20th-Century Galician Literature: Prose, Theater, and Poetry
20th-Century Galician Literature
Prose
Narrative
Developers of the Century
These are the authors who published works before the Spanish Civil War:
- Garrido (Catmint, Tuesday as a Hooker)
- García-Barros (Continuation of Land)
- Abente-Lopez (The Scandal, Buserana Fleeing)
- Vaamonde-Lores (Wild Beasts, Ánxel)
The Narrators of Brotherhoods
- East Meis (Manech the Street, Esteban)
- Leandro Carré (Naiciña, Life Itself)
- Quintanilha (A Glass Eye, Saudade)
- Valledor (Tales of Christmas)
The Nós Group
The group name comes from the magazine. They were integrated by wealthy families, had good intellectual training and experience, mediated ideologically, synthesized traditionalist and liberal thought, had an educational vocation, were creators of contemporary Portuguese prose, and had an early prose of unmistakable personal style.
- Risk (Ourense, 1884): Interest in the avant-garde directed the magazine La Centuria. Was in the brotherhoods. Narrative work is didactic. (e.g., What Happened if the Doctor is an Account, Alveiro – a humorous and first literary work, The Wolf of the People and The Beam and the Beam of Gold Tar are two short stories of Galicians and the Celts, The Pig’s Foot – a satirical work).
- Pedrayo (Ourense, 1888): Professor of geography. Themes of the work are landscape, nationalism, and chivalry. His work ranks first in the historical novel-culturalist genre. Two of his novels and short stories are historical-realistic. Three of his novels are psychological. (The Paths of Life describes the disappearance of nobility and is a portrait of his generation).
- Castelao (Rianxo, 1886): (One Eye of a Skeleton Made of Glass – memoirs with a critical character and mood, Things is formed by 45 stories accompanied by illustrations, Retrincos are five autobiographical stories of his childhood, Cousas has two opposite ways to cope with life).
The Nineteenth-Century
- Dieste (Rianxo, 1899): (From the Archives of Trasno is a book of short stories with minimal presence of characters, lots of linguistic precision, and impressionistic strokes).
- Brey: (Riding in Salnés, Beloved Oak (Maliaxe), The Poor of God).
Essay
- Risk: (Theory of Galician Nationalism).
- Pedrayo: Topics: geographical essays, travel books (San Andrés de Teixido), and biographical memoirs.
- Cuevillas: Highlighted by their research.
Journalism
- Our Earth: Written in Galician, where many galeguistas participated. It was an instrument for the Galician language.
- Alfar, Yunque Trail, Crystal, Resolve.
Theater of the 20th Century
From Brotherhoods
Created in 1916 thanks to Vilar Ponte. Their means of expression was the newspaper A Nosa Terra. They created the Nationalist Conservatory of Galician Art, which was created with the work of Cabanillas’s Santinha.
- Conservative: (Sao Luis Romero – Hidalgo O, Prado-Lameiro – Farce).
- Refreshing: (Ferreira – Marshal; Villar Ponte – The Nation of Galician).
- Middle-ground: (Valledor – Thunder; Carré – Tolerías).
From the Vanguard
- Rafael Dieste – A Window to Valdeira.
From Our Time
Took the stage to a higher level. There were modernist movements such as symbolism and expressionism. The old should not fall in love, Castelao.
- Risk: (The Jester of El Rei is his only stage work and was awarded. It uses symbolism and is a reflection on human conduct, not just for fun).
- Pedrayo: Suffered repression from the Franco regime. (A Mill reflects the world of Galician society critically. His theater masks are a set of pieces with a symbolist trend that take advantage of folklore).
Poetry Between 1936-1976
After suffering paralysis during the Spanish Civil War, Comar verde was published in 1950 and enshrined the Galaxy. The importance of the cultural supplement published in the newspaper “La Noche” grew. The birth years of the authors are too far apart (i.e., good).
Trends
- Hylozoism: Humanized vision of the landscape.
- Neotrobadorismo: Schemes of medieval poetry.
- Rurality: Landscape as the center of the work.
Poetic Lines
- Landscaping-Renewal: Metaphysical reflection on nature.
- Intimacy: Looking inside the individual, questions about life, anguish, pessimism, and a surreal vision. Known as the School of Tebra.
Common Themes
- Classicism: Focuses on Greek/Latin culture, retrieves classical forms like the sonnet, and has an intimate tone.
- Social Realism: Beginning with the poetry of exile and socialist ideology.
- Luis Pimentel: (Collaborated on Ronsal. Work with avant-garde traits and surrealism. Sensuality of the female figure appears. Melancholy poetry. In Bad Game is a denunciation of fascism, evil, and brutality).
Generation of 1936
Born between 1910-1920 and lived through the Spanish Civil War.
- Aquilino Iglesias: (Plays with landscaping, rurality, and hylozoism. Themes: homesickness, death, passage of time. Classicist character. Señardá is a book of sonnets. Comar verde is his most important work and uses the currents of poetry after the war. From Day to Day is a poetic diary).
- Díaz Castro: (Nimbos is transcendental poetry and deals with themes of love, death, nature, and above all, the religious theme).
- Celso Emilio Ferreiro: (Ourense, 1912. Sided with progressive and nationalistic attitudes. Longing Dream: This book serves to understand the poetry of the post-war period. It was very famous, and its title was known in Portugal during the dictatorship. The genesis of the work is that the author was imprisoned. Simple expressive poetry. Seeks to raise awareness. Uses humor and irony to describe the oppressive reality. Travel to the Country of the Dwarfs: Also based on the personal experience of the poet’s exile. It is divided into two parts; the first part speaks of his frustration with enriched immigrants. Where the World is Called Celanova: Last published work. Intimate poetry, speaking of his wife, friends, and home village).
Special Connection
Born during the Spanish Civil War.
- Tovar – Ovento on Her Lap
- Pozo Garza – Last Funds
- New – Fabulario New
Generation of Minerva’s Holidays
Literary contest in which everyone participates. They are from 1930-1940 and did not experience the Spanish Civil War directly.
- Novoneyra: Uses themes of landscape in Os Eidos. Innovative vision of the landscape. Also social and political themes. Uses phono-symbolism.
- Méndez Ferrín: Did some work for the newspaper Faro de Vigo. You in the Mist, his first work, deals with existentialism. With Gunpowder and Magnolias is a central work in Galician literature and led to a renewal of Galician poetry. Themes of work, social commitments, eroticism, and death stand out. Has an epic tone and uses free verse. The End of a Corner continues the previous work. Strain is a book that focuses on the past of the Galician nation. Contra Maquieira is his most important book of poetry.
- Manuel María: Morrendo a cada intre is his first work and focuses on existential themes. Advent stands out for its religious references. Terra Chá has poetic elements. Social realism is the predominant theme in his later work, which we see in books like Personal Documents.