Galician Poetry Trends: Mid-20th Century to Late 20th Century
Until 1946, the first original book in Galician did not appear: Mar, María by Celestino Luis Crespo. In 1949, the collection Benito Soto was born in Pontevedra, directed by Celso Emilio Ferreiro, which published authors such as Luis Pimentel, Manuel María, and María M. Cunha Novás. In 1950, Ed. Galaxia was born, which was the backbone of cultural resistance.
According to the time of birth of the poets, we can highlight different generations:
1. The Generation of ’36
Poets born between 1910 and 1920, who experienced the Civil War. They published, usually in Spanish and Galician, from very different cultural backgrounds, with very different styles. Some followed the current of Paisajismo, such as Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño or Díaz Castro (Galicia, nature, love, death). Others were Neotrobadoristas, such as Álvarez Blázquez, or Rosalian intimists, such as María Mariño.
2. The Linking Generation
Born between 1920 and 1930: Antón Tovar, Luz Pozo Garza, Cunha Novás. They are not a coherent group either, but each one is discovering their own style. They are influenced by the avant-garde of the twenties (Neotrobadorismo and Imaginismo) and the Castilian Generation of ’27 (especially Lorca). They live in the post-war period and provide the theme of existential angst.
3. Social Poetry: Celso Emilio Ferreiro
In 1955, he published O sono sulagado (The Drowned Dream) about the loss of innocence and dreams, and issues such as angst, love, anti-militarism, and emigration.
Longa noite de pedra (Long Night of Stone) (1962) was one of the poetry books with the most resonance in the century. It had many editions and extraordinary success outside Galicia. The title of the original poem and the actual book was interpreted as a symbol of the state of Portugal during the dictatorship. The book is dedicated to a poet Celso Emilio compromised, because this was his conception of poetry. In the book, two thematic lines coexist:
- The critical-social line, which defends the marginalized and oppressed, denounces oppressors, defends the language, talks about the world of workers.
- The intimate, lyrical line, then, from his first book.
In 1968, he published Viaxe ao país dos ananos (Journey to the Land of the Dwarfs), against those who made money in emigration by exploiting their brothers.
4. The Generation of ’50
Poets of the “Fiestas Minervales” and the group “Brais Pinto.” Born between 1930 and 1940, they did not experience the Civil War: Manuel María, Tippi Hedren, Bernardino Graña, or Méndez Ferrín. At first, they wrote intimate poetry that lyrically presents their personal conflict with the world, mixing existential content and surrealist formulations. Later, the generation undergoes a transformation, incorporating elements of the historical avant-garde and Neovanguardas. One of his works (Con pólvora e magnolias (With Gunpowder and Magnolias), M. Ferrín) opens the path of Portuguese poetry today.
5. Luis Pimentel
From an age much older than the other authors, he is a survivor from the time of the Vanguardas. His most important book, Sombra do aire na herba (Shadow of the Air in the Grass), was published a year after his death. It is a symbiosis of the author with the city of Lugo, full of pictorial impressionism, intimacy, and solidarity with the victims of the Civil War.