Federico García Lorca: Navigating City Street and Personal Turmoil
Open Access
Author:
Moser, Ellen
Area of Honors:
Spanish
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Nicolas L Fernandez-Medina, Thesis Supervisor John Lipski, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Federico Garcia Lorca Lorca Poeta en Nueva York Spanish poetry
Abstract:
Federico García Lorca is one of Spain’s most influential and successful poets and playwrights of the twentieth century. In his lifetime, which was cut short after his assassination in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, he developed many friends, involved himself in passionate relationships, and spent time in numerous cities not only in Spain but also in the United States. In his final work Poeta en Nueva York, published posthumously in 1940, Lorca leaves friends, family, and generations to come with a final impression that the year he spent in New York City led him to discover the corruption of America, the disgust of its people, and the greed of its industry. After inspecting two of his previous works, Libro de poemas and Romancero gitano, it becomes clear that his depictions of the American city did not so much have to do with the direct experiences he had during his year, but rather, was a result of his relationships and despondency at the time. The poetic language and themes conveyed in the poems, in connection with his previous works, and conversations with his family and friends reveal an admiration for many of the aspects of the city. The pessimistic tone that pervades this final collection is not disparagement of the concrete buildings that line the streets of Manhattan, but a powerful reflection of his personal life.
