Description:

Theodor Adorno, and Edward Said after him, theorized late style as a discrepant
musical orientation at odds with what is expected, desired, or current. Late work is
musical work formulated by an older subject that refuses to retire quietly and with
docility. I am interested in engaging this concept in thinking about the recalcitrant
rancheras and boleros of a lesbian, migrant and aged musical performer of the early
21st century, Chavela Vargas (1919-2012). I examine a couple of Vargas’ last works,
Cupaima (2006) and ¡Por mi Culpa! (2010), paying particular attention to how her
aesthetic choices continue to de-form her classic repertoire. The entwining of beloved, familiar lyrics and melodies with details that recall invisible and hyper-visible subjects, namely migrants and indigenous communities, result in unexpected, repellent musicality. Inspired by feminist and queer theory, I examine how her later body of work conveys an unbearable sonic assessment of contemporary struggles of those unwelcome, despised and outside neo-liberal chronology.