This research focuses on the 'feasts of Moors and Christians' (fiestas de moros y cristianos) of Valor, a mountain community of the Alpujarra region, in the former Moorish kingdom of Granada. The tradition of 'Moors and Christians' performances is a stock item of the Spanish expressive culture and a model for local identity, which is so deeply rooted that it fully reflects the social, economic and even political life of the community. Each year in Valor, the 'Moors and Christians' reenact the Reconquest of Spain and the 'Morisco revolution' of 1568. The performance functions as a local myth of origin, a product of a literate bricolage, built with the odds and ends of effective history. It commemorates various events, widely distant in time, but all related to times of conflict. Following the local point of view and my own experience as a Christian performer in Valor, I look at the 'Moors and Christians' as the foremost manifestation of local culture. Focusing on the interplay between the way conflict is being represented in the performance and its real developments in the community and its region, I analyse the relation between history and its representation in folklore for the two key periods of societal crisis: the Spanish Civil War (1936) and the Morisco revolt (1568) / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_24154 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Contributors | Baumann, Roland (Author), Edmonson, Munro S (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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