ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the lyrics of cante flamenco, the copla flamenca. Women figure importantly in the thematic material of cante. Images of women are portrayed that range from adoration to vilification, from eroticism to fatalism. These images include the mother (mare), the lover (compañera), the prostitute (mujer de la vida), the mother in law (suegra) and the widow (viuda). Evocations of women pervade the lyrics of cante, promoting stereotypes in certain instances and in other cases eloquently expressing human relationships and emotions with pathos and sensitivity. I will draw examples of coplas from the repertory of flamenco lyrics that represent prominent themes and imagery in the portrayal of women. I begin by providing a brief background on the coplas themselves, on their evolution and the scholarship that has been done to date. I discuss relevant aspects of social customs as they are helpful in understanding the images and themes that appear in the coplas. This chapter intends to provide a background on the coplas, both the social milieu from which they spring and common themes concerning the portrayal of women in the lyrics of cante flamenco. This chapter ends with a discussion of some of the themes and approaches to lyrics taken by contemporary cantaoras, with their own comments and observations about the flamenco copla.
