Studies of Fado III

Fado as Parody and Social Critique of the Contemporary Portuguese Tourist Economy in Gisele João’s “(Hotel da) Mariquinhas” (2013) and “Hostel da Mariquinhas” (2023)

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 20th Century, Portuguese fado has existed as an expression of working-class life in central Lisbon as well as within the various artistic modes of social critique.  fado has also served as a parody of social and political narratives. In many cases, fado songs parody each other in what we may characterize as a metaphorical, sociopolitical chain of evolving, critical dialog. This study will focus on two recent fado songs by the globally famed fadista Gisela João, “(Casa das) Mariquinhas” (2013), itself a loving parody of the 1930 “Casa da Mariquinhas” by Alfredo Marcerneiro, and its subsequent parody titled “Hostel da Mariquinhas” (2023), as an intertextual parody of the modernization and commodification of Lisbon and of fado in the 20th and 21st Centuries.