LA-COMPARSA-Y-EL-CONCURSO - ANDALUSIAN CARNIVAL ON-STAGE

Wandering groups of costumed minstrels who sing bawdy and biting songs about local events have long been the centerpiece elf carnival in And alucia. These groups are called murgas. In this article I offer an eth nographic description of the murgas of Carnival 1993 in Fl Puerto de S anta Maria (Andalucia) and argue that the contemporary murga, and henc e contemporary carnival itself has been the result of the intense conv ergence of festival energies on the indoor contests held in nearby Cad iz during the general prohibition of the festival by France. Contempor ary carnival exhibits a rich continuum of murga formats, some finding a home in the theater, some in the streets. Nevertheless, the function of the murga remains the enactment of social and political commentary by the lower socioeconomic classes of society. However, the nature of that commentary is affected by the institution of contests in Fl Puer to and throughout the region. This ''regionalization'' of carnival may both reflect and contribute to political consciousness of Andalusian identity.