Memory, Resistance, and Liberation in XLIII Memoriam Vivere and Other Works

Abstract This article explores political dimensions in Jiménez’s work, particularly the themes of liberation from societal oppression and memorialization of victims of violence. A focus is XLIII Memoriam Vivere , dedicated to the memory of the forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College who were abducted and murdered in on September 26, 2014; the perpetrators have not yet been brought to justice. The memory of the forty-three students is evoked through numerous references to the number 43 and the motto ‘Vivos’ (alive), presenting a reflection on a crime that has left a deep wound in the Mexican collective memory and an act of resistance against the forgetting of this injustice. In other works, the author address the oppression perpetuated by patriarchal and religious structures and interrogate the entrenchment of traditional gender roles. Music today must both confront the complex issues of our world and inspire actions to transform it.