{"id":5686,"date":"2026-05-31T11:40:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/when-the-moors-facing-persecution-found-refuge-in-flamenco\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T11:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:58:13","slug":"when-the-moors-facing-persecution-found-refuge-in-flamenco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/when-the-moors-facing-persecution-found-refuge-in-flamenco\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Moors, Facing Persecution, Found Refuge in Flamenco"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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When the persecution of the Moors
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“Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo,” by Antonio Manuel Rodr\u00edguez, reveals the Al-Andalus influence on this ancient folk genre and is now in its seventh edition<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Royal Academy of Language links the term \u201cflamenco\u201d to a historical region of Europe. \u201cNative of Flanders<\/b>, \u201d<\/b> it states in its first definition. The second one reiterates the same idea: \u201cBelonging to or relating to Flanders.\u201d Even the third one: \u201cRefers to a pictorial style that developed in Flanders from the 15th to the 17th centuries.\u201d You have to wait until the fourth definition in the RAE dictionary for flamenco to be described as linked to a popular artistic phenomenon.<\/b> \u201cUsed to refer to a cultural expression,\u201d it states succinctly. He adds: \u201cIt is a traditional Andalusian folk genre, often associated with the Romani people.\u201d<\/p>

Wikipedia doesn’t beat around the bush and gets straight to the point: \u201cFlamenco is a genre of Spanish folk music<\/b> that developed in Andalusia.\u201d Yes, okay. But where does flamenco come from? What kind of substrate does it feed on? The origins of flamenco are one of the most intriguing anthropological and cultural mysteries<\/b> in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. It is known that it originated on the fringes and is the result of a syncretic blend of Romani, African, and Moorish laments. The Lament of the Persecuted.<\/p>

Ah\u00ed, en el sustrato andalus\u00ed, es donde el escritor Antonio Manuel Rodr\u00edguez<\/b><\/a> Ramos ha indagado durante a\u00f1os para articular una hip\u00f3tesis alternativa sobre la g\u00e9nesis del flamenco. And it has done so by following the ancestral trail of the words<\/b> and expressive turns of phrase that have shaped an oral culture rooted in memory and transmission.<\/p>

In Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo<\/a><\/i>, the author argues that the persecuted Moors<\/b> found refuge in flamenco through a surprising phenomenon of invisible resilience that encoded a culture that had been severely harassed. According to Antonio Manuel<\/b>, the very name \u201cflamenco\u201d combines two words of Andalusian Arabic origin. \u201cFalah\u201d<\/i> means \u201cpeasant,\u201d and \u201cmencub\u201d<\/i> refers to \u201cthe dispossessed.\u201d \u201cThe throat and the soul are the places that are hardest to plunder. “That’s why the word ‘flamenco’ is the most flamenco and the most Moorish<\/b> of all,” the writer argues.<\/p>

*Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo*<\/i> was published by Almuzara in 2018, but it is now in its seventh edition<\/b> and has inspired a four-episode documentary series<\/a> on Canal Sur. The book has been presented in Mexico, Italy, Morocco, and Cuba, and has been showcased in dozens of towns throughout Andalusia and Spain. To a certain extent, the work is a continuation of *La huella morisca*<\/i><\/a> (Almuzara, 2010), a revealing essay on the hidden traces of Andalusian culture<\/b> following the fall of Al-Andalus.<\/p>

With the Christian conquest, the Andalusians were forbidden to speak their language, wear their traditional clothing, eat their food, or pray to their god. That is why they concealed their identity<\/b> in their daily lives and in their cultural traits. In flamenco, too. Antonio Manuel gives two authentic examples:\u00a1ay!<\/i> and\u00a1ol\u00e9! These are <\/i>two interjections that are intrinsically linked to flamenco. The first evokes pain and demonstrates, in the writer\u2019s opinion, that flamenco harbors a trauma<\/b>: that caused by renouncing one\u2019s true self. \u201cOl\u00e9\u201d<\/i> refers to the Arabic name for God: Allah. And it shows that traces of the sacred linger behind much of Flemish etymology.<\/p>

There are many examples. For example, sole\u00e1<\/b>, the supreme style of flamenco. According to the author, the word comes from *salat*<\/i>, which means \u201cprayer\u201d in Arabic. The ” martinete<\/b>,” a fundamental form of flamenco song\u2014sober and dramatic\u2014is often accompanied by a monotonous rhythmic tapping on the anvil. Antonio Manuel argues that the word also comes from the Arabic marratain<\/i>, which literally means \u201ctwice\u201d and refers to the second call to prayer. Siguiriya<\/b> is said to derive from sukar<\/i> (\u201csugar\u201d in Arabic) and, according to the writer, reflects the state of intoxication or mystical ecstasy that the singer reaches when he dares to perform one of the most heart-wrenching styles.<\/p>

Farruca, jaleo, zambra, and zarabanda are flamenco concepts that are \u201cunquestionably\u201d associated with Andalusian origins<\/b>, according to Rodr\u00edguez. Many lyrics contain shocking expressions that are hard to decipher. For example, there are tangos that end with what appears to be a vindication of the \u201ccalabac\u00edn.\u201d And, in fact, in the author\u2019s view, it conceals the combination of two Arabic words<\/b>: qalb<\/i> (\u201cheart\u201d) and hazim<\/i> (\u201csad\u201d). The exclamation \u201c\u00a1agua!\u201d, which is frequently used at flamenco festivals, does not refer in any way to the liquid element but rather stems from a phonetic alteration<\/b> of \u201caqua<\/i>,\u201d which means \u201clouder\u201d in Arabic.<\/p>

The book offers an archaeological exploration<\/b> of the Moorish traces embedded in flamenco. \u201cIt\u2019s a statement of principles and a method,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt aims to incorporate etymology as one of the disciplines that would help trace the origins of flamenco.\u201d<\/b> And to decipher the coded words, one must do so from a \u201cholistic perspective\u201d that takes into account not only history but especially \u201cundocumented memory.\u201d<\/p>

Experts have traditionally dated the origins of flamenco to the 18th century and have not delved into itsearliest<\/b> roots <\/b> due to the lack of documentary sources. What the professor from C\u00f3rdoba proposes in this work is precisely to draw on other types of \u201canthropological\u201d<\/b> and \u201cmemoir-based\u201d<\/b> sources, without which, in his view, it is impossible to formulate a reasonable hypothesis about the origins of flamenco culture.<\/p>

\u201cI think that\u2019s the book\u2019s greatest contribution,\u201d he says. \u201cIn other words, a method that allows us to dig beyond what is apparent<\/b> and find words that take refuge in Spanish sounds, but which, in reality, come from other words that have been preserved in formaldehyde.\u201d Antonio Manuel<\/b> intends to bring \u201ccoherence\u201d to all of that material.<\/p>

Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo<\/i> suggests \u201cthree origins\u201d for flamenco terms. The first stems from religion<\/b>, particularly mysticism, and this is where the sole\u00e1, the seguirilla, and the martinete fit in. Other words derive from the \u201cpain\u201d and \u201ctragedy\u201d of the expulsion<\/b>. The term “flamenco” itself is said to have originated from this group. And finally, a group of expressions directly related to music<\/b>, which would include, for example, the taranta, which, in his view, derives from taranim<\/i> or tartil, both of which <\/i>mean \u201crecitation.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThis book has had a tremendous impact, both in substance and in form,\u201d says the author. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to write an academic book.\u201d<\/b> The work has caused quite a stir among traditional flamenco scholars. He has received scathing criticism, but also heartfelt praise. Roc\u00edo M\u00e1rquez<\/b>, Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Llergo, Argentina, Rafael de Utrera<\/b>, and Laura Vital have <\/b>joined the writer at many of his book presentations.<\/p>

From the very beginning, Manolo Sanl\u00facar<\/b> supported his theories about the Moorish origins of flamenco. And he said: \u201cAntonio Manuel, our brother in Andalusian sorrow, seeks us out in history to express our truth and set it on its feet.\u201d And for the poet and flamenco scholar Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Vel\u00e1zquez-Gaztelu<\/b>, *Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo*<\/i> is a work \u201ccreated with love and respect\u2014excellent, lucid, and revealing.\u201d<\/p>

Antonio Manuel<\/b> wants to gather “new research\u201d to facilitate the ethimological identification of flamenco. \u201cArqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo”<\/i> has served to question the national-catholic vision of Spain<\/b> and proves that there has been “a cultural permanence of resistance to oblivion”, states the author. And he concludes: \u201cFlamenco is made of life, and I think it would be a grave mistake to turn it into a relic.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArist\u00f3teles Moreno\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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“Arqueolog\u00eda de lo jondo” reveals the Andalusian influence on this ancient folk genre and is now in its seventh edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[71,346,148],"colab_actividad":[],"colab_ubicacion":[],"class_list":["post-5686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-al-andalus-en","tag-flamenco","tag-moriscos-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5693,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686\/revisions\/5693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5686"},{"taxonomy":"colab_actividad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/colab_actividad?post=5686"},{"taxonomy":"colab_ubicacion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitalandalus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/colab_ubicacion?post=5686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}