Colonial music: otherness and conflict in Santiago de Guatemala’s cathedral

Abstract

This article approaches political and ideological functions fulfilled by music in Santiago de Guatemala’s Cathedral during the colonial era. By taking four villancicos de indios (indian carols) as an example, musical and textual elements will be analyzed in order to show how music contributed to shape a subaltern image of the indigenous people. On the other hand, the function of music as a resistance tool by subaltern groups will be explored as well.