[Tango-L] Origins

[Konstantin Zahariev]

On 7/18/07, Andy Ungureanu <abungureanu at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hi Konstantin
>
> Am 18.07.2007 19:29 schrieb Konstantin Zahariev :
> > In regards to biases and prejudices influencing the narrative, it
> > seems quite self-evident now that (1) tango originated with the
> > working classes,
> >
> What makes you believe, it was the "working" class? I rather believe
> someone working 10-12 hours a day as usual at the end of the 18th
> century cannot spend too much time hanging around and dancing.


I don't have to believe; it is what makes most sense and it is what
was done in other countries in similar circumstances. That was
ordinary people's entertainment. You have to remember the 1900s was an
era without radio, television, movies, or recorded music of any kind.
Secondly, do not assume long hours or hard work meant no fun and play
in the evening; people are amazingly resilient and adaptive even under
most difficult conditions. A friend likes to say that they composed
tangos even in Auschwitz. I don't know if this is true, but it is
perfectly plausible because this is the nature of people.


> I don't believe it is useful to describe tango history in terms of
> marxist dialectic.
>
> Andy

Wow, give me a break! It never occured to me that this term also has
marxist relevance. In any case (1) I obviously used it interchangeably
with "low class", and (2) as it turned out after I did google searches
it is in general usage where 2/3 of the time it is used outside any
socialist/marxist context. Also, do you know that the term "low class"
is used 3-4 times less often than "working class" (outside marxist
context)?

I guess I should have kept saying "low class", and then get trashed by
someone else.

Konstantin
Victoria, Canada