Description
PASSION AND DESIRE
Book Summary
A fascinating journey through Andalusian popular culture as a space for expression and resistance for dissidents. Roy del Postigo combines art history, academic research, and sentimental memory to unveil how the folklore of the south has been a refuge and an altar for those who have lived on the margins. Using the figure of Isabel Pantoja as a beacon, the author traces a path that connects artists such as Lola Flores, Marifé de Triana, or María Peláe with drag artists and subaltern figures, offering a work that is simultaneously an essay, an altar of copla songs, and a love letter to freedom.
What is it about?
The book explores the ways in which Andalusian popular culture has been and continues to be a space for expression and resistance for sexual and gender dissidence. Through an analysis that combines erudition and poetic sensitivity, Roy del Postigo unpicks the echoes of a tradition that, beyond self-serving interpretations, has served as a refuge for those who have lived on the social margins.
The figure of Isabel Pantoja becomes the starting point and beacon of the narrative: her musical career, which runs parallel to the last five decades of Spanish history, makes an appeal to those who identify with gossip, pointing fingers, and misunderstanding. The author weaves a network connecting the tonadillera with flamboyant "queers," housewives, sapphic rociera friends, drag queens from La Nogalera, and a whole galaxy of dissident figures from the South.
But the story neither begins nor ends with her: southern folklore was already weaving a bata de cola fashioned from yearnings and subversive gestures on the skin of artists like Lola Flores, Marifé de Triana, Diana Navarro, María Peláe, or Pastora Soler. Musical references that have been and are a source of inspiration for drag artists like La Esmeralda de Sevilla, Satin Greco, or Jota Carajota. The book offers a vision of the South not as a picture-postcard landscape, but as a political, creative, and spiritual powerhouse guided by the Andalusian Dolorosas, folkloric performers, and subaltern figures.
Main themes
- Andalusian folklore as a space for resistance and expression for sexual and gender dissidence
- The figure of Isabel Pantoja as an icon and beacon of contemporary Spanish popular culture
- The history of the copla and the tonadilla as a vehicle for subaltern identities
- Drag and cross-dressing in the Andalusian musical tradition
- The relationship between popular culture, sentimental memory, and identity politics
- The South as a political, creative, and spiritual power beyond tourist stereotypes
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in cultural and gender studies, especially those seeking an academic yet accessible look at Spanish popular culture. It will also be of great interest to fans of the copla and Andalusian folk music, followers of Isabel Pantoja and the artists who have marked the southern musical tradition, as well as those researching the intersections between art, sexual dissidence, and cultural resistance.
What this book offers
- An original perspective that reclaims Andalusian folklore as a space of freedom and dissident expression, moving away from simplistic or folklorist interpretations
- A deep analysis of the figure of Isabel Pantoja as a cultural icon and her connection to LGTBIQ+ communities
- A journey through the history of the copla and the tonadilla through their most significant performers, from Lola Flores to the new generations
- The visibility of figures from the Andalusian drag scene and their role in the transmission and reinvention of musical tradition
- A work that combines academic erudition with poetic sensitivity and sentimental memory, offering a reading that is both moving and rigorous
Technical specifications
- Author: Postigo Lopez, Roy
- Publisher: DOS BIGOTES
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: MUSIC, FOLK AND TRADITIONAL MUSIC, CULTURAL STUDIES, POPULAR CULTURE, FOLKLORE, MYTHS AND LEGENDS, MARBELLA LOCAL HISTORY
- Collection: DOS BIGOTES
- Publication date: June 2025
- Number of pages: 480
- Weight: 800 g
Editorial review
A necessary work that reclaims Andalusian folklore from a contemporary and dissident perspective. Roy del Postigo manages to build bridges between the most deeply rooted tradition and the most current expressions of identity, offering an essay that is both rigorous and deeply emotional. The book stands out for its ability to make visible the connections between the copla, drag culture, and cultural resistance, becoming an essential read for those seeking to understand Spanish popular culture beyond hegemonic discourses. Its publication in the Dos Bigotes collection reinforces the publisher's commitment to works that explore the intersections between gender, identity, and culture.