How ‘Carmen’ became a flamenco doll. Andalusian women and Spanish folklore in films featuring tourists (1905–1975)

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to reveal how the image of Andalusianwomen was fossilised and re-imagined for tourism during a decisivetimeframe (1905–1975), to wit, how Bizet’s most well-knownheroine became a reified embodiment of Spanish women byturning‘Carmen’into a highly domesticated folkloric singer, asymbolic doll. To understand how this process was showcased incinemas, a sampling of 104films featuring tourists has beenanalysed using NVivo software, detecting every mention in theirplots of specific categories such as those connected withAndalusian women in folkloricfilms (Labanyi, J. 2004.Lo andaluzen el cine del franquismo: los estereotipos como estrategia paramanejar la contradicción. Sevilla: Centro de Estudios Andaluces.https://www.centrodeestudiosandaluces.es/publicaciones/lo-andaluz-en-el-cine-del-franquismo-los-estereotipos-como-estrategia-para-manejar-la-contradiccion):‘Spanish Gypsies’and‘FlamencoWorld’.Afirst approach to the sampling suggests that the interrelationship between these categories intensified in the 1920s and1930s, thefirst period in which cinema was deliberately used aspolitical propaganda by Spanishfilmmakers, the aim being topromote tradition in the lead-up to the 1929 Ibero-AmericanExposition in Seville. The increasing relevance of the category of‘Andalusian Women’can also be perceived during early Francoism, which is key evidence for the concept of reification of thefemale Gypsy dancer for tourism purposes and the transformation of‘Carmen’into a living, standardised Spanish souvenirduring the developmentalist period.