El sonido de la muerte inminente: Las baladas de ajusticiados en Europa (siglos XVI-XIX)

• McIlvenna, Una ^[1]
  1. [1] Australian National University

     Australian National University

     Australia

     
• Localización: Boletín de Literatura Oral, ISSN-e 2173-0695, Nº. Extra 6, 2023 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Los sonidos de la horca: la literatura de patíbulo en Europa (y más allá)), págs. 16-38
• Idioma: español
• DOI: 10.17561/blo.vextra6.8112
• Títulos paralelos:
  • The Sound of Imminent Death: Execution Ballads in Early Modern and Nineteenth-Century Europe
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Desde los albores de la imprenta se publicaron canciones sobre acontecimientos especialmente noticiosos, y las baladas sobre criminales y sus ejecuciones fueron uno de los subgéneros más populare. Su difusión oral las convertía también en un medio extraordinariamente exitoso para la recepción de las noticias: independientemente del nivel cultural, el rango social, el sexo o la edad, todo el mundo podía escuchar y entender el contenido de una balada de ajusticiados. El presente estudio trata de explicar no solo los rasgos característicos de las baladas de ajusticiados, sino también un aspecto central que quizá resulta difícil de comprender para la mayoría de los observadores modernos: el hecho de que fuera una práctica común, entre los siglos XVI y XIX, que la gente cantara y escuchara las noticias de crímenes y sus castigos, a menudo brutalmente violentos. Este artículo examina las baladas de ajusticiados en inglés, francés, alemán, neerlandés e italiano, desde el siglo XVI hasta el XIX, revelando la extraordinaria uniformidad del género en todas las lenguas y en todas las épocas.

  • English

    ince the dawn of the printing press, songs about especially newsworthy events were published. Ballads about criminals and their executions were one of the most popular subgenres. Their oral dissemination also made them an extraordinarily successful means of receiving news. Regardless of cultural level, social status, gender, or age, everyone could listen to and understand the content of a ballad about the executed. This study aims to explain not only the characteristic features of ballads about the executed but also a central aspect that may be difficult to grasp for most modern observers. This aspect is the fact that it was a common practice, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, for people to sing and listen to news of crimes and their often brutally violent punishments. This article examines ballads about the executed in English, French, German, Dutch, and Italian. It covers the period from the 16th to the 19th century, revealing the extraordinary uniformity of the genre in all languages and in all periods.

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