Travelling phonographs in fin de siècle Spain: recording technologies and national regeneration in Ruperto Chapí's El fonógrafo ambulante.
Through analysis of the zarzuela El fonógrafo ambulante (1899; music by Ruperto Chapí, libretto by Juan González), this article discusses how the arrival of recording technologies in Spain (1877–1900) was influenced by and in turn influenced discourses concerning modernity, regional difference and i...
| Published in: | Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 241 - 256 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2019
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=138400097&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 138400097 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 14636204 B9W jtl: Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies issn: 14636204 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2019 vid: 20 iid: 3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 138400097 10.1080/14636204.2019.1644945 ppf: 241 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 138400097 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 138400097 tig: atl: Travelling phonographs in fin de siècle Spain: recording technologies and national regeneration in Ruperto Chapí's El fonógrafo ambulante. aug: au: Moreda Rodríguez, Eva affil: School of Culture and Creative Arts, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK su: Spain Modernity Turn of the century (19th-20th century) Phonograph Shorthand sug: subj: Modernity Spain Home entertainment equipment merchant wholesalers Appliance, television and other electronics stores Turn of the century (19th-20th century) Phonograph Shorthand keyword: Chapí mobility phonograph recording technologies Regeneracionismo Chapí mobility phonograph recording technologies Regeneracionismo ab: Through analysis of the zarzuela El fonógrafo ambulante (1899; music by Ruperto Chapí, libretto by Juan González), this article discusses how the arrival of recording technologies in Spain (1877–1900) was influenced by and in turn influenced discourses concerning modernity, regional difference and interregional mobility. With recent critical accounts of the early history of recording technologies having emerged mostly from the study of technologically advanced countries, this article is also a reminder of the role of cultural context: the study of the arrival of the phonograph in Spain indeed reveals how early users of recording technologies related their experiences to broader discourses of modernity and identity that had often been taken for granted elsewhere. Intended to entertain large contingents of people across a variety of social classes, El fonógrafo ambulante portrayed an aspect of late nineteenth-century life in Spain that its audiences would have been familiar with, that is, the travelling phonographs paraded through Spanish cities, towns and villages during the 1890s. The work also embodies views on sound-recording technologies which would have resonated with its audience – in accordance with zarzuela's defense of an integrative, progressively industrialized, urban, somewhat relaxed in terms of social mores, yet still ideologically conservative Spain. In fact, whereas the arrival of a phonograph in an Andalusian village at the beginning of the zarzuela is initially presented as a potential danger to social practices, reservations are quickly overcome when it becomes clear that mobile recording technologies can make the Spanish pueblo thrive by encouraging mutual understanding between Spanish regions and ensuring the preservation of gender roles. However, El fonógrafo ambulante shies away from defending transformative uses of phonography that other, more regeneracionista sectors of the population anticipated; in doing so, it ultimately presents a sceptical view of modernity as the path to national regeneration. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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