Obcokrajowcy w kulturze flamenco: problem negocjacji tożsamości
Foreigners in Flamenco Culture: the Problem of Identity Negotiation

Summary/Abstract: The research problem presented in this text is the negotiation of transcultural identity as exemplified by foreigners enrolled in flamenco dance schools in Seville who are or aspire to be professional flamenco dancers and compete on the Spanish labour market in the flamenco industry. Foreigners are a definite majority at Seville’s dance schools, whose existence depends on them. By deciding to spend a prolonged period of time in Seville, they enter a field of transcultural exchange and become involved in power relations of subordination and domination. Being a subordinate group, foreigners need to negotiate their place in the flamenco community on an ongoing basis. Their situation and relations developing in Seville are well-described through the categories of transculturation/transculturality and transcultural identity. Foreigners wishing to engage in the professional world of flamenco in Seville or, more broadly, in Spain, construct their identity by negotiating its individual elements. Three of them are discussed in the text: expression, movement and body. They are self-defining factors and elements that determine the exclusion and/or “discrimination” of indigenous people and foreign viewers.

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