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Federico García Lorca

By Mathew Leake

Federico García Lorca was the most influential and popular Spanish poet and playwright of the 20th century. His works are well known around the world. Beyond his poetry and plays, Lorca is renowned for being a part of the "Generation of 27", an avant-garde band of Spanish artists who pushed the boundaries in their respective fields throughout the 1920s. However, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War had a disastrous effect on the Spanish arts and Lorca, a liberal sympathiser, became one of its high profile victims when he was assassinated by the Nationalists in August 1936 at the age of 38.

Federico Lorca was born in June 1898 to a fairly wealthy family of landowners in the small rural town of Fuente Vaqueros, close to Granada. Even though the family moved to central Granada when he was 11 years old, they would still spend their summers in their rural home. Growing up close to nature had a profound effect on the young Federico Lorca, visible in many of his later works. Talented in many areas as a youth, Lorca went on to attend the Sacred Heart University in Granada where he was encouraged to further develop his passion for writing. He finished his first book,Impresiones y Paisajes, in 1918 after a trip through Spain with one of his professors. In the book he covered his experiences whilst travelling as well as his views on the huge diversity within Spain.

Following his first ever publication, Lorca went on to attend theResidencia de Estudiantes, an elite university in Madrid. It was here that he befriended and worked with the likes of painter Salvador Dali, composer Manuel de Falla, and filmmaker Luis Buñuel; all of whom were either already or would become highly influential in their respective fields and would form part of the "Generation of 27". Lorca graduated from the Residencia de Estudiantes with degrees in both law and philosophy, however he did not pursue either of these in a professional capacity. Instead he opted to concentrate on his passion for writing. His first foray into theatre came in 1920 when he staged the playEl maleficio de la mariposa, an unusual production about the love between a butterfly and a cockroach. The play was not fully appreciated at the time but is now among his most well known works.

Federico García Lorca did not return to theatrical writing for a number of years, instead choosing to develop his poetry. He was heavily inspired by Andalusian folklore and its exotic folk poetry. In 1928, he published a collection of poems calledRomancero Gitano, in which he reinterpreted in a more stylised fashion a number of the gypsy ballads that were well known throughout Andalusia. These works and others such asLament for the Death of a Bullfighter became world famous Spanish poems and eventually earned Lorca international acclaim for their insightful portrayal of his country´s customs, traditions and folklore. During a trip to New York in 1929, Lorca wrote several poems which explored the themes of alienation as well as capitalist greed at the time of the Wall Street Crash through the use of avant-garde techniques. Collectively known under the titleA Poet in New York, it was not published until 1942 six years after his death. This collection is the most well known of Lorca´s poems among English speaking audiences.

Following his return from America, Lorca became heavily involved with the government of the newly instated Second Republic´s attempt to make theatre accessible throughout the whole of Spain, travelling to rural areas with a theatre troupe calledla Barraca. It was whilst touring in 1931 that Lorca penned theRural Trilogy, his three most famous plays including "Bodas de Sangre", "La Casa de Bernarda Alba" and "Yerma". Each of these plays is richly poetic in their portrayal of the struggles of rural Spanish life and rituals. More importantly, however, the plays socially criticise the pressures of convention; especially of Spanish women who were given few choices regarding how to live their lives even into the 20th Century. These three plays cemented Federico Garcia Lorca as a liberal for the way he challenged traditional Spanish customs, making him a controversial figure among some circles.

Federico Garcia Lorca was murdered in 1936 just weeks after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War at a rural location close to his native Granada, the specific whereabouts of which remain unknown. During this time, war poets and other modern artists were considered undesirable by Nationalists due to their opposition to traditional Spanish values.

Additionally, Lorca´s open homosexuality and connections with the popular front also made him unpopular and contributed to his murder. In spite of this, the right wing press still referred to him as "the greatest poet of Imperial Spain", showing that regardless of his controversial views he was still universally respected.



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