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Rocking the Boat

Migration and Race in Contemporary Spanish Music

Silvia Bermudez author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of Toronto Press

Published:1st Mar '18

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Rocking the Boat cover

Silvia Bermúdez’s fascinating study reveals how Spanish popular music, produced between 1980 and 2013, was the first cultural site to engage in critical debate about ethnicity and race in relation to the immigration patterns that have been changing the social landscape of Spanish society since the late 1970s.

            In Rocking the Boat, Bermúdez examines the lyrics of songs by both renowned and up and coming artists to illuminate how these new migrants challenged Spain’s notions of homogeneity, boundaries, accommodation, and incorporation. Bermúdez  observes that immigration has had such a significant influence on Spanish society that the tattered boats, seen to this day on the shores of Spain and throughout the Mediterranean Sea, have become inverted emblems of the ships that were once symbols of great power and economic development. Rocking the Boat is a nuanced account of how popular urban music shaped the discourse on immigration, transnational migrants, and racialization in Spain’s new social landscape.

"Silvia Bermúdez’s latest book Rocking the Boat offers a timely look into how musical narratives produced in Spain serve as cultural responses to legislative measures to secure entry into Europe, and portray the experiences of transnational migrants from the early 1980s to 2011… Bermúdez’s thorough close reading and clear prose make Rocking the Boat a good selection for undergraduate seminars and graduate course syllabi, and Hispanists and music specialists will also appreciate her multidisciplinary approach."

-- Angela Acosta, The Ohio State University * EuropeNow *

"The ambition of the monograph should be applauded."

-- Stuart Green, University of Leeds * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *

"Beyond its usefulness in the classroom this trailblazing monograph will undoubtedly appeal to scholars across the disciplines and lead to new modes of inquiry."

-- Anna C. Tybinko, Duke University * Hispanófila

ISBN: 9781442648524

Dimensions: 241mm x 152mm x 13mm

Weight: 440g

200 pages