración,” UJOTACE, November 22, 1969, p. 3.

34. “El adolescente, ese desconocido,” Magazine, March 21, 1971, p. 10.

35. Jorge Mazzarovich, “¡Ni un joven para las ideas caducas de las clases dominantes!,” Estudios 58 (January-February 1971).

36. “A ti, joven de hoy y de siempre,” UJOTACE, May 22, 1971, p. 7.

37. See “6000 nuevos afiliados durante 1969!!,” UJOTACE, December 13, 1969, p. 3; and “Los convencionales,” UJOTACE, May 29, 1971, p. 3.

38. “18 y 24: No hay puerta que se cierre a la UJC porque la llave joven es cambiar el gobierno,” UJOTACE, June 6, 1970, p. 4.

39. “Página de Juventudes Socialistas,” E l Sol, 1966–1967. See also Adelante: Boletín de la Juventud Socialista del Uruguay, 1973.

40. See for example these documents from 1968: “Proyecto de manifiesto a la militancia federal,” “Nuestra posición,” and “Los métodos de lucha” in Archivo de la Dirección Nacional de Información e Inteligencia, Uruguay, in the file “Disidentes de FEUU ” (Carpeta 3224). Regarding dress and manner, see for example the cover of Daniel Viglietti’s LP, Canciones para el hombre nuevo (Montevideo: Orfeo, 1968).

41. Horacio Buscaglia, author’s interview, April 6, 2005.

42. For comparison with other publications tied to leftist dailies, see “Extra beat” and “Extra en onda,” Extra, 1968-1969; “Teenagers,” “La tenaza oriental,” and “Ruidos y sonidos,” De Frente, 1969–1970; and “Ya-ve beat” and “Ruidos y sonidos,” ¡Ta!, 1970–1971.

43. Gerardo Leibner, “Nosotras (Uruguay, 1945–1953): las contradicciones de la escritura femenina comunista y sus significados sociales,” in Escritura femenina y reivindicación de género en América Latina, Roland Porgues and Jean-Marie Flores, eds. (Paris: Mare & Martin, 2005).

44. Leibner, Camaradas y compañeros, pp. 300–327.

45. Markarian, “Al ritmo del reloj: adolescentes uruguayos de los años cincuenta,” in Historias de la vida privada en el Uruguay, Vol. 3: Individuo y soledades, 1920–1990, José Pedro Barrán, G. Caetano, and Teresa Porzecanski, eds. (Montevideo: Taurus, 1998).

46. Horacio Buscaglia, author’s interview, April 6, 2005.

47. Reherman, Luis Silva, “Lenin y los problemas de la cultura”, Estudios 51 (May–June 1969).Google Scholar

48. Massera, José Pedro, “Notas en torno a un seminario de la Unión de la Juventud Comunista”, Estudios 34 (March–April, 1965).Google Scholar See also the articles that appeared in Estudios 54 (January–February 1970) following a university roundtable that took place at the Seventh Congress of the UJC, especially the presentations of Juan José Flo, Massera, and Arismendi, , and José Luis, Massera, “La participación de los intelectuales, artistas y estudiantes en la revolución”, Estudios 58 (January–February, 1971).Google Scholar

49. Milstein, Denise, “Violence, Counter-Culture and Authoritarianism in Brazilian and Uruguayan Popular Music”, paper presented at the Contentious Politics Workshop, Columbia University, New York, April 2004.Google Scholar

50. Horacio Buscaglia, author’s interview, April 6, 2005.

51. “Dime lo que escuchas y te diré si eres morsa,” La Morsa, January 3, 1971, p. 14.

52. For the notion of “aesthetic diversity” at the heart of the PCU, see Silva, , Aquellos comunistas, pp. 129–142.Google Scholar

53. “Los Beatles no son la reina,” La Morsa, May 14, 1972, p. 6.

54. “Los que no se ven ni se oyen,” La Morsa, August 6, 1972, p. 6.

55. “Mojo—casi-reportaje—a Limo nada,” La Morsa, December 13, 1970, p. 3.

56. “Informe especial: de cómo Pelo nos da la oportunidad de aclarar de una vez por todas todo este mojo del candombe-beat,” La Morsa, May 30, 1971, p. 6.

57. “Un mundo de voces a explotarse: los cantantes brasileños,” La Morsa, October 17, 1971, p. 6.

58. See for example “Spinetta: En boca cerrada no entran malambous,” La Morsa, March 19. 1972, p. 6; and “Eduardo Darnauchans: La canción con fundamento,” La Morsa, May 7, 1972, p. 6.

59. “Funeral Opus Alfa, nacimiento de Días de Blues,” La Morsa, July 16, 1972, p. 6.

60. “El grupo: la protesta llega al beat,” Magazine, May 23, 1971, pp. 2–3.

61. “Y sí … la canción también es política,” Magazine, February 27, 1972, pp. 2–3.

62. “Don Pascual,” Magazine, June 27, 1971, pp. 2–3.

63. “Lo mejor de 1971,” La Morsa, January 9, 1972, p. 6.

64. Ibid.

65. “Joan Baes [sic]: profeta de una generación que la mistifica,” La Morsa, January 2, 1972, p. 6.

66. It was often a two-way street, given the increasing importance of the “third world” in the definition of large sectors of the left in the United States. See Cynthia, A., Young, Soul Power: Culture, Radicalism, and the Making of a U.S. Third World Left (Durham, N.C.; London: Duke University Press, 2006).Google Scholar

67. Although some might feel that Eduardo Mateo was traveling “a fairly murky, unreal path” and could be called the “Great Digresser,” it was clear to La Morsa editors that “if some daring soul tries one day to write the history of our nation’s popular music, they cannot fail to include a chapter devoted to Mateo.” “Mùsica con M. de Mateo,” Magazine, November 5, 1972; and “ La Morsa 72,” La Morsa, January 14, 1973, p. 5.

68. “El ùltimo LP de John Lennon,” Magazine, January 21, 1973, p. 3. At La Morsa, this discontent did not usually reach the UJOTACE extreme of grumbling openly to and about musicians, as in the following example: “Distance and being dazzled by certain comforts [sic]—even if they deny it—as well as an unexpected turn toward sectarianism in music, perhaps disconnects the ex-Shakers from the reality of their country, a place where, for better or worse, they learned what they know.” “Los Shakers ahora son Opas,” UJOTACE, January 8, 1972, p. 8.

69. Pacini Hernández, Deborah, Fernández L’Hoeste, Héctor, and Zolov, Eric, “Mapping Rock Music Cultures across the Americas”, in Rockin’ las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o América, Pacini, Hernández, L’Hoeste, H. Fernández, and Zolov, Eric, eds. (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004);Google Scholar and Zolov, , Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

70. “Y si … la canción también es política,” Magazine, February 27, 1972, pp. 2–3.

71. “Poder llegar a un mundo nuevo,” Magazine, September 10, 1972, p. 10.

72. See for example “¡Qué es la educación sexual?” Magazine, May 17, 1970, p. 5; “La educación sexual del varón,” Magazine, May 31, 1970, p. 5; “La educación sexual de la mujer,” Magazine, June 21, 1970; “La información en la educación sexual,” Magazine, August 9,1970, p. 5; and “El adolescente, ese desconocido,” Magazine, February 21, 1971, p. 10.

73. See for example Martin Gonzalez, “¡La mujer vende?” Magazine, March 21, 1971, pp. 2–3.

74. “Música y drogas,” La Morsa, June 20, 1971, p. 6; “Música y drogas,” La Morsa, June 27, 1971, p. 6. See also “El drogadicto,” Magazine, July 4, 1971, p. 10.

75. “Droga,” Magazine, November 17, 1972.

76. Horacio Buscaglia, author’s interview, April 6, 2005.

77. “El grupo: La protesta llega al beat,” Magazine, May 23, 1971, pp. 2–3.

78. “Los Beatles no son la reina,” La Morsa, May 14, 1972, p. 6.

79. “La contracultura y el ‘underground’ se industrializan,” La Morsa, July 9, 1972, p. 6.

80. For more information about Musicasiones, see Peláez, Fernando, De las Cuevas al Solís: cronología del Rock en el Uruguay, 1960–1975, 2 vols. (Montevideo: Perro Andaluz Ediciones, 2002 Google Scholar–2004), Vol. 1.

81. See for example “Macondo o cuando el disco es cultura,” La Morsa, October 22, 1972, p. 6; and “La morsa 72,” La Morsa, January 14, 1973, p. 6.

82. See for example “Los que la compran,” La Morsa, May 24, 1970, p. 4.

83. See for example “La morsa 72,” La Morsa, January 21, 1973, p. 10.

84. Peláez, F., De las cuevas al Solis, p. 126.Google Scholar

85. “La morsa divaga,” La Morsa, May 24, 1970, p. 4.

86. Lange, , Irvin, , and Tarrow, , “Mobilization, Social Movements, and Party Recruitment; and PCI: Teoría, política, organización. Google Scholar

87. See for example Silva, Aquellos comunistas.

88. Vania Markarian, “Sobre viejas y nuevas izquierdas.”

89. Zolov, “Expanding Our Conceptual Horizons.”

90. See for example Salgado, Alfonso, “A Small Revolution: Family, Sex, and the Communist Youth of Chile During the Allende Years, 1970–3”,Google Scholar unpublished.