Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T12:06:21.273Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transatlantic Techno Myths: The 1994 Arica Eclipse Rave as an Example of the History and Historiography of Electronic Dance Music between Chile and Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2020

MATTHIAS PASDZIERNY
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article focuses on one of the earliest truly international Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals: the Eclipse Rave in Arica, in the Chilean Atacama Desert in November 1994. As a collaboration of mainly German and Chilean individuals, the event was confronted with a multitude of organizational obstacles and problems of intercultural understanding. Nevertheless, the event has now achieved a kind of cult status and is mythologized as the breakthrough moment of EDM culture in South America. Drawing on German and Chilean sources, the article sheds light on the background and impact of the festival and discusses the important role of Chilean-German exiles as interpreters and cultural mediators within EDM scenes. This contribution questions the types of sources that festivals and similar events generate, and consequently asks how an international history of the event-based and present- and history-obsessed EDM culture could be written at all.

Type
Articles
Information
Twentieth-Century Music , Volume 17 , Special Issue 3: Musical Trajectories between Latin America and Europe, 1970–2000 , October 2020 , pp. 419 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderton, Chris. Music Festivals in the UK. Behind the Carnivalesque. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.Google Scholar
Bennett, Andy, Taylor, Andy and Woodward, Ian. The Festivalization of Culture. Farnham/Burlington: Ashgate, 2014.Google Scholar
Botta, Giacomo. ‘Discotheque’, in Encyclopedia of Urban Studies, ed. Hutchinson, Ray, Vol. 1. Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. 221–3.Google Scholar
Breinl, Christiana. Free Tekno: Geschichte einer Gegenkultur. Münster: LIT, 2012.Google Scholar
Denk, Felix and von Thülen, Sven. Der Klang der Familie. Berlin, Techno und die Wende. Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2014 (English version: The Sound of Family – Berlin, Techno and the Reunification. Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2014).Google Scholar
Eßer, Torsten. ‘Klänge an der Peripherie. Musik in Chile: von den Mapuche bis zum Techno’, in Chile heute. Politik – Wirtschaft – Kultur, ed. Imbusch, Peter, Messner, Dirk, and Nolte, Detlef. Frankfurt am Main: Vervuert, 2004. 689–729.Google Scholar
Farrugia, Rebekah. Beyond the Dance Floor. Female DJs, Technology and Electronic Dance Music Culture. Bristol and Chicago: Intellect, 2012.Google Scholar
Garcia, David F., ed. Journal of the Society for American Music 14/1 (special issue: Music Festivals) (2020).Google Scholar
Garcia, Luis-Manuel. ‘“Can you feel it, too?”: Intimacy and Affect at Electronic Dance Music Events in Paris, Chicago, and Berlin’. DPhil diss., University of Chicago, 2011.Google Scholar
Garcia, Luis-Manuel. ‘Anonym, verkörpert, anders. Queere Angelegenheiten bei der Feldforschung in Nightlife-Szenen’, in Techno Studies. Ästhetik und Geschichtsschreibung elektronischer Tanzmusik, ed. Feser, Kim and Pasdzierny, Matthias. Berlin: b_books, 2017. 69–82.Google Scholar
Getz, Donald. ‘The Nature and Scope of Festival Studies’. International Journal of Event Management Research 1/5 (2010), www.ijemr.org (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
Gouthro, Mary Beth and Fox, Dorothy. ‘Methodological Approaches to Festival Research’, in The Routledge Handbook of Festivals, ed. Mair, Judith. London and New York: Routledge, 2019. 12–22.Google Scholar
Jakelski, Lisa. Making New Music in Cold War Poland: The Warsaw Autumn Festival, 1956–1968. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Keilbach, Judith. ‘We Call it Techno! Zeitzeugen und die filmische Konstruktion von Technogeschichte’, in Techno Studies. Ästhetik und Geschichtsschreibung elektronischer Tanzmusik, ed. Feser, Kim and Pasdzierny, Matthias. Berlin: b_books, 2017. 95–104.Google Scholar
Langenkamp, Harm. ‘Cosmopolitan Counterpoint: Overt and Covert Musical Warfare and Diplomacy in the Early Cold War, 1945–1961’. DPhil diss., Utrecht University, 2014, http://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/304816/Langenkamp.pdf (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
Mair, Judith, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Festivals. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.Google Scholar
Mall, Andrew. ‘Introduction: Festivals and Musical Life’, Journal of the Society for American Music 14/1 (special issue: Music Festivals) (2020), 2–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matuszczyk, Sonja. ‘La conexión Chile-Alemania en la cultura tecno. Surfing on a Rave’, Goethe-Institut Chile, April 2015. www.goethe.de/ins/cl/es/kul/mag/20815420.html (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
McKay, George, ed. The Pop Festival: History, Music, Media, Culture. New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molina, Ignacio. ‘DJ Zikuta habla sobre los inicios de la electrónica en Chile’. Vice, 22 August 2018. www.vice.com/es_latam/article/ne5y3g/dj-zikuta-habla-sobre-los-inicios-de-la-electronica-en-chile (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
‘Rave, Mythos. 15 Jahre Restrealität’. Zitty, 18 April 2018. www.zitty.de/15-jahre-restrealitaet/ (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
Nye, Sean and Hitzler, Ronald. ‘The Love Parade: European Techno, the EDM Festival and the Tragedy in Duisburg’, in The Pop Festival, ed. McKay, George. New York and London: Bloomsbury, 2015. 115–28.Google Scholar
Pasdzierny, Matthias. ‘“Das Nachkriegstrauma abgetanzt”? Techno und die deutsche Zeitgeschichte’, in Techno Studies. Ästhetik und Geschichtsschreibung elektronischer Tanzmusik, ed. Feser, Kim and Pasdzierny, Matthias. Berlin: b_books, 2017. 105–20.Google Scholar
Peterson, Abby, Wahlström, Mattias, and Wennerhag, Magnus, eds. Pride Parades and LGBT Movements. New York: Routledge, 2019.Google Scholar
Preda, Caterina. Art and Politics under Modern Dictatorships. A Comparison of Chile and Romania. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Simon. ‘The History of Our World: The Hardcore Continuum Debate’. Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture 1/2 (2010), 69–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saavedra Fernandez, David. ‘Una noche de eclipse demasiado inquieta, para un Alacrán dormido’. La Estrella de Arica, 8 November 1994.Google Scholar
Schneider, Daniel. ‘Party im Schuber – über die Archivierbarkeit von Techno und Clubkultur’, in Techno Studies. Ästhetik und Geschichtsschreibung elektronischer Tanzmusik, ed. Feser, Kim and Pasdzierny, Matthias. Berlin: b_books, 2017. 83–94.Google Scholar
Schopf, Martin. Interview by the author, Berlin, 7 January 2019.Google Scholar
Schopf, Paula. Interview by the author, Berlin, 17 December 2018.Google Scholar
Schwanhäußer, Anja. Kosmonauten des Underground. Ethnografie einer Berliner Szene. Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus, 2010.Google Scholar
St John, Graham. ‘Total Solar Eclipse Festivals, Cosmic Pilgrims and Planetary Culture’, in Pop Pagans. Paganism and Popular Music, ed. Weston, Donna, and Bennett, Andy. London and New York: Routledge, 2013. 126–44.Google Scholar
St John, Graham. ‘Introduction: Electronic Dance Music Festivals and Event-Cultures’, in Weekend Societies. Electronic Dance Music Festivals and Event-Cultures. New York: Bloomsbury, 2017. 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
St John, Graham, ed. Weekend Societies. Electronic Dance Music Festivals and Event-Cultures. New York: Bloomsbury, 2017.Google Scholar
Terrible [Jörg Henning]. ‘Cityreport Arica/Chile’. Frontpage 6/12 (1994), 38–9.Google Scholar
[Unsigned article]. ‘Confirman fiesta tecno para esperar el eclipse’. La Estrella de Arica, 1 November 1994.Google Scholar
[Unsigned article]. ‘Con música tecno la juventud de Arica esperó el eclipse en ex Isla El Alacrán’. La Estrella de Arica, 3 November 1994.Google Scholar
[Unsigned article]. ‘El tecno cubrirá esta noche El Alacrán’. La Estrella de Arica, 2 November 1994.Google Scholar
[Unsigned article]. ‘Escaso público asistió al espectáculo de música tecno en Isla de El Alacrán’. La Estrella de Arica, 4 November 1994.Google Scholar
Vogel, Cristian. Email to the author, 28 November 2018.Google Scholar
Warwick, Oli. ‘Eclipse Rave. Chile's Groundbreaking Techno Party’. Red Bull Music Academy Daily, 13 June 2016. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2016/06/fitzcarraldo-2000-chiles-1994-eclipse-rave (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
Webster, Emma and McKay, George. From Glyndebourne to Glastonbury: The Impact of British Festivals. Norwich: Arts and Humanities Research Council/University of East Anglia, 2016.Google Scholar
Weiss, Peter. ‘Chile. Die große Latino-Connection’, two parts. De: Bug. Elektronische Lebensaspekte, 26 January 2000. https://de-bug.de/mag/chile-die-grose-latino-connection/, https://de-bug.de/mag/chile-die-grose-latino-connection-folge-2/ (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar
YouTube Channel. ‘Eclipse Party, Chile 1994: Der erste Rave in Süd-Amerika’. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiBgMwWUDA55paQXCc1ADWW7xJ3UEppYi (accessed 20 February 2020).Google Scholar