ABSTRACT
Flamenco became a cultural symbol over the course of the twentieth century. Flamenco culture is about understanding the artists, cataloguing artists, promoting artists, and supporting artists. In the wake of krausism, modernism, and documentarism, every contemporary governmental approach to flamenco in contemporary Andalucia presupposes artist-centeredness. The challenge faced by a newly-autonomous region such as Andalucia is to avoid the dangers of objectifying flamenco while still advancing patrimonial flamenco as a symbol of a protean Andalusian identity. Musical formalism, recording realism, and scientific objectification all, in one way or another, have been responsible for summoning higher authorities to declare and confirm the patrimonial character of the flamenco style. And the implication is that once the call is made, there is nothing further to be said on the matter. Such an 'umpirical call' saddles the community with a sacralized popular object.
