Españolada (translated in English as Typically Spanish) is a derogatory term to those artistic works that gives an exaggerated image of Spanish people based on stereotypes. One of the most notorious example is the Andalusian folklore, being (for example) flamenco very popular among foreign people.[1]

José Luis López Vázquez was known for his performances in several españoladas films as the typical Spanish satyr character when he sees a woman from Sweden or Germany. Faithful reflection of that Spain subjugated to Catholic authorities of the Francoism

This term has another meaning that focuses on any flamboyant and messy effort that actually is worthless, for example the expression:[2]

Matar a una hormiga con una bomba atómica
To kill one ant with one atomic bomb

Background

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This distortion about Spain would have its beginnings in the 19th century, when several European writers and artists from the romanticism era made popular the "Spanish Myth".[3][4] One of those famous novels inspired in Spain were Carmen by Prosper Mérimée.

Cinema

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Regarding the cinema, it was created in the 1930s as a subgenre developed after the Spanish Civil War and Francoism.[5] Some known productions were: El turismo es un gran invento, Amor a la española, 40 grados a la sombra, Vente a Alemania, Pepe and Abuelo made in Spain among others.

According José Luis Navarrete, these films were so popular because they gave the population an unrealistic and idyllic vision about how Spain should be.[6]

References

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  1. Artículo El País: Españolada.
  2. "DLE: Españolado, -da". Real Academia de la Lengua Española. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  3. Enrique Valdivieso (1992). Historia de la pintura sevillana. Guadalquivir. ISBN 84-86080-76-2.
  4. Several authors (2000). "Reivindicar el costumbrismo". Ínsula. Archived from the original on 2016-09-25. Retrieved 2018-04-12. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Gubern, Román (1977). El cine sonoro en la II República (in Spanish). Barcelona: Lumen.
  6. Navarrete, José Luis (2009). Historia de un género cinematográfico: la españolada (in Spanish). Madrid: Quiasmo.