A Daughter Who Went Astray: Re-Contextualising Romantic Zarzuela as a Global Local Genre

Abstract

The development of romantic zarzuela as the idiomatic form of Spanish light opera in the 19th century was directly influenced by the coeval lyric genres of tonadilla in Spain, Italian opera, Bouffes-Parisiens and opéra-comique in France, and Viennese operetta. Similarly, zarzuela, in its different sub-genres, was the origin of a number of indigenous varieties in several Spanish regions, in Latin America and the Philippines, which developed into analogous vernacular traditions, transferring or adapting the model to the local contexts. The aim of this research is to contextualise the development of romantic zarzuela in Spain, relating it to its contemporary genres, and to analyse the implantation of zarzuela models outside Madrid, evaluating to what extent such re-contextualisation reshaped the genre.

The development, success and posterior downfall of Spanish zarzuela ran parallel to the definition, confrontation, imposition and eventual contestation of Spanish identity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. As this research will argue, the different levels of implantation of Spanish zarzuela models outside Madrid were equally consistent to the development of the respective national and regional identities. Concurrently to its evolution in Spain, zarzuela became a driving force to promote nationalism in the countries where the genre was imported. Along to the zarzuela genre, the new markets adopted the social roles attached to it. Local zarzuelas favoured the expansion of the teatro por horas format, theatres ‘by hours’, and the establishment of local companies and stages. Phenomena such as the bouffes styles, the generochiquismo and the exaltation of express sexuality or sicalipsis similarly emerged in the different countries. The social and political changes of these new nations ultimately caused an effect in their idiomatic zarzuelas in similar ways as to in Spain, and, during the course of the 20th century, the validity of these autochthonous genres also waned.

The analysis of zarzuela in its generic context, the contextualisation of the development of indigenous forms of zarzuela outside Madrid, and the study of their respective social roles will help to define the dynamics that led to the downfall of Spanish zarzuela, and to substantiate the potential viability of zarzuela as a global living genre.