ABSTRACT
The purpose of the chapter is to explore how border conditions impact local musicking and build territorialities that are, at the same time, integrated. Paraguay’s border with Brazil and Argentina and the musical genres practiced at the intersection of these three countries in South America illustrate this dynamic. Through local musical practices, the musical connections between Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil created interconnected territories that reveal a common identity – Alma Guarani (Guarani Soul) – that connects its inhabitants around musical genres, such as Argentine’s chamamé and Brazilian’s rasqueado, which are symbolic systems, historically and socially constructed from the settings of guarânia and Paraguayan polka.
