An Ode to Joy: Chilean Culture in the Eighties against Pinochet

My dissertation explores cultural production in Chile during the 1980s, as opposed to the "cultural blackout" that characterizes the first phase of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. I frame the decade between two plebiscites: the first one approved Pinochet's so-called Constitution of Liberty on September 11, 1980 amidst severe restrictions for the opposition and vote fraud, and the second plebiscite managed to oust the dictator on October 5, 1988 with record numbers of eligible voters participating. These bookends show a stark contrast between the beginning and the end of the period and thus raise the question of how the country made the shift from dictatorship to democracy. Chilean society transformed in great part because people were able to shed their fears, which begs the question, how did this come to pass? In 1983 the government allowed certain openings in the political sphere in order to contain massive protests and demonstrations. In the showdown between the military regime and the opposition, where eventually democracy prevailed, culture played a key role. At a time when political parties were banned and public gatherings considered illegal, Chileans found alternative ways to oppose the military government and circumvent its censors. In this climate, I argue that artistic expression took on political meaning and provided collective experiences for the people. I explore this phenomenon with case studies that illustrate the relationship of art to politics and the relationship between the artist and his public: namely Raul Zurita's poetry and participation with CADA (Art Actions Collective), Los Prisioneros' rock music, Ramon Griffero's underground theater Teatro Fin de Siglo, Marco Antonio de la Parra's novel El deseo de toda ciudadana (1988), and the television Campaign for the "No" vote in 1988. Throughout the research I found that innovations in the arts---poetry, music, theater, narrative and the audiovisual media---offered people a much needed forum for expression. The resistant energy of the people was impossible for a dictator and his army to root out, because it had been crystallizing in multiple layers and in unlikely places throughout the decade.