Abstract
The ideals of tolerance and cultural exchange associated with the interfaith past of Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) have become a symbol for Andalusian regionalism and for the integration of Moroccan communities. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in the context of music. In cities such as Granada, Moroccan and Spanish musicians actively promote the ideals of intercultural dialogue through the performance of repertoires such as flamenco and Arab-Andalusian music that allegedly possess a shared cultural history. In this article, we examine the interrelationship between music and ‘intercultural regionalism’, focusing on how music is used by public institutions to ground social integration in the discourse of regionalism. Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia and the mobilization of right-wing populist and anti-immigration rhetoric both within Spain and internationally, the authors consider how music can be used to promote social integration, to overcome Islamophobia and to tackle radicalization. We advance two arguments. First, we argue that the musical interculturalism promoted by a variety of institutions needs to be understood within the wider project of Andalusian regionalism. Here, we note that musical integration of Spain’s cultural and historical ‘Other’ (Moroccans) into Andalusian society is promoted as a model for how Europe can overcome the alleged ‘death of multiculturalism’. The preferential way to achieve this objective is through ‘intercultural regionalism’, envisioned as the combination of regional identity-building and intercultural interactions between communities that share a common cultural heritage. Second, we assess some of the criticism of the efficacy of al-Andalus as a model for contemporary intercultural exchange. Combining approaches in political science and ethnomusicology, we focus on one case study, the Fundación Tres Culturas (FTC). Through interviews with figures within the FTC, we examine why this model has become partly insufficient and how it is borne out in the sorts of musical activities programmed by FTC that seek to move beyond the ‘andalusí’ myth. We conclude by recognizing the continuing regional and international importance of this myth but we question its integrating capacity at a time of radical political, economic and environmental upheaval.
Highlights
Since its foundation in the 19th and early-20th centuries, Andalusian regionalism (Andalucismo) has extolled its complex multifaith and multicultural heritage derived from the encounters of several cultural traditions, encompassing Arab, Berber, Latin/Spanish, Roma/Gypsy, Jewish and other influences
In his analysis of how al-Andalus has been instrumentalized for a variety of contrasting socio-political agendas in Spain (Andalusian regionalism, cultural tourism and Spanish colonialism in Morocco, 1912–1956), Eric Calderwood argues that public cultural organizations in Andalusia draw on the ‘fiercely local tradition’ of andalucismo (Calderwood 2014a, p. 36), a tradition that is based on the premise of cultural mixing in al-Andalus
In this article we examine the interrelationship between music and ‘intercultural regionalism’—we analyze how music is used by public institutions to ground social integration in the discourse of regionalism and an alleged Andalusian historical sensibility for intercultural dialogue
Summary
Since its foundation in the 19th and early-20th centuries, Andalusian regionalism (Andalucismo) has extolled its complex multifaith and multicultural heritage derived from the encounters of several cultural traditions, encompassing Arab, Berber, Latin/Spanish, Roma/Gypsy, Jewish and other influences. In a region that extols its alleged interfaith past, such institutions often promote the integration of Moroccan communities into Andalusian society as proof of the values of tolerance, diversity and intercultural dialogue that lie at the base of the Andalusian regionalist project and, by extension, of European values. Nowhere is this more keenly felt than in the context of music. We shall briefly assess why this model has become partly insufficient and how it is borne out in the sorts of musical activities programmed by FTC that seek to move beyond the ‘andalusí’ myth
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have