Political Strategies of Camp in the Musical Production of Peor Impossible

Abstract

Peor Impossible (1983-1989) is one of the most representative groups from Mallorca in the context of the Movida. The analysis of their artistic practice from a queer perspective, combined with contributions from studies on la Movida, allows for a deeper understanding of their political dimension, inseparable from their camp expression. The review of their musical production on three levels—sound, visual, and literary—offers a comprehensive view of the group’s imaginary, contextualized within their positioning in Mallorca and Madrid during the 1980s. Throughout their trajectory, it can be observed how camp serves as a tool to express their desire, affirm their dissidence, and reject the cultural values of conservative Spain. At the same time, camp enables them to negotiate their Mallorcan identity and reflect in their music some of the territorial tensions of the island at the time, primarily marked by the continuation of tourism exploitation policies initiated during Francoism. Ultimately, all these implications are articulated through a camp performance that grants Peor Impossible a critical and political dimension with direct repercussions against the most conservative power structures. In this way, the group manages to channel, through their music, the experiences, concerns, and specific struggles of a sector of the queer dissidence in Mallorca.