Spanish Culture Research Articles

Dunking bizcochos: Sociability and the Material Culture of Chocolate in Eighteenth-Century Spain

ABSTRACT This article examines the social practices and material culture surrounding the consumption of chocolate in eighteenth-century Spain, through the practice of dipping bizcochos (sponge biscuits). Yet dipping biscuits into chocolate appears ubiquitously in early modern textual and visual sources, this custom has been mostly overlooked by historians. By focusing on the materiality of chocolate consumption, this study offers another example of a more complicated and nuanced story of ‘the civilising process’ and manners in the eighteenth century. An examination of underexplored visual, textual and material evidence allows us to further our understanding of how the introduction of chocolate had a profound impact on Spanish economies, culture and society. Overall, the focus on bizcochos (and dipping) opens a window to explore broader cultural phenomena regarding sociability, table manners, and gender relations in the Spanish Enlightenment.

Linguistic Notes on the Globalization of Spanish Sport in Asia

This study examines the internationalization and globalization of Spanish sports, particularly football in Asia and its cultural and linguistic influences. It aims to analyze the role of the Spanish language in advancing Spanish sports in Asian markets, focusing on the cultural impact of football and the use of linguistic products in education. Employing a descriptive approach, the research involves a bibliographic review and a systematic examination of institutional sources to gather data on the expansion of Spanish sport in Asia. The findings indicate that the globalization of sport has been propelled by technological progress and digital platforms, with English acting as the common language. Documented linguistic products include academic research, multilingual guides by the Instituto Cervantes and LaLiga, and the strategic application of Spanish in elite sports communication. These efforts showcase the global sports globalization process, emphasizing linguistic adaptation and promoting Spanish culture. In conclusion, the paper highlights sport as a vibrant arena for linguistic challenges and opportunities, aiding in the worldwide dissemination of the Spanish language. It points out the significance of linguistic products in overcoming cultural barriers and enhancing international relationships, with English as a pivotal lingua franca. The study offers valuable insights for further research and understanding of language and sports studies.

Gender and jazz research in Spain

During the last two decades, the little jazz research that has been conducted in Spain has focused on examining both flamenco jazz, as the most important contribution of Spanish culture to jazz, and sociocultural meanings of jazz development, mainly from a political and historical perspective. This period has also coincided with a significant development in jazz studies outside of the United States, and a key juncture for gender and feminist studies in Spain that concurred with the emergence of fourth-wave feminism. Spanish gender research in music has traditionally focused on written music, paying scant attention to jazz, although popular music is slowly becoming a significant focus of research. Far from seeing this as a drawback, we propose that the underdevelopment of knowledge production is an opportunity for a feminist-inspired overview, and a re-reading of jazz cultures and jazz research in Spain as we ‘listen’ for the relationships between gender and jazz as interdisciplinary fields of research. The article concludes that Spain presents fertile ground for a comprehensive exploration of its own jazz culture as research here strives to find its own voice.

Political culture and defence policy: a model of five-subtypes to explain the Spanish defence political culture

ABSTRACT European citizens’ attitudes towards defence are a fundamental element of common identity in the EU’s aim of becoming a unitary international actor. In Spain, since the early 2000s, the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces have developed a public policy to promote defence culture to influence Spanish society’s views, perceptions, opinions, etc., towards defence and military policies. However, this approach is flawed because, despite being defined as part of the Spanish citizens’ political culture, these institutions reduce this concept to ‘knowledge’ or ‘awareness of its importance’. Therefore, the understanding of the Spanish defence political culture has been ill-analysed. Hence, a political culture related to defence issues can be best explained within the political culture framework, from which an ideal type, in the Weberian sense, can be established. Thus, based on previous studies, using survey data and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA & CFA), we test five sub-models to explain this political culture. This research is relevant to the study of the defence political culture because it reaffirms the existence of different cultural subtypes and civil–military relations and shows that the cultural gap in the convergence of values must be worked on in a segmented manner.

Echoes of empowerment: Women’s voices across the Latin American, lusophone, and Spanish cultures

Echoes of empowerment: Women’s voices across the Latin American, lusophone, and Spanish cultures

Americanized Spanish Culture: Stories and Storytellers of Dislocated Empires by Christopher J. Castañeda, and Miquel Bota (review)

Americanized Spanish Culture: Stories and Storytellers of Dislocated Empires by Christopher J. Castañeda, and Miquel Bota (review)

Comparative analysis of the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures

In modern linguistics, research is actively developing aimed at cognizing the surrounding reality, verbalized by linguistic units of a particular language. At the same time, of course, interdisciplinary research, including both linguistic and extralinguistic data, is of particular value. The relevance of our article is the comparison of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD as fragments of the linguistic picture of the world of the Russian-speaking and Spanish-speaking peoples based on the synthesis of linguocultural and linguocognitive approaches to the study of concepts. The purpose of the work is to identify and compare the conceptual features of the above-mentioned concepts in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures based on lexicographic sources and using extralinguistic socio-demographic data. The results obtained can find practical application in lexicographical activity. In our study, the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD were reconstructed based on the data of explanatory, encyclopedic, etymological dictionaries of the Russian and Spanish languages. The conceptual features of the mentioned concepts were identified by understanding the semantic scope of the names of the concepts: the lexemes youth, young in Russian and juventud, joven – in Spanish. Despite the fact that the concept of YOUTH was previously the subject of scientific analysis in the works of Russian linguists, a comparative study of the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures has not been conducted before, which is the novelty of the article. It was revealed that the coinciding conceptual features include: 1) a certain life stage of a person between adolescence and adulthood; 2) characteristic of youth; 3) the first stage of life / existence (about an animal, plant, phenomenon); 4) younger in age or time. It was also found that the period of youth for speakers of Spanish linguoculture covers a greater number of years, compared with the same period in Russian linguoculture, which is due to extralinguistic factors – a longer life expectancy in a Spanish-speaking society. In addition, for native Russian speakers, YOUTH is often associated with ‘immaturity, weakness’, while in Spanish linguoculture JUVENTUD is perceived as a period of ‘flourishing, strength, energy'.

Following Kant's footsteps in Spain

In 1876, Hans Vaihinger, a German philosopher and professor at the University of Halle, founded the journal Kant-Studien. One of the main objectives of this project was to investigate the impact of Kantian philosophy outside Germany. The first correspondent for the journal was a Polish philosopher and national activist – Wincenty Lutosławski. His report on the study of the Spanish reception of Kant was published in the first issue of the journal Kant-Studien in 1897 under the title “Kant in Spanien.” In my article I present the history of the emergence of Lutosławski’s report and I describe the Polish encounters with Spanish culture and philosophy in the 19th century.

Some Reflections on the Translatability of Christmas Carols and Christmas Poems

The aim of the following paper is to identify and analyze some of the challenges we face when translating Christmas carols and poems from Romanian into Spanish and vice versa. Translating poetry and especially Christmas carols is not an easy task because, in addition to a good knowledge of the source and target languages, it requires a vast knowledge of both Spanish and Romanian cultures. Even though they are Romance languages and Christianity (with its two variants, Orthodox and Catholic) is the official religion of Romania and Spain, lexical and cultural particularities can be identified in the texts, since it uses a specific language. This is not to say that there are no cultural similarities regarding the interpretation of the birth of Christ. There are several similarities in terms of action and biblical characters, which are reflected in both Romanian and Spanish versions. Our aim is to see how far we can go with the translation of Christmas carols and poems, whether the translated text maintains the original message or not and to try to see if it is possible to preserve, in some cases the rhyme, or at least partially. The corpus we will use in our research comprises 24 Romanian Christmas carols and 13 Romanian poems translated into Spanish and 21 Spanish Christmas carols, as well as 13 Spanish poems translated into Romanian. These texts were translated by the students of Applied Modern Languages during a practical translation course, the final variant including our suggestions and revisions.

Exploring the Meanings of Posttraumatic Growth in Spanish Survivors of Clergy-Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse: A Phenomenological Approach

ABSTRACT A healing and recovery perspective related to child sexual abuse (CSA) has gained attention in the past two decades, a concept that accurately refers to the process is posttraumatic growth (PTG). Scarce empirical research on PTG in clergy-perpetrated CSA survivors shows evidence of the presence of growth after the abusive experience and a tendency to create accounts of trauma as a way to heal. The general aim of the study is to explore the experiences and meanings of PTG as lived by survivors of clergy-perpetrated CSA. Seven clergy-perpetrated CSA survivors were interviewed with semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in person. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified three dominant themes in the participants’ stories: (a) the hindering of PTG; (b) the meanings of PTG, and (c) the internal and contextual and facilitators of PTG. The present study brings new insights into the meanings of PTG, the close relationship between damage and growth, and the mechanisms (both internal and contextual) that are involved in healing from clergy-perpetrated CSA in Spanish culture.

El periplo internacional de Max Jiménez (1900-1947): mestizaje, sincretismo e itinerancia en la encrucijada genesíaca del arte de vanguardia costarricense

The article offers an unprecedented assessment of the international trajectory of Max Jiménez Huete (1900-1947), a seminal figure in Costa Rican and Central American avant-garde art in the 20th century. Despite being marginalized from the canonical narrative of modern art in Latin America, the aim is to elucidate a critical chronology of his travels, allowing for a systematic study of his work and establishing a rigorous documentary basis that links his aesthetic project with European, North American, and Latin American avant-gardes. Thus, it focuses on three key moments of his artistic progression: a) his training in Paris (1922-1925); b) his contact with Spanish culture (1929-1931/1933); c) his artistic maturity in Cuba (1935-1945).

Researching the American West in Spain: Beyond Prejudices and Misconceptions /

This essay analyzes the history of western American studies in Spain, offering a panoramic view of their genesis, development, and current situation. It is argued that the popularity of the American West in Spanish culture and society in the mid-twentieth century contrasts sharply with its neglect by academia due to a series of prejudices and misconceptions, of- ten related to its almost exclusive association with the so-called formula western. I explore the increasing visibility of western American studies in the last decades of the twentieth century and its consolidation during the present century. In fact, nowadays the literature and culture of the American West receive wide attention in Spain, as illustrated by several activities, groups, individual scholars, and publications that demonstrate the vitality and diversity of this area of research.

Language Policies Towards Spanish in Trinidad & Tobago and the Philippines: An Exploratory Study

The small Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the much larger southeast Asian republic of the Philippines shared colonial rule first by Spain and then by a major English-speaking power (the United Kingdom, in the case of Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States, in the case of the Philippines). Recent years have seen a distinct resurgence in interest towards the Spanish language and culture in the two island nations. Applying a cyclical five-stage language policy framework, this comparative exploratory analysis foregrounds the political, educational, and sociocultural developments regarding Spanish as a foreign language through the prism of the model’s stages of language policy emergence, agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and evaluation. This is achieved through desk-based analysis, thereby enabling a deeper understanding of the policy-related factors underpinning approaches to Spanish in the two case studies, whilst also noting the importance of relevant geopolitical factors. Finally, further suggestions are given to expand the scope of the analysis in the future. The model applied could be extended to include other Caribbean and southeast Asian countries, thereby enriching wider discussions on policies relating to the role and status of Spanish in the regional and international contexts.

The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture ed. by Rodrigo Cacho Casal and Caroline Egan (review)

The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture ed. by Rodrigo Cacho Casal and Caroline Egan (review)

Rodrigo Cacho Casal y Caroline Egan (eds), "The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture"

Reseña de Rodrigo Cacho Casal y Caroline Egan (eds.), The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companionto Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture, Abingdon-Nueva York, Routledge, 2022, 654 pp.ISBN: 9780815358671.

Stereotypical Representations of Siberia in Seventeenth Century Translations

This paper demonstrates the sociocultural impact of translation by examining reports about Siberia from foreign travelers and writers in the seventeenth century. The main research method is from Jerzy Bartmiński, who founded the Ethnolinguistics School of Lublin, and his cognitive approach (Bartmiński 2009). The current study is a continuation of our extensive research related to the stereotypes that represent colloquial images of Siberia and the Cognitive Definition of Siberia among Spanish speakers on the Iberian Peninsula. This is based on linguistic units found in Spanish corpora spanning from 1736 to 2014. The aim of this paper is to trace how the translation of works by scientists who wrote about Siberia in the seventeenth century contributed to the penetration of stereotypical ideas about this region into different cultures, particularly within Spanish culture.

Fu Manchu and the characterization of the Chinese as yellow peril in Spain

This article traces the Chinese characters presented as the anti-Western threat in Spanish culture, namely the Yellow Peril discourse, which has not received adequate attention from the academia. Since the 19th-century, Chinese characterization in Spain has taken place as an especial cultural phenomenon, in which the connotation of “peril” first emerged from a press representation from France and England. After a period of inner circulation of stereotypes, it is revived by the irruption of Anglo-American popular culture, in the form of a well-defined Fu Manchu in the first half of the 20th century. The authors examine two films directed by Jesús Franco: The Blood of Fu Manchu and The Castle of Fu Manchu, co-produced by European production companies and shot partly in Spain. In the whole process, the “peril” associated with Chinese characterization maintains both its “vicarious” and “referential” representation. Thus, Jess Franco’s cinematographic version of Fu Manchu anticipates the postmodern pastiche and turns Fu Manchu into an entire “empty” cultural entity. The article aims theoretically to differentiate “media culture”, which is a fertile terrain of both stereotypes and its extreme form, pastiche, from other types of high culture and popular culture. In the case of Chinese characterization in Spanish culture, media and a culture shaped by media can be considered as the producers of the Chinese peril phenomena.

A Laboratory of Her Own: Women and Science in Spanish Culture ed. by Victoria L. Katz, Dawn Smith-Sherwood, and Debra Frazer-McMahon (review)

A Laboratory of Her Own: Women and Science in Spanish Culture ed. by Victoria L. Katz, Dawn Smith-Sherwood, and Debra Frazer-McMahon (review)

Self-care nursing assessment: cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Spanish version of the Self-care of chronic illness inventory

BackgroundSelf‐care is the primary means of caring for a chronic condition. Therefore, it is necessary to assess it by using a good validity and reliability instrument. The Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory (SC-CII) is a generic instrument developed to measure self-care processes behaviors using three separate scales in patients with chronic illness. The original cross-cultural assessment concluded the need for future studies sampling patients from different sites to increase the generalizability of the psychometric evaluation results. It was unclear whether this tool had sound psychometrics properties in the context of Spanish culture. The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the SC-CII, test its psychometric properties and validate its use among Spanish people with chronic diseases.MethodsA cross-cultural translation of the SC-CII was performed from English to Spanish. The psychometric evaluation was conducted in a sample of 350 patients with chronic conditions through a multicenter cross-sectional study based on the STROBE guideline. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews during 2022. Internal validity was assessed with Confirmatory Factor Analysis, internal consistency reliability with Cronbach alpha for unidimensional scales and McDonald's Omega reliability coefficient for multidimensional scales.ResultsMost (63.4%) participants were older adults aged 65 years or older with a mean age of 65.45 ± 14.97. The average number of chronic conditions reported was 2.81%; the most common conditions were hypertension (52.3%), musculoskeletal disorders (46.3%) and diabetes (38.9%). Patients reported adequate self-care behaviors in all three scales of the SC-CII. The Self-Care Maintenance and Management scales were multidimensional, and the Self-Care Monitoring scale was unidimensional. In Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the Self-Care Maintenance and Monitoring scales had satisfactory fit indices. The Self-care Management scale had acceptable fit indices. The Omega reliability coefficient for multidimensional scales was 0.75 (Self-Care Maintenance) and 0.72 (Self-Care Management). The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the Self-Care Monitoring scale was 0.85. Item-total correlations were all significant except one. Test–retest reliability showed an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.92.ConclusionsThe SC-CII has appropriate psychometrics characteristics and is a culturally suitable and reliable instrument for assessing to the self-care behaviors of patients with chronic disease in Spain. The scale provides a simple and rapid solution to assess the self-care process.

Лингвистические особенности формирования экологической привлекательности товаров (на материале испанского и английского языков)

The article is devoted to the description of linguistic peculiarities of forming the ecological attractiveness of food products. The purpose of this study is to reveal the main strategies and tactics showing the versatility and cross-cultural specifics of Spanish and American cultures for the formation of ecological attractiveness of goods. The scientific novelty of this research lies in identifying a universal set of linguistic means – communicative strategies and tactics – used to create an environmentally attractive image of a product, as well as in describing the intercultural specifics of their manifestation, using the example of two non-cognate languages. As a result of the study, three marketing communication strategies that shape the environmental attractiveness of products have been identified: the strategy of informing, the self-presentation strategy, and the manipulation strategy. The tactics that implement these strategies and their linguistic and cultural specificity have also been described. The following tactics fulfill the influencing function: appeals to authoritative opinions, demonstrations of uniqueness, targeting core audience, and reliance on semiotic systems. The tactic of demonstrating the uniqueness of product composition is an important tool for influencing buyers, both in American and Spanish linguistic culture, as evidenced by the lexical and semantic means used to implement this tactic enriched with lexical and semantic groups of beneficial and harmful substances and their high frequency of usage.