“Aquí me pongo a cantar . . .”: El arte payadoresco de Argentina y Uruguay by Ercilia Moreno Chá (review)

The title of Ercilia Moreno Chá’s book “Aquí me pongo a cantar . . .” instantly situates this volume within scholarship on the payada—an improvised poetry contest tradition sung by gauchos to the rhythm of guitars. It cites the famous opening (and oral formulaic) line (http://www.oratlas.com/biblioteca/libro/el-gaucho-martin-fierro/jose-hernandez/martin-fierro/i) of Argentina’s literary epic poem Martín Fierro by José Hernández (Buenos Aires, 1872Buenos Aires, 1879 [orig. published in two parts]), fashioned after this oral tradition. More precisely, the subtitle, El arte payadoresco de Argentina y Uruguay, locates her study in the region of the River Plate area of Argentina and neighboring Uruguay.

Moreno Chá’s massive study avoids any generalities the title might suggest. Hers is an extraordinary encyclopedic work that cuts across four centuries and embraces multiple dimensions of the payada tradition. This work employs scholarly interdisciplinary approaches, a range of theoretical perspectives, historical research, rich firsthand data gathered from countless interviews with guitarists/singers/improvisers, and her participant observation over several decades of fieldwork.

Written in Spanish, “Aquí me pongo a cantar . . .” (loosely translated as “Here I Come to Sing . . .”) includes a one-page abstract of the book in English, a scholarly preface written by recognized Argentine folklorist Alicia Martín, a prologue, acknowledgments, and notes for the edition by the author. The body of the book is divided into seven parts, the last of which contains an appendix with examples of sung verbal art contests between payadores from the River Plate region and natives from this area and other locations, a glossary of terms, an onomastic index, and a bibliography.

Part I, titled “El canto improvisado en Latinoamérica” (Improvised Song in Latin America), takes us through four sections that examine the art of sung poetic duels as performative traditions in Latin America, the various modalities of improvised song, the first studies of traditional poetry, and celebratory events and encounters between poet-singers and academic researchers at gatherings held in Spain, Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and elsewhere, across the decades.

In Part II, homing in on “El canto improvisado en el Río de La Plata” (Improvised Song in the River Plate Area), Moreno Chá gives us a panorama of improvised sung poetry in the Plata region. She offers a review of previous scholarship in this area and outlines the etymology and significance of the term “payador.” As she traces the history of the payador rioplatense, she identifies and outlines different periods marking the trajectory of these singers and their art form. She begins by discussing the first written references to improvised sung poetry duels in this region dating from the 1700s to 1890. A close examination of the consolidation of the payada genre follows an analysis of its “Golden Age” and the beginnings of “indus-trias culturales” (cultural “industries” or productions) pertinent to payadas between 1890 and 1915. The emergence of new audiences resulting from the publication of printed verses, radio broadcasting, cinema, and staged contests characterizes the third period (1916–1930). The years between 1930 and 1955 reveal a temporary decline or suspension of this sung verbal art phenomenon followed by a resurgence (between 1955 and 1975) generated by festivals and radio and television programming. The period between 1974 and 1992 marks a moment of greater organization around payada performances and their projection abroad. Moreno Chá’s periodization concludes with the significant institution of the “Day of the Payador” (celebrated yearly on July 23), the emergence of new twenty-first century audiences, and the rise in self-promotion among payadores (1992– 2015).

“El payador”—the payador, or poet-singer-improviser-guitarist-contestant—isthesubject of Part III. Here, Moreno Chá scrupulously takes us through the unofficial education, training, and formation of payadores, as she further rigorously examines the oral-written interplay, processes...