Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DUENDE
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pronounce
DUENDE:
Say it "doo WIN day."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
As we check out the sprightly, fairy-like, pixie-ish word duende, let's recall some other words for types of spirits:
1. A genius l__i is the protective spirit of a particular place. More loosely, it's the particular character or atmosphere of a place.
2. A g___m is a manmade spirit magically brought to life, sometimes one that's made for protection but turns to evil. More loosely, it's something we created that we lost control of when it turned against us.
3. The anima m___i is the soul of the world: the spirit that seems to unite all living things.
Could you recall all three?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
We may have taken the word "duende" from French, Spanish, or both.
In Spanish, duen de casa means "master of the house," and so our word "duende," shortened from that phrase, literally means "master of (the house)."
In ancient Rome and other Latin places, households worshipped their own individual household gods, which they figured were protecting the house. So, you can see why "duende," "master of (the house)," was first used to mean "a kind of supernatural spirit--usually a little one, like a pixie or an imp--from the folklore of Spain and other nations." This duende might be good, evil, or just mischievous.
And because a duende is a little spirit that hangs around the house, more generally, duende is also the spirit, passion, or inspiration that fills a particular artist or musician, as if by magical possession, so that they can delight and inspire their audience.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun.
It's the countable kind when you're talking about the supernatural spirits: "They believe in duendes."
And it's the uncountable kind when you're talking about the artistic passion: "He possesses duende."
Other forms:
Just the plural, "duendes."
how to use it:
"Duende" is rare, quirky, and poetic, with a Spanish flavor and a mystical tone. You might pick it when you need to call special attention to some performer's otherworldly talent. That is, "duende" calls much more attention to itself than synonyms like "zest," "spirit," "esprit," "passion," "inspiration," etc.
Although we most often use "duende" to talk about flamenco music, it can apply to any art form, even athletics, as we'll see in an example below. You might say that someone has duende, plays or performs with duende, or exudes or radiates duende.
examples:
"I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation."
— Federico García Lorca, In Search of Duende, 1998
"Lamar Jackson has more than talent. He has duende. Monday night's Ravens game confirmed it."
— Dan Rodricks, The Baltimore Sun, 12 October 2021
has this page helped you understand "duende"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "duende" without saying "artistic spirit" or "pixie that possesses you with artistic or musical talent."
try it out:
You might think of the poet Federico García Lorca as the father of the word "duende." He explores the word and the whole concept in his collection of essays, In Search of Duende.
In that collection, he quotes the singer El Lebrijano: "On days when I sing with duende no one can touch me."
See if you can explain what that means. If you're creating or performing with duende, what would that feel like? Have you perhaps experienced this for yourself, either as the performer or the spectator?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is "Clues in Cobbled Haikus."
Check out the haiku, cobbled together from the work of a famous writer, and see if you can identify the term it's suggesting.
Try this one today:
Cobbled from the work of Eddie Izzard, the haiku below suggests which of the following terms: multum in parvo, Rumpelstiltskin, or Scylla and Charybdis?
Brilliant, stuff, movement!
Cats, monkeys, and blue people!
Such a collection!
To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
review this word:
A. ARTISTIC ENNUI or BURNOUT.
B. SOCIETAL COLLAPSE or APOCALYPSE.
C. MUSICAL PATTERN or STANDARDIZATION.
2.
The poet Lorca distinguishes the duende from _____, all similar concepts but not exactly the same.
A. the angel and the muse
B. the dream and the vision
C. the request and the prayer
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
As we check out the sprightly, fairy-like, pixie-ish word duende, let's recall some other words for types of spirits:
We may have taken the word "duende" from French, Spanish, or both.
Part of speech:
"Duende" is rare, quirky, and poetic, with a Spanish flavor and a mystical tone. You might pick it when you need to call special attention to some performer's otherworldly talent. That is, "duende" calls much more attention to itself than synonyms like "zest," "spirit," "esprit," "passion," "inspiration," etc.
"I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation."
Explain the meaning of "duende" without saying "artistic spirit" or "pixie that possesses you with artistic or musical talent."
You might think of the poet Federico García Lorca as the father of the word "duende." He explores the word and the whole concept in his collection of essays, In Search of Duende.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |