Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with a discussion of the central mythologies that have shaped fado's history and highlights the ways in which the music has been appropriated as an ideological tool for discussing Portugueseness. It examines the ways that fado's witnessing 'takes place' by drawing on the work of a number of historians and theorists of memory and place. The book shows the processes by which fado texts provide a 'memory theatre' and to propose a description of fado which is more spatial than historical. The book provides a more detailed description of the emergence of novo fado. It looks at a range of performers and their relationship with the wider popular music scene in Portugal. The book examines the relationships between fado as a local practice and a global phenomenon.