A Matter of Distance(s): Reflections on a Historiographical Approach to Mocoví Sonic-Musical Practices
A Matter of Distance(s): Reflections on a Historiographical Approach to Mocoví Sonic-Musical Practices

Summary/Abstract: A historical study of the sonic-musical practices of indigenous cultures in South America entails facing a set of issues mainly related to the available sources that allow for the exploration of this topic. From both anthropological and historiographical perspectives, approaching this topic implies assuming the issue of distance. What this article attempts to show starting from a particular case, the Mocoví society of the Gran Chaco region, is 1) that the issue of distance should be considered in a comprehensive approach which enables the analysis of not one, but a variety of distances (whether cultural, geographical, temporal, aesthetic, etc.); 2) that the concern for distances goes further than the gap between researchers and studied societies, it also reaches inside these communities; and 3) that distances are not only a limiting condition that obstructs knowledge but rather they can also activate strategic and creative attempts to overcome them, while also having heuristic potential. In order to achieve that purpose, I propose the analysis of six dimensions related to this culture from which a variety of distances emerge. The ideas expressed in this article stem from both my personal previous experience and the observations of how other researchers have approached the matter.

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