Negotiating Musical Practices in Chilean Prisons during Pinochet’s Dictatorship (1973-1990)

Music played many roles in detention centres during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990), as political prisoners played, listened to, wrote, and taught music. Testimonies of survivors describe a variety of musical practices which reflect the political and social realities of their incarceration. While authorities used music to torture and degrade political prisoners, music was also a tool for communication, community-building, catharsis, and entertainment. Who was allowed to play, hear, and choose music in these spaces – and why - is a complex question which reveals narratives of resistance and oppression, while questioning ideas of musical taste in relation to social status, education, and political affiliation. In fact, the political prisoners shared a political, but also a cultural identity because of the close relationship between Chilean left-wing politics and music, and the Nueva Canción in particular.
This article discusses how political prisoners negotiated musical practices between themselves, and with guards, clergy, and common prisoners. It draws on material from the Cantos Cautivos digital testimonial project, which documents musical memories of Chilean political prisoners. I argue that political prisoners expressed their left-wing political beliefs through their various musical practices, for instance ideas about for example ideals about education, social reform, and democracy. However, they also reproduced some of the social structures of Chilean society which remained socially conservative in terms of class and gender (Hiner 2015: 875). Therefore, the musical practices in prisons during the dictatorship reflected this body of political prisoners and their political, social, and cultural background.