El mal querer: Rosalía's Postmodern "Universe" of Meanings

Abstract:

The juxtaposition of adoration and criticism that audiences have directed towards Rosalía's album El mal querer since its 2018 release has led scholars to take notice. Many scholars have tried to analyze the reasoning behind the album's sudden controversial success and have attributed it to everything from Rosalía's use of flamenco fusion and Andalusian elements (Peter Manuel) to the overall heterogenous nature of her work (Carlos Morales Gálvez, Marisol Salanova, Jorge Carrión, and Javier Blánquez). Only a few (Morales Gálvez and Salanova) have gone beyond discussing Rosalía's artistic choices and their impact to also mention the role of viewers, and even these two individuals have failed to provide an in-depth analysis of the global viewers' role in Rosalía's rapid rise to stardom. My article aims to fill this gap by concentrating on the instrumentality of Rosalía's global spectators in the impact of El mal querer. Through a focus on the aural and visual elements within the album's video chapter "Malamente," I will illustrate how both the album's popularity and controversy stem from its nature as a postmodern "universe" of intertexts that gives fans and critics around the world the agency to create an abundance of meanings alongside Rosalía.