Fallas Studies Association

The Associació d'Estudis Fallers (ADEF) — in English the Fallas Studies Association — is a Valencian cultural and scholarly association founded in Valencia on 22 February 1990. Its founding purpose is to develop and give scientific prestige to the study of the Fallas festival and of popular culture, and to make that research available to society at large. It presents itself as a bridge between the academic world and the festive world of the Fallas. The association was created by a group of scholars and Fallas-world figures including Antonio Ariño, Enric Soler i Godes, Josep Joan Coll, Rafael Contreras Juesas, Josep Alcañiz, Josep Alarte, Vicent Borrego and Gil-Manuel Hernàndez i Martí. Ariño had presented the first doctoral thesis on the Fallas written from the social sciences, "Fiesta y Sociedad en la Valencia contemporánea", in January 1990, and had coined the term "estudios falleros" (Fallas studies) while coordinating the collective work "Historia de las Fallas" for the newspaper Levante-El Mercantil Valenciano. In its early years ADEF had to overcome incomprehension and suspicion from much of the Fallas world. It nevertheless broadened its membership beyond the university to include Fallas scholars, artists and collectors. Lacking premises of its own, it met first at the offices of the newspaper Levante on the Plaça de l'Ajuntament, later at the Hotel Inglés and at the Sociedad El Micalet, all in Valencia. Its first president was Enric Soler i Godes; after his death in 1993 Gil-Manuel Hernàndez took the lead, followed by Jesús Peris Llorca (2012–2019), the pedagogue Ricard Català i Gorgues (2019–2021) and, from 2021, Lluís Fernández Gimeno. ADEF's main public vehicle is the Revista d'Estudis Fallers, which by its twentieth issue had become the principal social-research journal of the Fallas festival, offering scholars a dissemination platform run to scientific-journal standards, with sections for reflective and research articles and reviews of the main publications on the Fallas. The association has also collaborated with the Consell Valencià de Cultura — notably on the 1996 book "La fiesta de las Fallas" — and with Fallas bodies such as the local juntas of Valencia, Alzira, Gandia and Xàtiva and those of the Hogueras de Alicante. The Junta Central Fallera delegated to ADEF the training of tourist guides on the festival. In 2016 the association obtained recognition from UNESCO as a non-governmental consultative organisation in the field of intangible heritage. It remains an active scholarly and cultural body based in Valencia, working in Valencian and Spanish and operating across the Valencian Community.

The Associació d'Estudis Fallers (ADEF) was constituted on 22 February 1990 in Valencia. Its founding objectives were to develop and give scientific prestige to Fallas studies and to the study of popular culture, and to place that work at the disposal of society, positioning the association as a link between the academic and the festive worlds. The founding group comprised Antonio Ariño, Enric Soler i Godes, Josep Joan Coll, Rafael Contreras Juesas, Josep Alcañiz, Josep Alarte, Vicent Borrego and Gil-Manuel Hernàndez i Martí. Ariño had been the first person to present a doctoral thesis on the Fallas elaborated from the social sciences, "Fiesta y Sociedad en la Valencia contemporánea", in January 1990. He had also coined the terminology "estudios falleros" — encompassing all scientific research that rigorously studies the Fallas festivals — while coordinating the collective work "Historia de las Fallas" for the newspaper Levante-El Mercantil Valenciano, after which he proposed the constitution of an "Associació d'Estudis Fallers". In its early years ADEF had to overcome the obstacles posed by the incomprehension and suspicion of a large part of the Fallas world. Despite this initial problem, it expanded by incorporating people not only from the university sphere but also from the Fallas world — scholars, artists and collectors. Lacking a social headquarters at first, its meetings were held at the offices of the newspaper Levante on the Plaça de l'Ajuntament. Later they moved to the Hotel Inglés and to the premises of the Sociedad El Micalet, always in Valencia. The first president was Enric Soler i Godes. After his death in 1993, Gil-Manuel Hernàndez headed the entity, followed by Jesús Peris Llorca, a professor at the Universitat de València, between 2012 and 2019; between 2019 and 2021 the presidency fell to the pedagogue Ricard Català i Gorgues and, from 2021, to Lluís Fernández Gimeno. The association has carried out activities with the Consell Valencià de Cultura, with which it produced the book "La fiesta de las Fallas" in 1996, and also with Fallas bodies such as the local juntas of Valencia, Alzira, Gandia and Xàtiva, as well as those of the Hogueras de Alicante. The Junta Central Fallera delegated to it the training of tourist guides regarding the festival. In 2016 the association obtained recognition from UNESCO as a non-governmental consultative entity in the field of intangible heritage. The intellectual context of Fallas studies long predates ADEF. Erudite studies existed from the early 19th century — Lady Holland (1803) or Alexandre de Laborde (1809) — but it was not until 1936 that a scientific approach began to appear, when Rafael Gayano Lluch published "La Festa de les Falles. Apunts per a un excel·lent estudi" in the annuary of the Centre de Cultura Valenciana. After the Civil War, more costumbrist or ethnographic studies continued, such as J. Galván (1942) on Fallas artists, Gayano Lluch himself (1946 and 1953) on pardoned figures and Fallas commissions, or the Anuario fallero of Soler i Godes (1953). The situation changed completely when Francesc Almela i Vives published "Las fallas" in 1949, considered the first global study of the festival and setting out the main themes of later research. Joan Fuster's contributions, collected in "Combustible per a falles" (1967), addressed the sociological aspects of the festival, its component elements and its history and geography. The political transition brought a double problem: despite Fuster's revaluation, other left-wing intellectuals generally treated the Fallas with disdain or hostility, while the Fallas world moved towards the "blaverisme" faction, producing a separation between academic and festive positions. In the 1970s and 1980s bibliography returned to costumbrist descriptions, but the end of Francoism reopened the possibility of more critical approaches — notably Alfons Cucó's 1974 article "Apunts per a un estudi històric de las falles" in the journal Gorg, and the 1978 book "Fallas en su tinta: 1939–1975" by journalists Francisco Pérez Puche and Vicente Lladró, as well as Josep Vicent Marqués's "País Perplex" (1979). ADEF emerged from this ferment to institutionalise and sustain the scientific study of the Fallas. ADEF's principal ongoing publication is the Revista d'Estudis Fallers. By its twentieth issue, presented on 2 March 2015 at the casal of the Falla Na Jordana in Valencia, the journal had become the main social-research journal of the Fallas festival, offering scholars a platform for disseminating their research to scientific-journal standards, with sections for reflective and research articles and reviews of the main publications on the Fallas. Issue 20 covered the debate on whether the crisis was a danger or an opportunity for the Fallas of Valencia, reflection on the Fallas as artistic expression and as an element of public space, almost unpublished testimonies of 19th-century foreign travellers on the Fallas, and the connection between the feast of Sant Vicent Ferrer and the origins of the Fallas.

• 2021

  Lluís Fernández Gimeno becomes president.

• 2019

  Ricard Català i Gorgues becomes president (until 2021).

• 2016

  ADEF recognised by UNESCO as a non-governmental consultative entity in intangible heritage.

• 2015

  Issue 20 of the Revista d'Estudis Fallers presented on 2 March at the casal of the Falla Na Jordana.

• 2012

  Jesús Peris Llorca becomes president (until 2019).

• 1996

  Publication of the book "La fiesta de las Fallas" with the Consell Valencià de Cultura.

• 1993

  Death of first president Enric Soler i Godes; Gil-Manuel Hernàndez takes over the leadership.

• 1990

  ADEF constituted in Valencia on 22 February; Antonio Ariño presents the first social-science doctoral thesis on the Fallas in January.

A scholarly-cultural association acting as a bridge between academia and the Fallas festive world, promoting scientific study of the Fallas and Valencian popular culture.

• Revista d'Estudis Fallers

  The association's principal research journal on the Fallas festival, run to scientific-journal standards with reflective and research articles and reviews; by 2015 it had reached its 20th issue.

• La fiesta de las Fallas (1996)

  Book produced with the Consell Valencià de Cultura.

1. 1Associació d'Estudis Fallers - ADEF (official website)estudisfallers.org
2. 2Fallas studies association (Wikidata)wikidata.org
3. 3Associació d'Estudis Fallers (Wikipedia en español)es.wikipedia.org