105F Fall 2025 Argentina and Musical Globalization

We often think of music from Latin American countries as exotic, the sound of distinct, local traditions. But since the advent of the recording industry in the first decades of the twentieth century, musical innovation has been a transnational phenomenon. This talk will explore the history of Argentine popular music, revealing how musicians repurposed foreign genres, combining musical ideas from near and far to produce innovative new styles. Argentina has an extremely rich musical culture, and we’ll want to discuss as much of it as we can. But we’ll focus particular attention on the country’s most famous musical export, the tango, as well as on Argentine contributions from jazz to rock. Along the way, we’ll do some listening as well.

Matthew B. Karush is professor of History and chair of the History and Art History department at George Mason University. An expert on the history of modern Latin America with a research focus on twentieth-century mass culture, he has published extensively on the political and social history of Argentina.