Philosophy. fist (“a sexual word of the year 4 which is born in me”) and the Greek Sophie (“that which has wisdom”). Fistrosophy is a way of life, a discipline, a way of being and seeing the world, as its reference Chiquito de la Calzada (born Gregorio Sánchez) did. A character who offers multiple levels of analysis, from his impact on everyday language to his sociological significance, which transcends the category of humorous icon. So much so that this week the first days dedicated to “study and reflection on the figure of Chiquito” will take place. It will take place at La Térmica in Málaga and the invitations have long been sold out.
The I Cycle of Fistrosophy, which is serious, is one of the proposals brought this year by Moments, the International Festival of Contemporary Popular Subcultures and Visual Arts, a festival which for a decade has been discovering the history of urban cultures attached to the DIY philosophy. From punkrock, to skateboarding, through street photography, surfing, graffiti or jazz. And now, Chiquito.
For some time, Juanjo Moya, promoter of Moments, had been thinking about the idea of dedicating a space to the Malaga actor. “It’s a festival of popular subcultures, those that emerge in the streets. And there is nothing more popular than Chiquito,” he emphasizes. The actor has become a national reference, but he has a Malaga essence that goes unnoticed outside the city. “A sort of last of the Mohicans, a type of Malagueño that has almost disappeared. The tip of the iceberg of a daily culture in this city, as in other cities,” he emphasizes.
The choice of the name already shows the vindictive intention of its ideologues. “We wanted a term indebted to his school, which had power, which was original and which justified him not only as an actor, but as a character who left a social mark”, explains Francisco Daniel Medina, poet and novelist and one cycle coordinators. “Hence fistrosophy, because it impacts the way we speak and even think.”
Seed of a new type of humor
Medina himself will have a conference on the Chiquito language with Malaga MC Sergio Albarracín (Elphomega) entitled “The importance of being called Lucas”. They have both been friends since 75 and are dedicated to amassing words: in walls and rhymes, in the case of Elphomega, and in the books of poems and novels that Medina writes. They thus underline the influence on the way of speaking and even moving that Chiquito had on his generation: “We went to the B52 [un popular bar en pleno Centro de Málaga] and we didn’t stop: it was all the time, “fistro!”, “sinner!”
For years it was non-stop. More or less explicit debtors appeared, like Florentino Fernández (whom Chiquito sued) and others who made recourse to the absurd their point of support to create their own language, like the humor of La Hora Chanante. “Although in Chiquito many words were invented, others were linked to the way of speaking in their territory. There are neighbors and relatives who speak like this, and that is why we, the Malagasy, identify so much with him,” explains Natalia Meléndez (professor of journalism and specialist in humor), who will analyze his humorous legacy with the illustrator Ángel Idígoras.
“He planted a seed to create humor that surprised people so much that they ended up laughing.” At the same time, he may have buried the classic joke teller, because the journey began to matter more than the end.
Its influence on popular culture is enormous and continues even if the myth is no longer as popular with new generations. In Malaga there is a park, a statue, murals and even a traffic light dedicated to Chiquito. Gumball cups and stickers are still sold on collectors’ websites. And the exhibitions, tributes, books, cameos in comics and even video games number in the dozens.
Dictatorship, emigration, developmentalism: “Small context”
Chiquito was born in 1932 in Calzada de la Trinidad, a popular and lively neighborhood of Malaga, and died in 2017 in Huelin, a former industrial neighborhood today from the perspective of real estate investors. It is there, in a city that is transforming to the rhythm of the civil war, the post-war, the dictatorship (with its subsequent development) and the democratic opening, that Rogelio López Cuenca wants to place his presentation entitled “Chiquito Context”.
“We tend, when we talk about any artist, to follow the model of exegesis of the singular genius. Here, in his particular use of spoken language. But I have long needed to defend a cultural history that does not focus on heroes and exploits. “Think of culture more as a collective, necessarily social process,” explains López Cuenca (visual artist and National Fine Arts Prize 2022), who devoted a key part of his work to the deconstruction of the Picasso myth.
Its objective is to broaden attention to the particularities of the use of parody of language, a common resource of silenced groups, with the clear example of Carnival. “There is a rhetoric that poor people notice that aims to leave you behind. » For example, legal language. Chiquito laughs.
His life goes through a context. “The very harsh post-war period, the lesson for the working classes, the repression…”. Even his episode in Japan, the months he spent on tour there, have a significance that is often overlooked: “It’s a migration, it’s a degrading process. What happens is that since he’s a flamenco artist… But it’s like he’s going to a car factory. It’s the same Chiquito who, in the early hours of the morning in Torremolinos, waits a little longer for the tablao in case a young man comes to give him the 5,000 pesetas. At one of these parties, he met Carrie Fisher, then at the height of her career as Princess Leia.
Ultimately, this story of life meets developmentalism in Malaga, symbolized by the extension of the Alameda crossing El Perchel by throwing away what was there. “I saw the demolition of this neighborhood. When I arrived, it looked like an Álvarez Quintero prank. It was full of taverns where men spent the day raving, heirs of this tragic story. Talking nonsense all day, making a parody of incomprehensible language,” recalls López Cuenca. “This physical space has disappeared before our eyes and the process of touristification is a continuation of the expropriation that began with the entry of Italian troops in 1937. A mechanism which must be defined as a crime.”
Heritage in Malaga
Chiquito’s legacy lives on in the country, but in Malaga it has a particular strength. “At that point, people knew each other. » He could go to the baptism with his flamenco group, and we could meet him in the neighborhood, remembers Moya, who has also run Staf Magazine since 1995. One of his last interviews was published there: “He was one of our dreams. “We spent two hours talking to him.”
The idea is to extend this cycle by at least a few more editions. “He is a multifaceted character: singer, flamencologist, comedian, actor. It’s like you reread a classic or watch a movie again and you rediscover something,” explains Medina: “The cycle is no longer aimed at those of us who are fans of Chiquito, which is also true, but to claim a character that we believe should remain relevant today. May it be used so that new generations know it. Just as Picasso is claimed to have revolutionized painting, Chiquito does it with humor.
