The Exotic Self

"I explore how market and political forces, composer biography, and aesthetic and intellectual concerns expressed in the composer's writings and compositions all complicate ascriptions of nationalism in the case of Mexican composer Carlos Chávez. I focus on "La aloma azul," a work Chávez wrote for 1940 concerts at New York's Museum of Modern Art, providing an alternative reading of the work and highlighting features that would be missed in a reading concerned with characterizing the work as nationalist"--