Galician Literature: Exile, Poetry, Narrative, and Theater in the 20th Century
Galician Exile Literature
Following the military rebellions, many Galician literary figures were forced into exile. Mexico became a significant hub for Galician intellectual activity. Exiles produced a wide range of intellectual work. Castelao was a major Galician reference in America. Poets such as Emilio Pita, Luis Seoane, and Lourenzo Varela were deeply marked by the Civil War, reflected in works like Fardel do exiliado, Na bretema, Sant-Iago, As Lonxa, and scars. Seoane’s poetry is reflexive of his artistic world. The impact of the Civil War is also present in the works of Silvio Santiago, Ramon Valenzuela, and in novels like Non agardei por ninguén, O tempo roubado, and O silencio redimido. In theater, Castelao’s play, Os vellos non deben de namorarse, was premiered in Buenos Aires by the Buxan Varela company. He was one of the most successful Galician playwrights, author of A taberna do demo, O ferreiro de Santán, etc.
Lyrical Trends in Mid-20th Century
In the mid-1940s, a resurgence of Galician poetry occurred with the appearance of bilingual poetry magazines (Alba, Symposium) and poetic collections (Benito Soto and Xistral). The first work was by Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño, Comares. In the same decade, collections of poems representing poetic continuities emerged, such as neotrobadorismo, hylozoism, and popular and rural themes, as seen in Álvarez Blázquez’s Poesía de ti e de min. In the 1950s, two groups emerged: Das Festas Minervais and Enlace. Influences came from the early 27th Generation and the Galician Vanguard. These included Anton Tovar, Luz Pozo, and Wedge Novas. The second group, connected through the Festas das Minervais, included Manuel Maria, Uxío Novoneyra, Méndez Ferrín, and Bernardino Graña. The decade opened with the publication of Trisco by Luis Pimentel. Other essential figures include Lina Pimentel, Eduardo Moreiras, Luz Pozo with O paxaro na boca, and Pura Vázquez with Íntimas, Maturidade. The Muiñeira de bretemas also appeared. The Escola de Tebre was founded by Wedge Novas with O Fabulario Novo. This continued with the poetic group Brais Pinto, Galician students in Madrid, including Ferreiro Fernández, Bernardino Graña, and Lorenzo Méndez Ferrín. Uxío Novoneyra offered a new reinterpretation of the poet’s communion with the Serra do Courel. Xosé María Díaz Castro published Nimbos. In this decade, Celso Emilio Ferreiro’s significant post-war work, Longa noite de pedra, an ode to freedom, was published. This had repercussions on poets like Graña with Profecía do mar, García Bodán with Ao pé de cada hora, and López Casanova with A miña honra. In the 1970s, a new wave of poets emerged, breaking with social realism, including Darío Xohán Cabana with Romanceiro da Terra Cha, and Nunhead with Escuridade elexía fatal. A definitive break occurred with the publication of works by Luis Méndez Ferrín, such as Con pólvora e magnolias. Alfonso Pexegueiro, Seraogna, and Xordo formed the co-breaking poetic group socialrealismo, including Cravo Fondo, Alén, and Rompente, integrated by Ramiro Fonte with As cidades da fonte, Xulio Valcárcel with Véspera do día, and Xesús Rábade, who defended poetry as art. Saline Portugal with Xente da culpa, dor, and Xosé Ramón, were characterized by aesthetic and linguistic renewal. Their members met from 1975, publishing Turbina silabario, and As vosas suxas mans, and Tres tristes tigres. Anton formed the group Os cangrexos do reixa with Travesti, Avendaño with Facer pulgarcito tres, and M. Roman with Gallegs koskoschka non. Around the cities of A Coruña and Vigo, two schools were formed. The A Coruña group published Dous volumes de amor e indiferenza, including Manuel Rivas with Balada nas praias do oeste, Xavier Seoane with O paxaro do azucre, and Fernán Seiva with Amor e tráfico. The Vigo group included Álvarez Caccamo with A praia das furnas, Ramiro Fonte, and Roman Raña. Both groups were characterized by formal rigor, a cult of emotion, and intimacy. From these groups, poets like Darío Xohán Cabana, Irma Rodríguez with love poems, and Vicente Aragua with Morte sen amor emerged. Competitions and magazines like Nordés, Dorn, and publishers like Espiral Maior became leading forces in poetry. In the 1990s, new voices explored innovative nuclei. Metrically living poets like Miro Villar, recovering preterite absences with free verse, as seen in Moita brancura no caos, or poets like Yolanda Castaño with Erofanías, and Emma Pedreira with Anarquista dunha morta.
Post-War Galician Narrative
The Spanish Civil War significantly impacted the Galician literary world. Many moved to Buenos Aires, where some of the most important post-war works were published, including A Esmorga. In 1951, the first post-war Galician novel, A xente da barreira by Ricardo Carballo Calero, was published. This was followed by works by authors such as Anxel Fole, Blanco Amor, and Cunqueiro. Fole published story collections, Á lus do candil and Terra brava, while Cunqueiro published Merlín e familia and As crónicas do sochantre. Fole’s works portray the cosmos of the lands of Lugo. Cunqueiro explored the fantastic world of medieval Britain. The publication of Blanco Amor’s A Esmorga was a significant moment in post-war Galician narrative, marking the entry of Galician literature into modern fiction. In the 1960s, a new Galician narrative emerged, with writers exploring new themes and techniques, influenced by European authors. This group included Ferrín with Percival e outras historias, Casares with Vento ferido, Mourullo with Memorias de Tains, and María Xohán Torres. Contemporaneous with this group was Neira Vilas, one of the most successful Galician authors. Despite chronological coincidence with the new Galician narrative, his production was thematically and technically distant from this movement. From the 1970s, a final eclosion of Galician narrative occurred, with a significant number of narrators and works of great quality, such as Manuel Rivas, winner of literary prizes like the Lazarillo.
Galician Theater in the 20th Century
The dramatic genre was one of the areas where the standardization process was most difficult. This concern for theater was a constant among the Irmandades da Fala. Four main subject areas were social, focused on caciquismo, works like A freira by Lugrís Freire, O labrego by Villar, costume pieces, and historical recreations, such as A torre do castelo, Unha casa de lenocinio, Pedro Madruga by Piñol, and opera houses, focusing on zarzuela and operetta, such as Ártabro by Francisco Iglesia. Authors like Valledor Cotarelo and Cabanillas were prominent. Cotarelo was the author of several theatrical pieces, such as Trebon, Sinxebra, Hostia, and Beiramar. Cabanillas was the author of two theatrical pieces, O man da Santiña and O quarterback. The Civil War and the military dictatorship led to the transfer of Galician theatrical production to emigration. In Buenos Aires, Castelao’s work, Os vellos non deben de namorarse, was performed, and a stable program of theatrical representations was developed by Buxan Varela. Buxan was one of the great developers of Galician theater in America. His theater was popular and comical. Works include O ferreiro de Varela, Buxan, O santo, O fornelos, A taberna sen dono, etc. From the post-war period, theatrical production in Galicia was revived through initiatives like the Ribadavia Theater Contest, Abrente, and the more recent and important dramatic creation of the Galician Center, which publishes a stable theater company. Three generations can be established: The first post-war generation: highlighting Daniel Cortezón and Manuel María. Cortezón was the author of historical works like Prisciliano, A gloria de Xelmírez, Os Irmandiños, Pedro Madruga, and A diáspora. Manuel María was the author of Auto do taberneiro, Auto do labrego, Auto do mariñeiro, Auto da costureira, Edipo, and Ventre verde. The second generation was related to the Ribadavia Theater Show and the Abrente contest. Outstanding authors include Manuel Lourenzo, Vidal Ruibal, and Euloxio Bolaño. Lourenzo is one of the most significant figures, with works like Romaría ás covas do demo, Viaxe ao país de ningures, Todos os fillos de Gilead, Erros e ferros de Pedro Madruga, and the trilogy Noites de escarnio. Ruibal is known for Zardigot, and also authored O cabodano, Cousas da morte e do bo cabaleiro, and A sombra. Roberto Vidal Bolaño was a theatrical promoter and winner of the Abrente theater contest, with works like Laudamuco, Mr. Enigures, and As ladaiñas pola morte do meco. He also authored Bailadelamorta, Patacón, and the Gallic comedy A broma do galo. The third generation is closely tied to the Galician Dramatic Center. Among the dramatists of this new generation are Cándido Pazó and Miguel Anxo Murado. Pazó is the author of O merlo branco, Commedia, Un xoguete para Goldoni, and Chuvia de pedra. Murado is the author of a piece set in 18th-century Galicia, A grande noite de Fiz, a story of pilgrims. Professional and amateur theater companies perform Galician plays by Galician authors.