What is it about?

This article argues that the theory of duende must be traced not only through Lorca's writing on cante jondo but also through a missing link, his reflections on dance in early 1930. His ideas about the role of the body, repetition and difference help to explain why he insists on performance as duende's sphere of action, and even texts can achieve the moment of awareness of shared mortality which Lorca prizes in readers and spectators' response.

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Why is it important?

Instead of focusing on duende as a theory of inspiration, I suggest that duende must be linked to the reception of the work of art in performance.

Perspectives

This article interlocks with my analysis of the Poema del cante jondo, found in the book In the Light of Contradiction (2010).

Dr Roberta Ann Quance

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This page is a summary of: On the way to ‘duende’ (through Lorca'sElogio de Antonia Mercé, ‘la Argentina’, 1930), Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies, August 2011, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/14701847.2011.648920.
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