JSAE Fall/Winter 2003 3(2) The City as a Stage: Flamenco in Andalusian Culture Maria Papapavlou University of Thessali Abstract Recent studies on performance theory have turned their attention to the process of constructing social identities. This article proposes to examine the case of Gitano and non-Gitano relationships under this light. The field research in Jerez de la Frontera of Andalusia, has shown that 'objective' differences between the two groups seem to be minimal, although the members of the two groups recognize and present themselves as different. Relevant literature on Gitanos and their relationship to flamenco argues for a biological affinity of Gitano 'race' with flamenco singing and dancing. In a similar vein the indigenous discourse among Gitanos and among non-Gitanos justifies one group or the other as cultural owners and natural heirs of flamenco. Thus flamenco becomes a contested measure of social identity. This research attempts to reveal the power of the emic discourse on flamenco debate and to understand it under a constructivistic point of view. Based on the modern turn of Gypsy studies the present article re-examines the Gitanos/non-Gitanos relationship by focusing on the ways people negotiate their differences from the other group. Moreover, it attempts to observe and understand how these negotiated identities are performed on the social stage either on everyday life occasions or festivities. [Keywords: oral history, flamenco, Gitanos, identity construction, performance] The challenge to explore the relationships of Gitanos and other Andalusians in the flamenco context of South Spain has been strong enough to attract the interest of several researchers ranging from historians, folklorists, musicologists, ethnomusicologists and lately anthropologists as well. Coming from various cultural contexts all these persons had to get involved, one way or another, with the Andalusian everyday life. A full commitment to it could only be expected from a fieldwork-trained anthropologist, who would devote and expose themselves totally to the research, i.e. bodily, mentally, emotionally for a certain period of time. Given the fact that a well organized setting of the relationship between field worker and informants determines the quantity and obviously the quality of the gathered data, the role of an anthropologist amongst Gitanos has been proved very delicate (Diagiacomo 1983), especially in a highly commercialized world like the flamenco world. This research based on a fieldwork (1) in Jerez de la Frontera, a western Andalusian city of about 200,000 inhabitants offers new insights in the relationships between the Gitanos and the rest of the population mainly those involved with flamenco activities. The rich network of professionals, amateurs, and live performers of flamenco song, dance and guitar, situated in the cultural context of a highly performance oriented Andalusian society invited an anthropological analysis based on the new stream of performance studies. This kind of approach has not yet been used in any relevant sociological or anthropological literature of the topic. Gitanos were mainly presented from a sociological point of view, i.e. as a minority suffering under difficult historical and social circumstances (Gronenmeyer 1988; Sanchez Ortega 1993). The romantic trend in folkloristic and/or historical studies has had a permanent influence since the last century (Machado y Alvarez 1975[ 1881]). In addition to this came the very vividly discussed debate of the flamenco origin and its cultural bonds with the Gitanos or the Andalusians (For a critical view see Steingress 1993;Washabaugh 1995a, 1996). This research aimed to readdress the debate on the flamenco origin from the emic side, the "native point" of view. Both time and space has been given to Gitanos and non-Gitanos to express their thoughts and feelings, to articulate their arguments and to claim their thesis about the Gitano or Andalusian origin of flamenco. The purely discursive sources have been placed in the performative context of everyday life and celebration occasions, something which has helped the return of the speech/ narration to its natural place of production, always a social setting (2) and has prevented the de-contextualization of the emic point of view (3). In the course of exploring the debate on flamenco origin from the Gitano's or non-Gitano's side, it has been evident that the argumentation from both sides is based on the same logic: if there is a possibility to prove who created "flamenco" then we are able to recognize/accept its 'owner'. If it has been created by the Gitanos, then flamenco is theirs and vice versa something which implies the invitation for an etic point of 14