Overview

It's 1975. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco dies and Spain begins transitioning to a democratic state. Spaniards are faced with a titanic task: they need to design a new democratic state after an almost forty-year-old dictatorship. What should this new state look like? What would make it a ""democratic"" one? These and similar questions triggered many heated discussions over the next few years. It is also during this time that punk culture developed in Spain and-as one would expect-the action of questioning and challenging the new state being created became a defining characteristic of the movement. Taking the unique case of Spanish punk as its object of study, Spanish Punk: Screaming for Democracy in a Postdictatorial State explores the political relevance of the punk phenomenon in Spain and pays special attention to its connections with contemporary social and political movements and antiestablishment political identities. Combining textual, historical, philosophical, and musicological readings, this book shows that punk represents a determinant cultural glue that kept many political movements together and the cultural axis from which many of the contemporary social movements emerged. To do so, it studies punk through music, fanzines, testimonies from various people involved in Spanish punk culture, an analysis of the ways of life derived from it, and more. This long overdue study of Spanish punk fills an important gap in punk-related scholarship as well as in Spanish cultural studies.

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9798887441047

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Reviews

"""Too few books about music consider the relationship between music and the state. This relationship is nonetheless of great significance. It is expressed in patriotic anthems and martial hymns, of course. But the relationship between music and state is also one of intense rivalry because music challenges the state's claims to legitimacy, mocking its pomposity, ridiculing its hypocrisy and, in some cases, calling for its overthrow. David Vila Di�guez has written a book that takes this relationship very seriously indeed, providing abundant evidence and fascinating documentation to support his claim that music can, and will, be a crucial component of revolutionary struggle. I recommend it highly."" --Mat Callahan, author of The Explosion of Deferred Dreams ""Spanish Punk: Screaming for Democracy in a Postdictatorial State is a compelling book and an essential contribution to the punk studies scholarship, highlighting the empowering and revolutionary nature of Spanish punk culture. David Vila Di�guez charts a historical analysis of the development of Spanish punk culture following the Francoist dictatorship, documenting music, zines, and scene culture. He contextualizes Spanish punk culture within a broader framework of cultural studies and anarchist studies and draws upon theorists such as Walter Benjamin and Jacques Derrida, along with work from subcultural scholars from the Center for Contemporary Culture and Post-Subcultural Theory. Crucially, this book elevates anticapitalist and antineoliberal actions that coordinate and calibrate across contemporary intersectional social movements and politics. Engaged agency and direct action reverberate throughout this book, making it an essential punk text."" --Caroline K. Kaltefleiter, coeditor of the Punk and Anarchism book series, director of the Anarchist Studies Research Program, SUNY Cortland ""Spanish Punk should prove a fascinating read for anyone interested in punk beyond the well-documented US and UK contributions to the subculture. Focusing on post-Franco Spain, David Vila Di�guez weaves musicology, philosophy, and historical contexts into a compelling tapestry of a punk movement that emerged in the wake of literal fascism. He describes the sociopolitical and economic climate, breaks down lyrics, and even goes so far as to analyze album art as one might a painting. Vila Di�guez's approach is academic, intellectual, and, most importantly, captivating."" --Kyle Decker, author of This Rancid Mill"

Author Information

David Vila Diéguez is a musician, filmmaker, and scholar specializing in around Hispanic popular music and cultural studies. He grew up between the Basque Country and Galicia. He currently holds a professorship at California State University, Monterey Bay. He is one of the founding members of the cultural magazine Furman217 and the singer of the Latinx alternative band the Rumba Madre. Their album Prisiones y Fugaswas chosen as one of the best albums of 2020 by AllMusic, and he is always actively playing all over the world. He wrote an award-winning script for a long-form musical film based on the Rumba Madre's second album, Apropiaciones Culturales V.2. Isabela Raygoza is the associate editor for Billboard Español and a leading voice in Latin music, with nearly fifteen years of industry experience. Raised in the San Diego/Tijuana border region, she is based in New York City and joined Billboard full-time in 2022. She earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from UC Berkeley and a master's degree in media, culture, and communication from NYU.

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