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García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism

The Aesthetics of Anguish

David F. Richter

García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism: The Aesthetics of Anguish examines the variations of surrealism and surrealist theories in the Spanish context, studied through the poetry, drama, and drawings of Federico García Lorca (1898–1936). In contrast to the idealist and subconscious tenets espoused by surrealist leader André Breton, which focus on the marvelous, automatic creative processes, and sublimated depictions of reality, Lorca’s surrealist impulse follows a trajectory more in line with the theories of French intellectuals such as Georges Bataille (1897–1962), who was expelled from Breton’s authoritative group. Bataille critiques the lofty goals and ideals of Bretonian surrealism in the pages of the cultural and anthropological review Documents (1929–1930) in terms of a dissident surrealist ethno-poetics. This brand of the surreal underscores the prevalence of the bleak or darker aspects of reality: crisis, primitive sacrifice, the death drive, and the violent representation of existence portrayed through formless base matter such as blood, excrement, and fragmented bodies.

The present study demonstrates that Bataille’s theoretical and poetic expositions, including those dealing with l’informe (the formless) and the somber emptiness of the void, engage the trauma and anxiety of surrealist expression in Spain, particularly with reference to the anguish, desire, and death that figure so prominently in Spanish texts of the 1920s and 1930s often qualified as “surrealist.” Drawing extensively on the theoretical, cultural, and poetic texts of the period, García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism offers the first book-length consideration of Bataille’s thinking within the Spanish context, examined through the work of Lorca, a singular proponent of what is here referred to as a dissident Spanish surrealism. By reading Lorca’s “surrealist” texts (including Poetaen Nueva York,Viaje a la luna, and El público) through the Bataillean lens, this volume both amplifies our understanding of the poetry and drama of one of the most important Spanish writers of the twentieth century and expands our perspective of what surrealism in Spain means.

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 334 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-1-61148-575-2 • Hardback • October 2014 • $133.00 • (£102.00)

978-1-61148-577-6 • Paperback • April 2016 • $59.99 • (£46.00)

978-1-61148-576-9 • eBook • October 2014 • $57.00 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Spanish & Portuguese, Art / History / Modern (late 19th Century to 1945), Literary Criticism / Poetry, Poetry / European / Spanish & Portuguese

García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism

The Aesthetics of Anguish

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism: The Aesthetics of Anguish examines the variations of surrealism and surrealist theories in the Spanish context, studied through the poetry, drama, and drawings of Federico García Lorca (1898–1936). In contrast to the idealist and subconscious tenets espoused by surrealist leader André Breton, which focus on the marvelous, automatic creative processes, and sublimated depictions of reality, Lorca’s surrealist impulse follows a trajectory more in line with the theories of French intellectuals such as Georges Bataille (1897–1962), who was expelled from Breton’s authoritative group. Bataille critiques the lofty goals and ideals of Bretonian surrealism in the pages of the cultural and anthropological review Documents (1929–1930) in terms of a dissident surrealist ethno-poetics. This brand of the surreal underscores the prevalence of the bleak or darker aspects of reality: crisis, primitive sacrifice, the death drive, and the violent representation of existence portrayed through formless base matter such as blood, excrement, and fragmented bodies.

The present study demonstrates that Bataille’s theoretical and poetic expositions, including those dealing with l’informe (the formless) and the somber emptiness of the void, engage the trauma and anxiety of surrealist expression in Spain, particularly with reference to the anguish, desire, and death that figure so prominently in Spanish texts of the 1920s and 1930s often qualified as “surrealist.” Drawing extensively on the theoretical, cultural, and poetic texts of the period, García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism offers the first book-length consideration of Bataille’s thinking within the Spanish context, examined through the work of Lorca, a singular proponent of what is here referred to as a dissident Spanish surrealism. By reading Lorca’s “surrealist” texts (including Poetaen Nueva York,Viaje a la luna, and El público) through the Bataillean lens, this volume both amplifies our understanding of the poetry and drama of one of the most important Spanish writers of the twentieth century and expands our perspective of what surrealism in Spain means.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 334 • Trim: 6½ x 9¼

978-1-61148-575-2 • Hardback • October 2014 • $133.00 • (£102.00)

978-1-61148-577-6 • Paperback • April 2016 • $59.99 • (£46.00)

978-1-61148-576-9 • eBook • October 2014 • $57.00 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Spanish & Portuguese, Art / History / Modern (late 19th Century to 1945), Literary Criticism / Poetry, Poetry / European / Spanish & Portuguese

Author

David F. Richter is assistant professor of Spanish at Utah State University.

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Permissions
Abbreviations
Note on Translations
Introduction: Foundations for a Dissident Surrealism
Chapter 1: Spanish Surrealism’s Absent Father: Sub-Realism from Juan Larrea to Federico García Lorca
Chapter 2: Burning in the Void: An Aesthetics of Informe in Lorca’s New York
Chapter 3: Truth, Mutation, and the Closure of Representation: Sovereign Identity in Lorca’s Retablillo and El público
Chapter 4: Rotten Roses and Other Botanical Bereavements: Vanguardist Floral (Dis)arrangements and Lorca’s Doña Rosita
Chapter 5: Lorca and Bataille Beyond Surrealism: Sonetos del amor oscuro and the Erotic Imperative
Conclusion: An Ethics of Informe
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

The title of this meticulous endeavor reveals Richter's intent to consider Spanish surrealism via comparative analyses of García Lorca's artistic works. Richter references a plethora of acknowledged Lorcan scholars who attest to García Lorca's impact on the evolution of Spanish culture and art. The book reflects the current tendency to combine study of literature with study of science or of creative arts such as music and painting. . . .Richter illustrates the volume with six of García Lorca's drawings. Richter's detailed history underscores the unorthodoxy of Spanish surrealism. García Lorca's filmscript for Viaje a la luna and play El público classified as surreal and illustrate the eclecticism of García Lorca's artistic efforts. Abundant notes elucidate the evolution and variations of surrealism from its initial appearance to more recent times. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals.
— Choice Reviews

García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism

The Aesthetics of Anguish

David F. Richter

García Lorca at the Edge of Surrealism

The Aesthetics of Anguish

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