Skip to content
1981
Volume 16, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2040-6134
  • E-ISSN: 2040-6142

Abstract

Recent research has examined the ways in which Spain and Spanishness have been construed by foreigners from the Middle Ages to the end of the twentieth century. Varela Ortega identifies four main Spanish stereotypes. Two are positive: the brave Spaniard and the passionate Spaniard. The other two are negative: the idle Spaniard and the degenerate Spaniard. This article analyses how Spain and Spanishness were portrayed in six promotional videos by six of the most successful anglophone music artists of the 1980s, the decade when music videos became a crucial element in the music industry and in popular culture. These artists are Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Nik Kershaw, Madonna, The Pogues and Simple Minds. This research shows that, in the last part of the twentieth century, Spaniards were mainly perceived in English-speaking popular cultures according to the two positive stereotypes identified by Varela Ortega. In those videos, Spanish bravery and passion are recurrently embodied by bullfighters and flamenco female dancers, and on one occasion by Don Quixote. Some of these artists embrace those stereotypes that characterized Spanishness. One video portrays Spain as a ‘Romantic’ land. Only one video projects the negative stereotype of an underdeveloped Spain.

© 2025 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jepc_00078_1
2025-08-29
2026-04-11

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Afinoguénova, E., Appel, S., Ballard, A. and McGowan, M. (2020), ‘Letters from Spain in a space-time box; historical GIS with timestamped itineraries for understanding the cronotopes of eighteenth-century travel writing’, International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 14:1–2, pp. 119–33, https://doi.org/10.3366/ijhac.2020.0248.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ardila, J. A. G. (2013), Textos del Desastre: La última gran crisis (1898), Madrid: Castalia.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Ardila, J. A. G. (2017), ‘The influence and reception of cervantes in England, 1607–2005’, in J. A. G. Ardila (ed.), The Cervantean Heritage: Reception and Influence of Cervantes in Britain, London: Routledge, pp. 2–31.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Ardila, J. A. G. (2023), Políptico cervantino: Cervantes y la novela moderna, Madrid: Visor.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Canavaggio, J. (2005), Don Quichotte du livre au mythe: Quatre siècles d’errance, Paris: Fayard.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Close, A. (1978), The Romantic Approach to Don Quixote: A Critical History of the Romantic Tradition in Quixote Criticism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Duran Duran (1981), ‘My Own Way’, Rio, vinyl, UK: Capitol, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUrIDz6L5vc. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Freire López, A. M. (2012), ‘España y la literatura de viajes en el siglo XIX’, Anales de Literatura Española, 24:24, https://doi.org/10.14198/aleua.2012.24.04.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Guilbert, G.-C. (2002), Madonna as Postmodern Myth: How One Star’s Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream, Jefferson City, MO: McFarland.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Hadley, T. (2004), To Cut a Long Story Short, London: Sidgwick and Jackson.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Kemp, G. (2009), I Know This Much: From Soho to Spandau, London: Fourth Estate.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Kershaw, Nik (1985), ‘Don Quixote’, The Riddle, vinyl, UK: MCA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFwF4zh2UIQ. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Maczak, A. (2003), ‘Gentlemen’s Europe: Nineteenth-century “Handbooks for Travellers”’, Annali d’Italianistica, 21, pp. 347–62.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Madonna (1986), ‘La Isla Bonita’, True Blue, vinyl, UK: Sire, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpzdgmqIHOQ. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Other Places (n.d.), ‘The Parting Glass: An annotated Pogues lyrics page’, http://www.poguetry.com/. Accessed 5 July 2024.
  16. Payne, S. (2017), En defensa de España: Desmontando mitos y leyendas negras, Madrid: Espasa.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Reid, M. (2023), Spain: The Trials and Triumphs of a Modern European Country, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Rettenmund, M. (1995), Encyclopedia Madonnica, New York: St Martin’s Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Roca Barea, M. E. (2016), Imperofobia y leyenda Negra: Roma, Estados Unidos y el imperio español, Madrid: Siruela.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Simple Minds (1989), ‘This Is Your Land’, Street Fighting Years, vinyl, UK: Virgin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqpAY2OBJzc. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Spandau Ballet (1983), ‘Gold’, True, vinyl, UK: Chrysalis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Taylor, J. (2012), In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran, London: Sphere.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. The Pogues (1988), ‘Fiesta’, If I Should Fall From Grace with God, vinyl, UK: Warner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pYI9t-I6qo. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Varela Ortega, J. (2019), España: Un relato de grandeza y odio, Madrid: Espasa.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Vernallis, C. (2004), Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context, New York: Columbia University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Webb, N. (1986), ‘Nik Kershaw: Recording secrets’, Sound of Sound, January, pp. 40–48, https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/nik-kershaw-recording-secrets/1291. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Young, G. (2015), ‘Bull Ring Shopping Centre seen as a place of retail dreams in glorious 1960s film’, Birmingham Mail, 17 October, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/bfi-film-bull-ring-birmingham-10233316. Accessed 5 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. The Pogues (n.d.), http://www.pogues.com/. Accessed 5 July 2024.
  29. The Stranglers (1981), ‘Golden Brown’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-GUjA67mdc. Accessed 5 July 2024.
/content/journals/10.1386/jepc_00078_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Duran Duran; Madonna; Nik Kershaw; Simple Minds; Spandau Ballet; Spanishness; The Pogues

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test