Beyond the Rosalía Phenomenon: Trans Future Memories in Peninsular Folktronic
Abstract
Since the release of El mal querer (2018) by singer Rosalía, a significant number of musical artists across Spain have turned to folklore to give rise to original and innovative proposals. This article aims to establish the corpus surrounding the Spanish creative trend known as «folktronica» (Moya, 2020) and to link its emergence and popularity to the identity crisis resulting from the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. First, I will review the various cases that constitute this movement to connect its origins to the debate surrounding historical memory in Spain. Then, I will focus on three case studies —Maria Arnal i Marcel Bagés, Baiuca and Rodrigo Cuevas, and Verde Prato— with the aim of arguing the attempt to create alternative national projects based on traditional music in the form of what I will refer as «transnations», drawing on Jack Halberstam's theories regarding the trans body (Halberstam, 2005). Lastly, I will reference how these practices, on a purely political level, have prompted censoring responses that reinstate the State's status quo.
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Estudios LGBTIQ +, Comunicación y Género is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
