Tune in to this sentimental radio and let's take a stroll through the history of Spain.
Did you know that Chaplin stole the music of a cuplé for one of his most famous films? Or that Nietzsche said the "strongest" thing he had ever heard in his life was a zarzuela by Federico Chueca? Have you ever thought of the copla as a strategy of female resistance?
The soundtrack of our grandmothers leads us by the hand through a not-so-distant past, where official discourse and subversion coexisted in a popular culture that helped endure life. ¡Ay, campaneras!, by Lidia García, is a walk through the stories behind these songs filled with female transgressions, social class differences, and a yearning for freedom that, despite everything, slipped through every crack it found. This remarkable book brings us closer to the inner workings of a world of cupletistas and bandits, seamstresses and manolas, and women as formidable as Raquel Meller, Concha Piquer, Lola Flores, Sara Montiel, or Rocío Jurado.
Lidia García García (Montealegre del Castillo, 1989) holds a doctorate in Art History from the University of Murcia, with a thesis on copla and camp practices. She is the author of the podcast ¡Ay, campaneras! and the book of the same name (Somos B, 2022). She regularly collaborates on the programs Cine de barrio, from Televisión Española, Mañana más, from Radio Nacional de España, and La ventana, from Cadena SER.
