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Difference between revisions of "Gorroneo (Spain and Hispanic America)"
Gorroneo (Spain and Hispanic America) (view source)
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Jargon around such practices included colloquial words of Germanic origin, with similar meanings (see Rafael Salillas 1896). Salillas mentions ''godería'', which means to eat and drink for free, ''rozavillón'', a person who lives at the expense of others, and ''pegote'' who is an “(im)pertinent person who does not separate from others, particularly in the hours and occasions in which they usually eat” (RAE 2019). These words are out of use, but ''gorrón, gorronear'' and ''gorroneo'' remained widely used in colloquial contexts in Spain without an equivalent in formal Spanish (Sanmartín Sáez 2003). | Jargon around such practices included colloquial words of Germanic origin, with similar meanings (see Rafael Salillas 1896). Salillas mentions ''godería'', which means to eat and drink for free, ''rozavillón'', a person who lives at the expense of others, and ''pegote'' who is an “(im)pertinent person who does not separate from others, particularly in the hours and occasions in which they usually eat” (RAE 2019). These words are out of use, but ''gorrón, gorronear'' and ''gorroneo'' remained widely used in colloquial contexts in Spain without an equivalent in formal Spanish (Sanmartín Sáez 2003). | ||
Outside Spain, these terms became common in Latin America from the sixteenth century with the first colonial-indigenous language encounters. They can be found in the Spanish-Quechua vocabulary (González Holguín 1608). The term ''garronear'' and ''gorrear'' in Mexico have similar meanings. In Chile and Bolivia, the meaning of ''gorrear'' has evolved to signify being sexually unfaithful to a spouse. In this sense, the term ''gorrona'' was also used in Spain as synonym of prostitute, but has since become disuse. Most of the associated terms carry negative connotations and are morally reprehensible. | Outside Spain, these terms became common in Latin America from the sixteenth century with the first colonial-indigenous language encounters. They can be found in the Spanish-Quechua vocabulary (González Holguín 1608). The term ''garronear'' in Argentina and Uruguay and ''gorrear'' in Mexico have similar meanings to ''gorroneo''. In Chile and Bolivia, the meaning of ''gorrear'' has evolved to signify being sexually unfaithful to a spouse. In this sense, the term ''gorrona'' was also used in Spain as synonym of prostitute, but has since become disuse. Most of the associated terms carry negative connotations and are morally reprehensible. | ||
Like other informal practices in Spain and worldwide, ''gorroneo'' can be included into a set of survival and subsistence practices in response to power constraints of unequal social structures (Pitt Rivers 1971; Scott 1985). However, the character of a ''gorrón'' can qualify as a case of an archetypal trickster, a rule-bender, border-crosser and free-rider who appears in the mythology of most cultures thus blurring ʻthe boundary between need and greedʼ (Ledeneva 2018) . In literary contexts, foxy characters tend to be portrayed in an ambivalent fashion: street-smart, good-humored and entertaining, while also morally reprehensible, unsavory and parasitic. Beyond of the scope of literature and literary critique of the sociological realism of the picaresque genre (Rico 1989; Cabo Aseguinolaza 1992), more research is needed on current picaresque practices like ''gorroneo'', that are embedded in the complex ethos of sharing and [[Amici|friendship]] specific to the Spanish social, cultural and historical context. | Like other informal practices in Spain and worldwide, ''gorroneo'' can be included into a set of survival and subsistence practices in response to power constraints of unequal social structures (Pitt Rivers 1971; Scott 1985). However, the character of a ''gorrón'' can qualify as a case of an archetypal trickster, a rule-bender, border-crosser and free-rider who appears in the mythology of most cultures thus blurring ʻthe boundary between need and greedʼ (Ledeneva 2018) . In literary contexts, foxy characters tend to be portrayed in an ambivalent fashion: street-smart, good-humored and entertaining, while also morally reprehensible, unsavory and parasitic. Beyond of the scope of literature and literary critique of the sociological realism of the picaresque genre (Rico 1989; Cabo Aseguinolaza 1992), more research is needed on current picaresque practices like ''gorroneo'', that are embedded in the complex ethos of sharing and [[Amici|friendship]] specific to the Spanish social, cultural and historical context. | ||