Nuevo flamenco : re-imaging flamenco in post-dictatorship Spain

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the study of nuevo flamenco (new flamenco) as a genre characterised by the incorporation within flamenco of elements from music genres of the African-American musical traditions. A great deal of emphasis is placed on purity and its loss, relating nuevo flamenco with the whole history of flamenco and its discourses, as well as tracing its relationship to other musical genres, mainly jazz. While centred on the process of fusion and crossover it also explores through music the characteristics and implications that nuevo flamenco and its discourses have impinged on related issues as Gypsy identity and cultural authenticity. Even though this project is rooted in popular music studies it also attempts to think through the issues covered in relation to concepts and methodologies of other disciplines such as postcolonial studies, anthropology, and cultural theory. The aim is to create a dialogue between these disciplines and explore the ways they can bring a new focus and a set of analytical tools to bear on the material of study.