Zarzuela: ¿nom commun?

Abstract

This article is the result of a question and several observations. What are the circumstances and the evolution of the term “zarzuela” in French? The definitions given in dictionaries and the musical press in France and Spain are very different. Prior to its incorporation into the list of French words, whether in general or specialised dictionaries, the term “zarzuela” was used in the musical press from the early decades of the nineteenth century. While in both cases the comparison with a similar French genre –opéra-comique– appears systematically, many of its characteristics disappear or were altered throughout the history of the word in French. The resultant discourse reflects an aesthetic opinion, as well as a perception, from the other side of the border, of a spectacle that serves as a Spanish symbol. The authors cited here –from journalists and lexicographers to the poet Valery Larbaud and the writer Gérard Genette, as well as true zarzuela aficionados– appropriated the term “zarzuela” and developed a use of this noun that did not have a lot in common with its Spanish counterpart.