Glossators
Glosses are part of the Mallorcan oral tradition. They are a clever way of interpreting the daily reality that marks moments of freedom or repression.Glosses are very important in Mallorca’s countryside, where the past lack of cultural education was compensated by gaining popular wisdom, which was conveyed sarcastically and mischievously through the glosses.
Glosses and gloss contests have gathered a lot of strength over the last years. Almost all villages organise this kind of contests during their festivals. These contests, which for many years took place around the bonfires, are currently organised in advance. Many gloss masters take part in these events. The local television channels of Mallorca broadcast the most important ones.
In the 20th century, glosses decreased in popularity; however, they have gained back a lot of strength. Some theorists have asked the Government to introduce the glosses into the education system, since they believe that glosses can help students work on three curricular contents: concepts, proceedings and values (respect for the questions and answers sessions, etc.).
Through glosses you can lean to improvise and heighten your inventiveness in order to turn verses into something sharp and sarcastic.
The Canonge de Santa Cirga Cultural Association, founded in 1998, is trying to revitalise glosses and any artistic expression deeply rooted to our land. This association has created a blog in which you can find different points of view about this subject.