Ethno-National pop-rock music: Aesthetic cosmopolitanism made from within

Pop-rock music is portrayed as a major embodiment of the transformation of national cultural uniqueness from purist essentialism into aesthetic cosmopolitanism. Examining the local production of ethno-national pop-rock, and its public reception and legitimation through half a century, the article demonstrates how forces within the national context greatly contribute to cultural globalization. The article looks at three aspects of the rise of ethno-national pop-rock music to national legitimacy: the agency of musicians, analyzed as structurally stemming from the intersection of the field of pop-rock and the field of national culture; a four-phase, half-century long process, called here the 'historical musical event' of pop-rock; and the consequence of pop-rock legitimacy for performance of national uniqueness. The general arguments and theoretical points are illustrated by detailed reference to the cases of pop-rock music in Argentina and Israel.