Coup d’état in Chile: The sudden rupture of September 11, 1973

Abstract

This article seeks to discover and identify the sound and radio transformations by the coup in Chile in 1973. Using a qualitative methodology, this exploratory research analyses documentary information mainly from sound and radio studies. A sound break is recognized in four dimensions: public soundscape, domestic soundscape, radio, and music, which works transversally to them. This rupture operates in three different moments: prior to the coup, in the coup itself, and in the life that is inaugurated after it. The analysis of its impacts and consequences allow us to assess the role that sound has in culture and collective identity, as well as in the construction and reconstruction of memories after traumatic events.