Las definiciones lingüísticas de “leonés” en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española

Las definiciones lingüísticas de “leonés” en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española. My last article at Lletres Asturianes.

Joven Romero, M. A. (2024). Las definiciones lingüísticas de “leonés” en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española. Lletres Asturianes, (131), 124-132.


Resumen en español

La Real Academia Española (RAE) ha regulado el idioma español desde 1713 e incorpora términos relacionados con fenómenos lingüísticos en sus diccionarios, incluyendo el leonés, aunque no sin controversia. En el siglo XX, la lengua leonesa experimentó un renacer en el interés académico, social y cultural. Este resurgimiento condujo a que las primeras definiciones de ‘leonés’ aparecieran en los diccionarios de la RAE en la década de 1980. Este artículo explora de manera analítica la evolución histórica de las entradas ‘leonés’, abordando su contenido y lógica interna. El análisis abarca todas las instancias del término ‘leonés’ en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española (DLE), abordando términos relacionados como ‘asturleonés’, ‘dialecto’ y ‘romance’.

Abstract in English

The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) has regulated the Spanish language since 1713, and it has included terms related to linguistic phenomena in its dictionaries, including Leonese, though not without debate. In the 20th century, the Leonese language experienced a resurgence in academic, social, and cultural interest. This resurgence led to the first definitions of ‘Leonese’ appearing in RAE dictionaries in the 1980s. This article analytically explores the historical evolution of ‘Leonese’ entries, addressing their content and internal logic. The analysis covers all instances of the term ‘Leonese’ in the Dictionaries of the Spanish Language (DLE), addressing related terms: ‘Astur-Leonese,’ ‘dialect,’ and ‘romance.’

What is value?

In 2021, the 17th-century Ecce Homo painting was rediscovered. Initially attributed to Jusepe de Ribera, a second-line painter, it was valued in 1500 euro. However, further research demonstrated it was painted by Caravaggio, subsequently raising a value of 36 million euro. Furthermore, if we dig deep into the object, it is just a piece of canvas and paints that cost less than 100 dollars.  Why such value differences?

Every object and service may have three different values: a material value -the canvas and the paints-, a social value -which explains the difference between Caravaggio’s and Ribera’s painting-, and a personal value

Let’s consider a 1$ bill. Its social value is 1$, as we make transactions considering such value for that object. The value is given by some public institutions and international conditions that at the very end are nothing but groups of people. However, what we really hold in our hands is just a piece of paper and ink with a value of a few cents. Let’s imagine the 1$ dollar was given as a present by my father just before he died: then his personal value to me would be infinite. 

Cristiano Ronaldo was a successful Real Madrid player. He was appreciated by the fans (social value) as a consequence of his good performances (material value). However, as he was getting older and his performance was decreasing, he was losing material value and the club decided to sell him before he also lost social -and transfer market- value. It is likely to be a difficult decision for the head staff of the club, who may have developed a personal attachment (personal value). 

Apple began as a small company that produced high quality computers -and later, mobile phones. That material value (high quality computers) evolved into a social value (brand), which made their products more expensive. Other brands like Xiaomi, initially cheap alternatives, are experiencing the same process in the last five years. 

Ultimately, our system of values, that is, how we chose and distribute among social, material, and personal value in our daily life, determine our identities. Consequently, our identity also explains our system of values. I prefer to go hiking in the mountain and having some Spanish soft meal like fried eggs with Spanish ham and bread, while other people prefer going to exclusive social events wearing expensive elitist brands. No one is better here: it is just that the system the values and the identities of persons are different. 

However, analyzing the concept of value and how we distribute its material, social, and personal aspects can help us to design and reach our goals

Toponimia hispánica de Manila y su aplicación al análisis del español en Filipinas

Toponimia hispánica de Manila y su aplicación al análisis del español en Filipinas. My last article at BAFLE: Boletín de la Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española.

Joven Romero, M. A. (2024). Toponimia hispánica de Manila y su aplicación al análisis del español en Filipinas. Boletín de la Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española (BAFLE), (2) 24-33.


Resumen en español

La toponimia describe la geografía, la historia, la lingüística y las sociedades de territorios en todo el mundo, y los topónimos urbanos suelen centrarse en las dimensiones sociales: reflejan la sociedad y las personalidades de diferentes épocas y comunidades, sus distribuciones, luchas políticas, intereses económicos y estrategias de dominación. El 15 de diciembre de 2021 defendí una tesis doctoral bajo el título Toponimia Hispánica de Manila, en la que estudio la toponimia de la capital filipina, dirigida por los profesores José Ramón Carriazo Ruiz (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, España) y Jorge Mojarro Romero (University of Santo Tomas, Filipinas). Aprovecho estas líneas para valorar y agradecer su trabajo preciso y su apoyo continuo.

Los topónimos de Metro Manila atestiguan la presencia histórica de tagalos y otros pueblos nativos, comunidades procedentes de China, Indonesia y Borneo, y colonizadores procedentes de España y de Estados Unidos de América. Hoy, estos topónimos se mezclan con otros de diferentes raíces lingüísticas debido a modas globales. Esto ocurre en zonas recientemente urbanizadas, pero también en nuevos topónimos que reemplazan a otros previos, como ocurre, por ejemplo, en la Mahatma Gandhi Street, anteriormente llamada Calle Looban.

La evolución de la toponimia de Metro Manila muestra las tensiones y el desarrollo de las comunidades que se han establecido en los límites de la región, y también refleja la formación política de la nación filipina desde finales del siglo XIX y durante el siglo XX: políticos, intelectuales, artistas y otras personalidades relevantes para el nuevo estado independiente ocupan la mayoría de los nombres del mapa actual de Manila.

Abstract in English

Toponymy describes the geography, history, linguistics, and societies of territories worldwide, and urban toponyms often focus on social dimensions: they reflect the society and personalities of different epochs and communities, their distributions, political struggles, economic interests, and domination strategies. On December 15, 2021, I defended a doctoral thesis entitled Hispanic Place Names of Manila, in which I study the toponymy of the Philippine capital, under the guidance of Professors José Ramón Carriazo Ruiz (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain) and Jorge Mojarro Romero (University of Santo Tomas, Philippines). I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank them for their precise work and continuous support.

The toponyms of Metro Manila attest to the historical presence of Tagalogs and other indigenous peoples, communities from China, Indonesia, and Borneo, and colonizers from Spain and the United States of America. Today, these toponyms mix with others of different linguistic roots due to global trends. This occurs in recently urbanized areas but also in new toponyms that replace previous ones, as is the case, for example, with Mahatma Gandhi Street, formerly known as Calle Looban.

The evolution of the toponymy of Metro Manila shows the tensions and development of the communities that have settled within the region’s boundaries, and it also reflects the political formation of the Philippine nation since the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century: politicians, intellectuals, artists, and other relevant personalities for the new independent state occupy most of the names on the current map of Manila.

Las definiciones lingüísticas de ‘aragonés’ en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española


Las definiciones lingüísticas de ‘aragonés’ en los Diccionarios de Lengua Española. My last article at EPOS, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.

Joven Romero, M. A. (2023). Las definiciones lingüísticas de ‘aragonés’ en los Diccionarios de la Lengua Española. Epos : Revista De filología, (39), 121–135. https://doi.org/10.5944/epos.39.2023.38224

For this article, I attach a video-pill explaining it, accessible in this post or this link.


(Resumen en español) La Real Academia Española (RAE) regula el español desde el año 1713, y ha incluido términos referentes a hechos lingüísticos en sus diccionarios, incluyendo al aragonés, no sin debate. En el siglo XX, el aragonés resurgió en interés académico, social y cultural, y, en consecuencia, las primeras definiciones de ‘aragonés’ en los diccionarios de la RAE aparecieron en los años 80. Este artículo explora analíticamente la evolución histórica de las definiciones de ‘aragonés’, tratando su contenido y su lógica interna. El análisis abarca todas las definiciones de ‘aragonés’ en los Diccionarios de la lengua española (DLE), tratando también los términos apuntados en las mismas: ‘navarroaragonés’, ‘dialecto’, ‘romance’ y ‘altoaragonés’.

(Abstract in English) The Royal Spanish Academy of Language (RAE) has regulated the Spanish language since 1713, and it has included terms related to linguistic phenomena in its dictionaries, including ‘Aragonese,’ not without debate. In the 20th century, Aragonese experienced a resurgence in academic, social, and cultural interest, leading to the first definitions of ‘Aragonese’ in the RAE dictionaries appearing in the 1980s. This article analytically explores the historical evolution of ‘Aragonese’ definitions, addressing their content and internal logic. The analysis encompasses all definitions of ‘Aragonese’ in the Dictionaries of the Spanish Language (DLE), also addressing the related terms: ‘Navarro-Aragonese,’ ‘dialect,’ ‘romance,’ and ‘Altoaragonese.’

Major Place Names of Spain in Metro Manila: Moenia, Revista Lucense de Lingüística y Literatura

Major Place Names of Spain in Metro Manila. My last article at Moenia.

Joven-Romero, M.A. (2021). Major Place Names of Spain in Metro Manila. Moenia: Revista Lucense de Lingüística y Literatura, 27. 


Spanish place names are common in the Philippines due to historical reasons. Here I offer a comprehensive list of stable major place names of Spain in the National Capital Region of the Philippines (Metro Manila) and I analyze the results according to social, geographical, historical, and linguistic views. I finally defend that place names are coined and evolve according to historical, social, political, and economic reasons. Colonial past, population growth, and globalization are the leading causes for place names in Metro Manila.

https://revistas.usc.gal/index.php/moenia/article/view/7108/11844

Download the whole pdf article here.

Spanish is an endangered language

New Viejo Bridge, Manila, Philippines


In the 15th century, the kingdom of Aragon experienced a language switch: the Aragonese language used by medieval institutions -mainly notaries and court scribes- was changed into Castilian -currently Spanish- as ordered by the newly arrived dynasty of the Trastámara. Little by little, nobility and higher classes changed their language following the fashion introduced by the new kings, and then the middle classes. In the 16th century, almost every text in the kingdom was written in Castilian, and the old -and now vulgar- Aragonese language was used and preserved just by lower classes, mainly farmers at that time.

This is the basic linguistic history of Aragon usually referred to, and even if it is not false, it is not totally accurate (Tomás, 2020): the Spanish elements in the Aragonese texts appear some centuries before, under the influence of external cultural and political trends like the one offered by the Toledo School of Translators and Alfonso X “The Wise”. In the 14th century and even before, higher classes in Aragon spoke and wrote Aragonese language, but Spanish elements were popular, and that helped the fast language switch that occurred during the following century.

Back to the present, on May 29, 2022, Professor David Fernández Vítores offered a provocative interview about the current role and the future of the Spanish language, plenty of points rare to find out in the academic literature. According to professor Fernández Vítores, Spanish is not that powerful language that will menace the hegemony of English, but rather a declining language that needs to seek out a kind of agreement with English in the international linguistic market. Spanish is almost disappeared in the Philippines, its influence has dramatically decreased in Morocco, and the Hispanic community of the USA, even if proud of being Hispanic, do not always transmit the language to the new generations. And people who state they speak Spanish sometimes do not properly handle the language. In these and other cases, Spanish is residually used as a folk element at specific moments, as the Aragonese language is used in traditional festivities in many Aragonese villages where the settlers hardly use it.

Nowadays, English is the language of science, research, and technicalities, and higher classes handle English, educating their children in the international language: even if most of the peoples speak other languages, English is the language of powers and intellectuals, and the middle classes are imitating the trend. English is also the lingua franca, the one speakers of different languages use at encounters, at short and middle migrations, or to give foreigners basic instructions. In the Aragonese Middle Ages, the powerful language was Latin, and lingua franca was rarely a concern as Romance languages were close enough to allow communication.  

Nowadays, Spanish is the language of leisure. The language of Despacito song, Shakira, J.Lo, Becky G, Daddy Yankee, or Maluma, the language of songs talking about sex, drugs, and alcohol. It is the language to be listened to while drinking cocktails and twerking at ‘Spanish’ night, after an exhausting researching and working serious ‘English’ day. Interestingly, between the 17th and 20th centuries, farm tales called pastoradas were popular in some Aragonese areas, and they were often dramatized in festivities. These tales represented the society at that time, with its powers and peoples, and the mocking and rude dialogs between the mairal and the rapatán (head shepherd and trainee shepherd) were the only ones written and represented in Aragonese (Benítez & Latas, 2022).

Spanish is not experiencing the language switch Aragonese language experienced in the 15th century. Not yet. But powers and peoples are developing the breeding ground to allow such a switch if there is political pressure in the close future, as happened to the Aragonese language. And even if there is not such a political effect in the Spanish case, such a future might be inevitable anyway.

References

Benítez, M.P., & Latas, Ó. (2022). Sobre la pastorada aragonesa: Estudio filológico de las pastoradas en aragonés del siglo XVII. Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza.

Tomás, G. (2020). El aragonés medieval: lengua y Estado en el reino de Aragón. Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza.

Villarino, Á. (May 29, 2022). ¿El español va a desbancar al inglés? En realidad está en retirada en todos estos países. ElConfidencial.

Five years of my first Ph. D.: my experience at the Department of Logic, History and Philosophy of Science, UNED

On May 5th, 2017, I defended my first Ph. D., in Philosophy, at the Department of Logic, History and Philosophy of Science (Spanish acronym: LHFC) of the National University of Distance Education (Spanish acronym: UNED), after four years of work thanks to a grant given by the Aragonese Government. Five years later, with much more life experience, I would like to express my views about my stay there.

First, I feel I could have done more at LHFC. Honestly, I did not arrive at my best personal moment, but personal reasons are hardly an excuse. With my current experience and in my present moment, things could have been different.

But at the same time, I did not receive proper support there. My advisor, Doctor Jesús Zamora Bonilla, was absent from his duties during the four years. I was lost, he gave me no path to follow -or better said, he gave me a different one every time we talked during the first year- and he was just trying to find a co-advisor to do his job. I only realized he was following my updates when he used them in a SEFA Congress presentation. And he seemed to be much more worried about political and writing development and promotion, than about researching, teaching, and advising. Luckily, he posed no trouble when I deposited the thesis. Honestly, I do not understand why to accept a Ph. D. student if you will not dedicate him time enough.

A different opinion deserves Doctor David Teira Serrano, the Head of Department at that time, with a bad reputation that I could experience in my first department meeting, when another professor and he told each other to “fuck off”. However, he was always helpful to me, he helped me so much with my first publication, and he gave me some pieces of advice that I considered useless at that time, but that turned out to be astonishingly useful over time.  

I was also lucky of meeting great researchers at the department, and one of them, Cristian Saborido admitted twice that “they could have done more with me” -honestly, if you are going to say that and then you will do nothing, it is better to shut up and leave hypocrisy away. It was also sad to meet great researchers and people that could not flourish in such a negative context.

One day I was talking to a Galician predoc colleague about how difficult was to live in Madrid with a salary of 1,000 euros. Last two years I decided to live in Zaragoza, and I went to Madrid once or twice a week. There was no other option: something people from Madrid did not take always into account in informal discussion.  And UNED is a state university, not a Madrid university -the same university in which I pursued my second Ph. D., in Philology, as an on-line student, in a better personal moment and with two better advisors, Doctor José Ramón Carriazo Ruiz (UNED) and Doctor Jorge Mojarro Romero (UST, Manila).

In short, after five years of amazing professional and vital experience in much better contexts (2017-2022), now I feel I arrived in a bad place at a bad moment when I did my Ph. D. in Philosophy at the Department of Logic, History and Philosophy of Science at UNED. I feel I could have done more there. I feel they did not help me as they could. But far from being a trauma, it was another life experience to acquire both personal and research skills, to learn to differentiate among friends, enemies, and -the trickiest ones- false friends.

Note: Someday I will talk about the selection procedures there at LHFC.

Press Appearance: Interview at The Manila Times

Interview at The Manila Times, on ocassion of my second doctoral dissertation: Hispanic Place Names of Manila.

Mojarro, J. (2021, December 21). A doctoral dissertation on the street names of Manila [Press release]. The Manila Times. Retrieved from https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/12/21/opinion/columns/a-doctoral-dissertation-on-the-street-names-of-manila/1826688.


MARCO Antonio Joven Romero is a native of Zaragoza, Spain. He spent three years in the Philippines as a lecturer of Spanish language at the University of Santo Tomás. Despite having a Ph.D. in philosophy, he decided to pursue a second Ph.D. in linguistics at UNED, Spain. The topic he chose for his doctoral dissertation was the toponymy of the streets of Manila, a city that, as he has declared many times, he loves so much. Given that I am not only his friend, but also the co-director of his dissertation, I take advantage of this circumstance to interview him for The Manila Times.

Marco, what did you know about the Philippines before coming to teach? And why did you choose this archipelago as your destination for three years?

Honestly, it was quite random. I was going through the worst time of my life: my father died in 2013, I could not — and in some way I still cannot — accept it, and I had never been comfortable in Zaragoza, the place where I was born. A good friend, Jesús, recommended that I go to Asia because of my personality, and there was an option as an AECID lecturer (Spanish Cooperation Agency). I took it. That was the best choice of my life.

 

You have told me several times that you love the city, that Manila is the best place to be. Why is that when so many people claim this city is unlivable? Is your love for the city what made you carry out research on its street names?

Manila is not an easy city, but it is the city that made me happy, and at the same time, it was the place where I could learn a lot of things about life. It was the city that made me a real adult. People of Manila always loved me, and I loved Manila people too — although sometimes I also hurt some people because of my lack of maturity. I am an active person, and I could not stop meeting people and covering every small alley of Metro Manila. When I arrived in Manila, I was an adventurer, and Manila is the best city for adventures. Before coming to Manila, I also carried out a study of Aragonese toponymy in A Fueba in the province of Huesca in western Spain. So, I had all the academic and personal ingredients to carry out a study of the Hispanic place names of Metro Manila.

 

How did you carry out your research? Could you tell us any curiosity that happened while doing fieldwork?

There are three main methodological steps in this work: more than 800 surveys of settlers of all the cities and districts of Metro Manila, a research on the previous studies and maps, and my personal fieldwork all over the area.

About curiosities, I covered Aroma and Happyland, two of the poorest slums in Metro Manila, for two days with my friend Alejandro Ernesto, a photo reporter. The first day he left his cellphone in his motorcycle and the second day he forgot the motorcycle keys. After entire days covering the dumps, no one took the cellphone or the keys! On another occasion, I was covering a cemetery where some people live, and I could hear a couple having sex — I suppose on a tomb. And when I went to Señorita Street and surroundings, I could not stop hearing the song “Señorita” by Camila Cabello, which the locals boasted about.

 

Could you tell us what are the three most remarkable findings of your research?

First, around 55 percent of toponyms from the Spanish period are preserved while around 45 percent are lost. Considering the new toponyms, around 75 percent are Hispanic. I think these figures are interesting when dealing with the recurrent debate on Hispanic place names in the Philippines.

Second, the preserved Hispanic place names of Manila reflect the society of the city during the Spanish period: a kernel in Intramuros, the rising bourgeoisie in Binondo — and to a lesser extent in Ermita — and the rest of the classes and activities further away. The furthest place names refer to farm and logistics activities.

Third, most of the recent place names in Metro Manila do not adhere to popular naming processes or to administrative-political norms, but to pure economic factors. Economic power is creating new cities and districts — e.g. BGC, Ortigas, some places in Makati, and so on — coining new place names according to markets.

 

What do you think of the habit of local politicians who in an attempt to immortalize their names, replace the previous names of the streets with their own? Do you think the Philippines needs some legislation regarding this topic?

I am sad every time a place name is changed or lost, in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world. Let me say that most of what we know about Celtic and Iberian peoples in Spain is because of preserved place names. And some of them seem to refer to local leaders, probably tyrants! Place names have crystallized, and they are preserved more than any other linguistic feature. And following the previous example, Celtic and Iberian languages disappeared in Spain millennia ago, but we still have these names. They are a treasure that allows us to partially know these languages too. The Spanish language is almost lost in the Philippines, but the Hispanic toponyms show the history, the identity and the geography of the country, and they also show some of the characteristics of the Filipino-Spanish language. About legislation, the Philippines and all the countries of the world must be conscious of the significance of place names.

 

Do you expect to carry out further research on the Philippines or do you want to move on to another thing already?

If possible, I would like to continue studying Hispanic place names in the Philippines. Even more, I would like to return to the Philippines and make a life in the country that has made me happy. However, due to the pandemic and my work, I do not find it easy. Furthermore, when I arrived in Manila, I was an adventurer. Now, I am looking forward to more stability, and I am not sure Manila is the best city for that. But finding such stability in the Philippines is my greatest desire. Let me add that the study of place names in the Philippines is not developed, and while the cities show social place names, the rest of the country presents a vast number of geographic place names to be studied.

 

Do you believe Metro Manileños should be proud of their city? Why?

Totally. Manila is an unknown city with many attractions. Reporters from several Spanish television networks agree with me: they were delighted when I showed them the “unknown” city. And contrary to what is sometimes stated, it is safe. Actually, Manila is not a city but a set of cities with different cultures and even language differences. Manilans are friendly and that compensates for the traffic and pollution problems. However, far from romanticizing the existent huge inequalities, the city must work to solve them. If there is something the people of Manila cannot be proud of, it is precisely the inequality in the city, which is translated into an extreme daily slavery that I hesitate to say existed any time before.

Lecture at Universidade de Brasília: Aragonese Language

Aragonese Language / Lengua aragonesa

Lecture conducted for the Instituto de Letras of the Universidade de Brasília on May 24, 2021 (in Spanish).

Location and organizers: Universidade de Brasilia (online), in collaboration with MAEC-AECID (Government of Spain).
Date: May 24, 2021.

Radio interview at ‘Investigadores por el Mundo’

Or click here for the ivoox site.


[English] Radio interview at Investigadores por el Mundo (Libertad FM), talking about Hispanic Place Names of Manila [November 17, 2020; in Spanish]

[Español] Aparición en el programa de radio Investigadores por el Mundo (Libertad FM), hablando de Toponimia Hispánica de Manila [17 de noviembre de 2020; en español]

[Pilipino] Ang pagganap ng aking Investigadores por el Mundo (Libertad FM), pinag-uusapan ang tungkol sa Hispanic Place Names of Manila [Nobyembre 17, 2020; sa Espanyol]

[Aragonés] Aparición en o programa de radio Investigadores por el Mundo (Libertad FM), fablando de Toponimia Hispánica de Manila [17 de noviembre de 2020; en español]

Reggaeton: much more than a feminist matter

Abstract: Reggaeton is one of the main musical and cultural exponents of the Hispanic contemporary world. Feminist analysis and criticism are common, and the style itself is evolving. Here I defend that Reggaeton is not just a feminist issue, but a class phenomenon.


In the attached clip, Spanish X-Factor judge Eva Perales strongly criticizes Reggaeton music, and more specifically, an amateur couple made of two Hispanic migrant men. Some of the sentences and arguments of Perales are:

(i) Have you ever listened something else apart from Reggaeton?
(ii) Reggaeton damages me as a woman (…) I do not like sexist lyrics (…) Why don’t you talk about women in other way?
(iii) [After mocking] Reggaeton kicks my ass.

The song, sentences and arguments from the Crazy Boys state:

(i) [Song The Maniatic Girl] Look, I fancy the Maniatic Girl (…) I like your body, and you all (…) You make me brutally horn (… ) You are easy, you flirt me and I become crazy, crazy.
(ii) [To Perales] You are abusing the weak.
(iii) Reggaeton is music too.
(iv) You are a racist of the music.

Even when this episode happened in 2008 and it might be intentionally prepared and streamed, similar scenes following same patters have happened during the last decade. In general terms, feminism activists and scholars have analyzed and criticized Reggaeton, and former and new Reggaeton singers have lately adapted (Merlyn 2020, Morales 2020, Villagra 2007). Sexism is highlighted, but Reggaeton is also considered violent and vulgar in comparison with already settled genres. The attached clip perfectly prints Reggaeton hotspots. 

Reggaeton spread during the 90’s in Hispanic America among lower class societies and it tended to print their reality characterized by discrimination, sexism, violence and vulgarity. Upper class Hispanic American societies criticized and ridiculed the new style. Spanish society, richer in average and many times far from Hispanic American contemporary currents, first ignored Reggaeton and then criticized it, similarly to upper class Hispanics. However, the new style has been powerful enough to permeate into the whole Hispanic -and Global- society (Carballo 2007). On the other hand, singers are adapting and blurring its sexism, violence and vulgarity, and sometimes it is used for vindicating feminism and women. Here I remark that there also are geographical, racial and normative aspects, and all of them, together with the feminist issue, rely on a class difference.

Geographical difference

Reggaeton spread in Hispanic American countries. Only after a decade, it was introduced in Spain among criticism. The America-Europe difference towards Reggaeton is still present. Reggaeton in Spain responds to Hispanic migrants and global tendencies more than to linguistic, cultural or historical ties. Economic standards in Spain tend to be higher than in Hispanic American countries, while Hispanic migrants in Spain tend to hold worse positions.

Racial difference

Inside Hispanic American countries, racially speaking Reggaeton is more popular among Hispanics than among Europeans and Caucasians. Links between race and class in Hispanic America are well known and deeply studied, showing a tendency of middle and lower classes being Hispanic mestizo and aborigines, while upper classes maintaining Caucasian features (Domínguez 2018; McCaa, Schwartz & Grubessich 1979). In Spain, Reggaeton is far more popular among Hispanic migrants.

Normative aspect

Reggaeton has been devalued in comparison with mainstream already established genres: the norm. Reggeaton’s sexism, violence and vulgarity, derived from lower class styles and ways of living, is attacked from upper class people and established genres creators. However, as it happened with many other cultural manifestations, Reggaeton -or at least, a soft Reggaeton- is permeating, convincing global spectra and making norm.

Conclusions

Eva Perales and the Crazy Boys discussion was rapidly analyzed from feminism. But it is much more than a feminist matter: it is a woman criticizing sexist singers and styles, but also a Spanish criticizing two Hispanic American migrants, a white manager criticizing two dark-skinned mestizo creators, a rock lover criticizing Latin music, and ultimately, a rich person criticizing two poor people.

The real difference underlying the whole discussion is economic. Poverty and discrimination explain rough sexism among low class people, the refusal to mainstream styles and the emergence of new subversive styles. Upper class people tend to defend the establishment, in this case represented by settled genres. In the Hispanic America context, economic difference is linked to race difference, and the same economic difference partly defines differences between Spain and Hispanic America. Many times, Spanish and upper class people criticize sexism, vulgarity and violence, but they do not focus on the real problem: poverty.


References

Carballo, P. (2007). Reggaeton e identidad masculina. Intercambio, 3 (4), 87-101.

Domínguez, J. I. (2018). Race and ethnicity in Latin America. Routledge.

McCaa, R., Schwartz, S. B., & Grubessich, A. (1979). Race and class in Colonial Latin America: A critique. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 21(3), 421-433.

Merlyn, M. F. (2020). Tell me what you listen to and i will tell you who you are. Representing women in 100 of the more popular reggaeton songs in 2018. Feminismo/s, (35).

Morales, C. D. (2020). Una propuesta para el análisis de los estereotipos femeninos en los videoclips de reggaeton: Caso práctico de los cuatro vídeos más vistos en 2018 en YouTube. Revista Internacional de Cultura Visual, 7(1), 13-26.

TV appearance at ‘Culture Shock’

[English] TV appearance at Culture Shock (UST Tiger TV) talking about my academic activities and my everyday life at University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines) [Second Term, 2020]

[Español] Aparición en el programa de televisión Culture Shock (UST Tiger TV) hablando de mi actividad académica y mi vida diaria en la Universidad de Santo Tomás (Manila, FIlipinas) [Segundo cuatrimestre, 2020]

[Aragonés] Aparición en o programa de televisión Culture Shock (UST Tiger TV) fablando d’a mía actividat academica y a mía vida diaria en a Universidat de Santo Tomás (Manila, Filipinas) [Segundo cuatrimestre, 2020]

[Pilipino] Ang pagganap ng aking Culture Shock (UST Tiger TV). Ipinakita ko ang aking mga akademikong gawain at ang aking pang-araw-araw na buhay sa University of Santo Tomas Manila, Pilipinas) [Pangalawan termino, 2020]