tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92013891328819505982024-03-13T09:59:31.470-07:00Barbarous NightsA dramaturgical resource created by Corinna Archer Kinsman for "Barbarous Nights," a play in four shades and a prologue, grapefruit tumbleweed and the great green moon. Writen and directed by Sam Creely after the poetry and plays of Federico García Lorca.Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-8216572814606230162013-06-25T18:40:00.005-07:002013-06-25T18:41:19.040-07:00 Keaton Gets a Laugh in the Silents and the Talkies: Clips from "Spite Marriage" and "Speak Easily"One of the notable things about Buster Keaton's career as an actor is that his deadpan expression and slapstic stunts translated successfully from silents to talkies, his acting career continuing well into the 1960s. Here are two clips showing how the same gag, "stone faced" Keaton and his drunk bride, is hilarious both in the silent 1929 version from <i>Spite Marraige</i> and in his later talking film <i>Speak Easily</i> (1932). Thanks to Sam Creely for turning me on to these amusing Buster Keaton clips, used to inform one of my favorite scenes in <i>Barbarous Nights</i>.<br />
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Buster Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian in <i>Spite Marraige</i> (1929):</div>
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Buster Keaton and Thelma Todd in <i>Speak Easily</i> (1932):</div>
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Fun fact for fellow Marx Brothers fans, I learned that many of Keaton's stunts in this film inspired gags he helped to develop for <i>A Night at the Opera</i>!<br />
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Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-22640796966037384292013-06-24T20:49:00.002-07:002013-06-24T21:00:00.807-07:00Silent Screens in the Late 30s and Beyond<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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In 1938, Edward Harrison’s New York Times article “Silence
is Still Golden” argued that, “the silent film has never died” (209).<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
In fact, silent films were not only still widely released in foreign countries
but also thriving in non-traditional US venues such as schools, churches, and
living rooms. “Audiences of millions” still viewed silent films domestically,
and silent comedies like Charlie Chaplin were especially popular in rental
libraries catering to families with home projectors (209, 210). <o:p></o:p>Silent comedies were also especially popular as hotel entertainment into the 1940s (218).</div>
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Silent screenings continued to be prevalent among small
Manhattan theatres, and with the opening of a new Museum of Modern Art building
in 1939 came the donation of a film library and the beginning of silent
showings in its new theatre. Audiences were captivated by the nostalgia of
silent era cinema; as Florence Fisher Parry exclaimed in her article praising
the release of the “The Movies March On” (1939) in Pittsburgh, “let us have
back some of our old beloveds, to laugh at, to weep over, to show us what innocents
we were not so long ago!” (212). <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the late 30s, silent film revivals were launched across
the country, from the Miami Playhouse showing cheap movies with witty piano
accompaniment starting in 1939 to The Casino theatre in Pittsburgh where
silents were shown daily during summer 1941 (210, 215).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MoMA’s Film Society revivals sparked
others, such as the Washington DC Film Society's highly successful silent
screenings in the late 1930s (218).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even with millions of viewers in the late 30s, silent films
were still only seen by a minority of Americans, in part due to Hollywood’s
ability to disseminate “a conventional view of silent cinema as embodying a
primitive, risible past” rather than being “an accomplished, mature art in its
own right” (219). There was little incentive in Hollywood to continue to
produce silent pictures, and even Charlie Chaplin who had been the “greatest,
most unbending advocate of silents” released his first talking picture, <i>The
Great Dictator</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, in 1940 (220). When
Hollywood began releasing vintage film for TV in the 1950s, the silents were
ignored (220). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Funnily enough, the longest effort to show silent pictures
was actually a Los Angeles theatre known as “The Movie.” Converted to a theatre
by John and Dorothy Hampton in 1940, The Movie successfully screened silent
films until 1980. The Hamptons made their own posters, played musical
accompaniment on two phonographs, and showed silent pictures in a “dignified
manner” that never played to the scornful or nostalgic sentiments associated
with “the old time movie show” (223).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only was their theatre a “major enduring landmark” in
Hollywood, with its popularity peaking after WWII, but it also served as testament
to the unique power of silent film to capture the imaginations of audiences
“almost exclusively through images and enacted by players utilizing to the
fullest the language and gestures of facial expression to convey thought and
emotion” (222, 225, 227). John Hampton observed that despite assumptions, youth
tended to be more caught up in silents, and less likely to laugh at the wrong
times when watching an old drama that might have been ridiculed in the late 20s
and early 30s. He felt that silent film appeals “more to the emotions, less to
the intellect,” making its message more universally accessible and enchanting
than talking pictures (223). "The Movie" is truly a testament to the timelessness of silent film that still interests audiences today despite its marginalization in American culture after the 1920s. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>Learn more about early silent film revivals in the 1930s <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/old-time-movies-and-silent-revivals.html">here</a>.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Read more about how the shifting role of silent film in American culture in the 1930s helps us think about Buster Keaton's journey in <i>Barbarous Nights</i> <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/silent-pictures-in-1930s-and-why-this.html">here.</a></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Drew,
William M. <i>The Last Silent Picture Show</i><span style="font-style: normal;">:</span><i>
Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2010. Print.</span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-91980503579851477792013-06-24T15:13:00.001-07:002013-06-24T20:52:49.190-07:00Old Time Movies and Silent Revivals<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b>“Old Time Movies” in the 20s<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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As early as 1920, the term “old time movies” was already in
widespread usage to describe the “vintage shorts from the nickelodeon era”
shown as pre-show attractions.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Juxtaposed with the latest features, “The Old Time Movie Show” showcased the
technological progress of the film industry since the days of “primitive”
filmmaking (xiv). In fact, early silent films, and with them film stars like
Mary Pickford, once seen as serious dramas were deliberately presented as “a
novelty act that encouraged audiences to laugh out loud at the dramatic shorts
of the nickelodeon age” (xviii). Had audiences tastes really become that
sophisticated, or had the rapid changes brought on by WWI made everything
before seem remote? Whatever the reason, by time <i>The Jazz Singer</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> premiered in 1927 as the first feature-length
“talkie,” film collectors feared the whole silent film era would become an “Old
Time Movie Show” to the American Public, sparking silent film revivals, the
beginning of major film archives like the Modern Museum of Art Film Society,
and film history as a field.</span></div>
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<b>Silent Picture Revivals in the Early 30s<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In 1930, many silents were still in production, including
Charlie Chaplin’s <i>City Lights</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (1931)
that he insisted remain silent, despite the fact that by 1931 83% of theatres
in America were wired for sound (6, 67). </span><i>City Lights</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> incredible success was surprising to many, but not
alone among the many successful attempts to revive silent pictures throughout
the 1930s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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One of the first attempts to keep silent films relevant
after the advent of talkies was to add sound effects and music to old silents.
Hollywood even tried to add new footage with singing to old films, such as the
1925 <i>Phantom of the Opera </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(37). Unfortunately the
difference in projection speed made it difficult to synchronize the added
sounds, and films were often cut down from the original (38). D. W. Griffith’s
1915, acclaimed Civil War Reconstruction epic </span><i>The Birth of a Nation</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> was re-released in the early 30s with significant
alterations and added sound effects. Not only did the film receive great
reviews and was incredibly popular, but this version continued to be in
circulation for decades, even once its treatment of African-Americans was
extremely controversial (40, 59). Several Charlie Chaplin films also received
this treatment with marked success, however they did not lead to wider reissues of
Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd silent comedies with added music and sound
effects (58). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sound installation in theatres combined with the Great
Depression had left theatre musicians that had once accompanied silent films
with full-scale orchestras out of work across the country (64). In Pittsburgh,
the company Cine-Music was launched in 1930 and with it a “magical” revival of
“an era of exciting entertainment that had seemingly vanished forever with the
triumph of sound film” (65). Unfortunately, the grand spectacle of a silent
film underscored by a fifty-piece orchestra failed to attract an audience after
its first run. By 1931 it seemed that “silents films as a regular featured
attraction had largely retreated to the working-class milieu of the nickelodeon
age in which narrative cinema was born” (67). In other words, silent films, it
seemed, were no longer to be seen on the same grand, theatrical scale as they
once had been but as pre-show attractions seen by modest audiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, in the early 1930s silent films saw marked success
in urban art houses. At the Little Fifth Street Avenue Playhouse in New York
City, silent films were shown regularly among sound films, especially “foreign
classics,” such as <i>The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> or </span><i>The Passion of Joan of Arc</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (72). In Hollywood, the Filmarte Theatre became the last to show
silents into the 1930s even after it was wired for sound. Silent foreign films
and old classics featuring favorite stars were extremely popular, proving that
“there are still thousands right in the talkie capital who now and then prefer
their screen to be silent,” according to a 1930 newspaper article (73).
Audiences regarded the films with humor and nostalgia, cracking up at the
clothes of the previous decade (74). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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In contrast to the sophisticated art houses that screened
silents well into the 1930s, traveling tent shows continued to show silent
pictures to small town America where theatres couldn’t afford talkie
technology. Since silents, especially comedies, were cheap to purchase,
traveling tent shows brought silent pictures to rural audiences throughout the
Great Depression, their showings a “tonic” for the hardest hit (78, 79). These
silent film showings stood in sharp contrast from the “picture palace glory” of
silent cinema in its hey-day to its earliest roots as working-class
entertainment (80). No longer at the center of American culture, silent films
were pushed to the margins as urban art house or touring road show attractions
in the 1930s (80). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Read more about silent film later into the 20th century <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/silent-screens-in-late-30s-and-beyond.html">here</a>.</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Learn more about how silent film contextualizes <i>Barbarous Nights</i> <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/silent-pictures-in-1930s-and-why-this.html">here</a>.</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Drew,
William M. <i>The Last Silent Picture Show</i><span style="font-style: normal;">:</span><i>
Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2010. xiii. Print.</span></div>
</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-73511265220157175452013-06-24T15:09:00.001-07:002013-06-24T20:51:00.372-07:00Silent Pictures in the 1930s and "Why This Play Now?"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Whether it’s <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Singin’ in the Rain</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Sunset Boulevard</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> or </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i>The Artist</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> we all know the story: silent film stars, and with them silent films,
made obsolete by talking pictures, their voices or dramatic style incompatible
with the new technological advancements of sound. Silent movies become a relic
of the past, an archaic entertainment eclipsed by the technologically advanced
“talkies” that dominated Hollywood by 1930.</span></span></div>
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If talking pictures ruled the screen in the 1930s, what
happened to the silents? In his book <i>The Last Silent Picture Show: Silent
Films on American Screens in the 1930s</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
William M. Drew argues that in fact, there never was a last silent picture
show. On the contrary, Drew asserts that the transition in the 1920s from silents
to talkies was not as rapid or as ubiquitous as Hollywood makes it out to be,
and that silent films still captivated audiences into the 1930s and beyond, and
not just as the object of ridicule or romanticized nostalgia.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]</a></span></span></div>
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Ready to find out more about silents in the 1930s? These posts will give you more historical information about silent film after the rise of talkies from Drew's book:</div>
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<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/old-time-movies-and-silent-revivals.html">Old Time Movies and Silent Revivals</a></b></li>
<li>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2013/06/silent-screens-in-late-30s-and-beyond.html">Silent Screens in the Late 30s and Beyond</a></b></span></li>
</ul>
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<b>Silent Film in the 30s and “Why This Play Now?”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Not only does understanding more about the marginalization
of and notable attempts to revive silent films in the 1930s and beyond offer a
rich historical context for our protagonist Buster Keaton in <i>Barbarous
Nights,</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> with its setting in a 1930s of the
past and of the future, but it also helps answer the question “why this play
now?” </span></div>
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Captivated by both classic and contemporary movies about the
struggle of silent film stars against the advancements of sound, modern
audiences are familiar with the situation in which Buster Keaton finds himself
in this play, even if the world he falls into is not a tangible one. Buster
Keaton’s journey is made both more accessible and more poignant to a modern
audience in part by its context within and relationship to an era of decline
for silent pictures. If Buster Keaton is struggling to find what makes him
human beneath his “mask” as a star of silent pictures, his journey becomes all
the more challenging in a world where his celebrity identity doesn’t mean the
same thing to the people he meets as it did where he came from. Keaton’s
struggle to understand and express his inner self in the play is perhaps an
echo of what he would have faced in 1930s Hollywood: a silent film celebrity
forced to confront the man beneath his exterior identity as the world he knows
is radically altered by sound. </div>
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And Buster Keaton isn’t the only one who is challenged to
navigate his “performed” and inner self. Not only do the other characters in
the play know his struggle, who we see grappling with expressing and reaching
for their inner most desires, but we as audience members do too. We too find
ourselves in circumstances where our notion of self is critically altered,
where we must swallow our inner emotions to navigate through society, where we
are afraid of what will happen if we express our greatest joys or deepest
sorrows. We are also familiar with the ways in which technology changes our
means of communication, our connections to others, and our understanding of who
we are. Like a silent picture might, <i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> appeals so strongly to our emotions in part because what the
characters experience in the play is so relatable.</span></div>
<div>
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<br />
<div id="ftn1">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></a> Drew,
William M. <i>The Last Silent Picture Show</i><span style="font-style: normal;">:</span><i>
Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2010. Print.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-60198332635053585222013-06-20T17:52:00.004-07:002013-06-20T18:05:03.970-07:00The Other Stone Face: Abraham Lincoln in "Barbarous Nights"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H1MeH-hPv8M/UcOh7Q4JFrI/AAAAAAAAAoA/GlH0IyweUsY/s1600/bk-cfobk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H1MeH-hPv8M/UcOh7Q4JFrI/AAAAAAAAAoA/GlH0IyweUsY/s200/bk-cfobk.jpg" width="150" /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f1YAHfecxm4/UcOiIz4X_LI/AAAAAAAAAoM/rPvjSdhQTno/s1600/Abraham_Lincoln_head_on_shoulders_photo_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f1YAHfecxm4/UcOiIz4X_LI/AAAAAAAAAoM/rPvjSdhQTno/s200/Abraham_Lincoln_head_on_shoulders_photo_portrait.jpg" width="151" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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In <i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
Abraham Lincoln plays an important, though somewhat enigmatic, part in Buster
Keaton’s journey to discover his humanity. As Keaton explains to the Maiden in
scene two of the first shade after she wrenches off his <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/meaning-behind-mask-in-lorca.html">mask</a></span>, <b>“My face is iconic. My face is as iconic as Lincoln’s face someone once told me.”</b> Keaton strongly identifies with Abraham Lincoln, the other “<a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">great stone face</a>” of American history.</div>
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In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book <i>Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, she describes Abraham Lincoln being photographed in
1863, a month after he gave his revered Gettysburg address:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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“On Sunday, August 9, [John] Hay accompanied the president
to Alexander Gardner’s photo studio at the corner of Seventh and D streets. <b>The
pictures taken that day do not reflect what Hay characterized as the
president’s 'very good spirits.'</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Rigidly
posed, with one hand on a book and the other at his waist, Lincoln was forced
to endure the lengthy process of the photograph, which almost invariably
produced a grim, unsmiling portrait. Subjects would be required to sit
absolutely still while the photographer removed the cap from the lens to expose
the picture. ‘Don’t move a muscle!’ the subject would be told, for the
slightest twitch would blur the image. </span><b>Moreover, since ‘contrived
grinning in photographs had not yet become obligatory,’ many faces, like
Lincoln’s, took on a melancholy cast.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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While Lincoln’s “stone face” in photos from the era may be
attributed in part to the technological limitations of the camera or cultural
norms regarding smiling in pictures, whatever the reason for his serious
expression, it is clear is that the images of Lincoln circulated amongst the
public were not fully representative of the man known to his close colleagues,
friends and family. Abraham Lincoln’s iconic “deep set gaze” that appears
“steady and melancholy” in his photographs is not only a constructed image
separated from his everyday self, a Presidential mask, if you will, worn for
the public eye, but it is also readily apparent to anyone familiar with the
arduous task of posing for a photograph (Goodwin 230). </div>
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Perhaps Lincoln and his public were more comfortable with
the <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">dual identity</a> of the President than Buster Keaton seems to be with his own,
struggling to navigate without his mask in a world where nobody seems to know
who this star of silent pictures is. In this play, Lincoln not only helps a
modern audience understand the level of fame Buster Keaton had achieved at the
height of the silent film era, his face as iconic as Lincoln’s, but <b>he also
represents part of Keaton’s personal journey to uncover his identity beneath the “stone faced” celebrity persona.</b> When Lincoln says to Buster, “It is
impossible to see our humanity,” perhaps he is talking celebrity to celebrity,
speaking of the iconic mask we recognize as “President Abraham Lincoln” and
silent film star “Buster Keaton.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Much thanks to Nathan Kinsman for his brilliant historical
knowledge, thoughts, and assistance researching for this post. </div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
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<br />
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Goodwin,
Doris Kearns. <i>Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. </i>New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005. 545.<i> </i>Print.<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-44170249631539300792013-06-14T15:59:00.000-07:002013-06-14T16:22:39.049-07:00Sailors of the Past and TodayIf <i>Barbarous Nights</i> is set in the 1930s of the future and the past, what does that mean for the Sailor in the play? Here is some information I dug up about sailing in the early 20th century and in the 21st, as well as details about maritime law relevant to our play.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sailors in Early 20<sup>th</sup> Century Great Britain</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Historian Jeffrey Charles' website about the Motor Launch Patrol of the British Royal Navy around WWI offers an extensive look into the world of sailing in the early 20th century. One account of Naval Officer Robert Jones describes the activities of sailors in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve,
particularly the men who occupied “Movies” or Motor Launches, nicknamed for
their speed. These sailors were employed in patrol units along the coast of the
British Isles, in the Mediterranean, the West Indies and the White Sea. A day
in the life of a sailor might include scouting, anti-submarine work, inshore
mine sweeping, smokescreen-laying, and hydrophone (underwater microphone)
monitoring. Some were served as wireless telegraphists and were responsible for
communicating through Morse code, with radio signaling reaching widespread use
in the 1930s. During World War I, Morse lamps, flags and radio were still
important means of naval communication.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;">[1]</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In early 20<sup>th</sup> century Great Britain sailors were
recruited extremely young: “boys” aged 15½ to 16¾ and “youths” ages 16¾ to 18
received months of naval training while still attending school part-time at
special Training Establishments. Their education included “seamanship,”
swimming, squad drill, gunnery and mechanics. Eventually, these young men
advanced to their sea-training and joined the Second Fleet. Recruits had a
choice of enrollment in the Advanced Class Courses (boat work and mechanical
work), the Wireless Course, and the Signal Course. The Wireless and Signal
Course “lads” were sent to sea as soon as possible to begin service.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">During World War I, not all British sailors remained at sea:
in Germany internment camps were established as war broke out and many sailors,
especially fisherman and merchant seamen, docked in German harbors at the time
were sent to internment camps. While these men certainly endured a hard life,
suffering from physical and mental illness with limited outside communication
and nourishment, it seems it wasn’t all miserable: one account of a prisoner I
discovered describes how he competed in athletic games inside the camp and was
awarded a metal as the tug-of-war champion.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sailing Life Today<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While technology has certainly changed things, perhaps for
the better, about life in the navy since the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, it
is clear that sailing remains a high-stress, isolating experience. In an online
article published by the American Psychological Association about Naval Lt.
Lisseth Calvio, a doctoral candidate at the Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences who is the first person to even finish their clerkship on
board a deployed warship, Calvio describes experiencing “the constant strain
the ship’s crew feels as they live and work in crowded conditions.” Calvio
spent her days offering counseling and therapy to 5,000 sailors and officers on
board, helping them cope with family issues, practice stress management techniques,
and deal with issues like anger management, depression, anxiety, and conflicts
with other men on board. While perhaps young men are a little older now when
they enlist than they were in the 1910s and 20s, the article points out that
many of these sailors are very young and experience significant stress leaving
home for the first time to a totally new kind of life. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The article also gives a picture of the kinds of tasks
performed by sailors in the Navy today. Calvio describes participating in daily
exercise drills on deck. The article also describes the arduous physical labor
done by the deck crews, who keep “the ship clean and running” with tasks like
handling ropes at dock, bringing aboard fuel and provisions, launching and
recovering amphibious landing craft, and fighting against rust.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[4]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In an online Guardian interview with British sailing prodigy
Emma Richards, she describes not only the extreme physical conditions while
racing, including severe cold and very little sleep, but also fighting the
loneliness with technology. Richards not only listens to CDs with recordings of
friends and family or her favorite music, but she has a weekly phone call home
when she catches up with her friends while they hang out at the pub on Friday
night. While technology may afford some comfort to a sailor today, the close
quarters and general isolation at sea is still palpable.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[5]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One stress of sailing life I discovered in my research that
is surprisingly relevant to <i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is that many sailors struggle finding romantic companionship
compatible with their nomadic lifestyle. Once again technology may be shifting
that dynamic some today, as contemporary sailors can turn to an online dating
site called LoveSail.com that helps connect sailing enthusiasts around the
world. CNN published a sentimental article about a 52-year-old man who finally
found his sailing sweetheart through LoveSail.com, experiencing a whirlwind
romance ending in, what else, a honeymoon sailing tour. The director of
LoveSail.com says that “people who sail tend to be extremely passionate about
it” and that “it can be difficult for sailors because when they do find someone
they often have to leave them.” The predicament faced by the Sailor and the
Maiden in </span><i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is
then a familiar tale to anyone who spends their time at sea.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[6]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Maritime Law: AWOL vs. Desertion (Based on the About.com
US Military Guide)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While looking into what happens if a sailor deserts his
ship for our play, I discovered that there is in fact a difference between someone who is
Absent Without Leave and someone who is a deserter. In the Navy or Marine
Corps, AWOL is actually referred to as an “Unauthorized Absence (UA)” with the
punishment depending on the circumstances. In general, AWOL is when someone
fails to show up when they are supposed to, whether its on purpose or not. The
only real defense is if you are physically unable to get there, and even then
it cannot be through misconduct or neglect. The difference between AWOL and
desertion is that a deserter has the “intent to remain away permanently” or to
shirk an “important duty,” like going on a hazardous mission or being deployed
to combat.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[7]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The court-martial decides whether or not the duty that was avoided was
important or hazardous, therefore determining the severity of the punishment.
Basically, if a sailor is AWOL he or she means to return someday to “military
control,” even if its years later. A deserter leaves for good.</span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Punishment for Desertion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the case or desertion, it is highly unlikely that someone
would receive the maximum punishment, being death. In most cases, the result is
some form of discharge in Other Than Honorable Circumstances (OTHC). When a
soldier or sailor is missing, the commanding officer decides how to proceed
based on the circumstances. When a case of desertion goes to trial it is tried
by the General Court-Martial, the most serious type there is. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The punishment for desertion varies in severity: if you
desert and then later voluntarily return, you would most likely receive
dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay, reduction to the lowest rank,
and two years in prison. For deserting to avoid important duty, you might
suffer the former but with five years in prison. The most severe punishment for
desertion is death or another punishment as the court-martial sees fit, such as
life in prison. This punishment is generally only given out during a time of
war.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[8]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Read more about Sailing Symbolism in Lorca's Poetry <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/sailor-symbolism.html">here</a>.</span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Charles,
Jeffrey. “<em><span style="font-style: normal;">The Motor Launch Patrol in the
Western Approaches and Irish Sea, 1917-1919.” </span>The “Movies”: The Ships
and Men of the Royal Navy Motor Launch Patrol 1914-1919</em><em><span style="font-style: normal;">. 2012. Web. <a href="http://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/written_accounts/personal_accounts/personal_accounts/jones.php">http://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/written_accounts/personal_accounts/personal_accounts/jones.php</a>
</span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[2]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Taylor,
Richard. “Details of Boys Training.” <i>Naval Historical Collectors and
Research Association.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Web. <a href="http://www.nhcra-online.org/20c/seamanship15.html">http://www.nhcra-online.org/20c/seamanship15.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[3]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> “Life in an
Interment Camp.” <i>Naval Historical Collectors and Research Association.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Web. <a href="http://www.nhcra-online.org/20c/seamanship15.html">http://www.nhcra-online.org/20c/seamanship15.html</a>
</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[4]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Munsey,
Christopher. “Psychology at Sea.” <i>American Psychological Association
gradPSYCH Magazine Online</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. 2008. Web. <a href="http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2008/11/sea.aspx">http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2008/11/sea.aspx</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[5]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Hall, Sarah.
“Interview with British Sailor Emma Richards.” <i>The Guardian</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. 2012. Web. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/oct/07/gender.uk1">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/oct/07/gender.uk1</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[6]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> McKenzie,
Sheena. “Lonely Sailors Search Online for Love on the High Seas.” <i>CNN.com</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. 2012. Web.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/21/world/lovesail-sailors-online-dating">http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/21/world/lovesail-sailors-online-dating</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[7]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Powers, Rod.
“AWOL and Desertion.” About.com Guide. 2013. Web. <a href="http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/awoldesertion.htm">http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/awoldesertion.htm</a>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9201389132881950598#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[8]<!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Powers, Rod.
“AWOL and Desertion—Maximum Possible Punishments.” <i>About.com Guide</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. 2013. Web. <a href="http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/awol6.htm">http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/awol6.htm</a></span>
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<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-53522760664630396932013-06-14T15:39:00.001-07:002013-06-14T15:39:44.510-07:00New Material to the Barbous Blog Coming Soon!After a technological battle for the ages, I have come out victorious and can once again post to the dramaturgical blog for <i>Barbarous Nights</i>! Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for perusing the material already archived here for Lorca devotees and the cast and production team of <i>Barbarous Nights</i> alike.<br />
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While much of what is written here is still as pertinent to the new production of <i>Barbarous Nights</i> as it was to the first, expect more material to come about <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/sailor-symbolism.html">sailors</a>, silent film, <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/meaning-behind-mask-in-lorca.html">masks</a> and celebrities and more. Everything written here is meant to contextualize and inform Sam Creely's poetic play about <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">Buster Keaton's</a> adventure through a 1930s of the future and the past:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Sam Creely takes to the 'ravishing' <a href="http://www.theinvisibledog.org/" style="color: #009933; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Invisible Dog</a> (TimeOut NY) with a sharp and surreal play inspired in part by the love letters of <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html">Lorca and Dalí</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />"Buster Keaton falls out of his film and into a poetic world, a 1930s both future and past. Grapefruit roll through the sand like tumbleweed. The streets are filled with optical shops. There, a rush of travelers -- a blind maiden struggling with the length of her dress, her nigh Victorian mother, a ridiculously attractive man peddling feathers -- float through Buster's nights like a dream as his sanity and the stoic stone face that made him famous start to crumble.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /><i>"Barbarous Nights</i> will receive its New York premiere at The Invisible Dog this summer, July 5 - 13, 2013."</span><br />
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This description comes from the <i>Barbarous Nights</i> website. To learn more about the production, to buy tickets, or to donate, please visit <a href="http://barbarousnights.net/">http://barbarousnights.net/</a>.<br />
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<br />Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-47801744851179387362010-11-09T03:58:00.000-08:002010-11-09T04:09:23.221-08:00Talk Back Performance with Special Guests from Modern Languages!After the performance on <b>Thursday, Novemeber 11th</b>, at 8pm there will be a talk back with the cast and creative team that is especially for Professor Candace Skibba's Spanish students who have been studying Lorca this semester. Get ready for some great questions that will really put our bilingual script to the test! This talk back should be a wonderful chance for the audience to give us feedback and ask about what they just saw and for us to learn more about how an audience reacts to and what it takes away from <span style="font-style:italic;">Barbarous Nights</span>. Join us!Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-72028642878354465622010-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:002013-06-14T16:00:06.312-07:00Sailor Symbolism<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4UWO5A3bI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/bP9RooQWETw/s1600/Love.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529879764644453810" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4UWO5A3bI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/bP9RooQWETw/s320/Love.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 239px;" /></a><br />
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In her book <i>Lorca: The Drawings and Their Relation to the Poet’s Life and Work</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, Helen Oppenheimer analyzes the figure of the sailor in Lorca’s drawings and writing within the context of his work dealing with the nature of identity that emerged during the years of his close friendship with Dalí.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While her reading of this symbolic character is useful to understanding the role of the sailor in our play, it is by no means the only interpretation and our play in many ways contradicts or challenges the ideas presented in this book.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529878170420507890" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S5b8Z9PI/AAAAAAAAAkc/XaHt_Vet_IE/s320/Sailor1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 218px;" /></span></div>
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The sailor is primarily a symbol of sexual freedom both as it relates to love and passion as well as creative freedom that Lorca saw as intertwined with sexual expression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often the word “amor” appears in the picture with the sailor and he might be given wings to illustrate his association with flight and freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the sailor does not represent an attainable love, but one that is anticipatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He occupies an abstract rather than a realistic life, and rather than a participant in life he is isolated from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the sailor is exiled like the gypsy, his exile is by choice.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529878199863515234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S7JoKmGI/AAAAAAAAAk0/IdMVsgJVK_g/s320/Sailor4.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 224px;" /></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S506zm6I/AAAAAAAAAkk/FIhb3rrrdkQ/s1600/Sailor2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529878177124686754" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S506zm6I/AAAAAAAAAkk/FIhb3rrrdkQ/s320/Sailor2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 218px;" /></a></div>
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As an object of love in Lorca’s work, the sailor represents an unattainable ideal of love within the realm of dreams rather than reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the object of a frustrated love, love “as it should be, but never as it is” (55).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sailor hails from a “dream-world of constant expectation,” and the flowers that often grow from his otherwise empty eyes or mouth symbolize a dream-like longing for a past or future happiness.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529879769025521058" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4UWfNipaI/AAAAAAAAAlY/tR2z_oMMajw/s320/1927.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 229px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca in Cadaqués visiting Salvador Dalí, 1927</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here, Lorca felt the most happy and closest to his own unattainable love for Dalí.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S6sxXpHI/AAAAAAAAAks/aQpewzpeiYg/s1600/Sailor3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529878192117490802" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S6sxXpHI/AAAAAAAAAks/aQpewzpeiYg/s320/Sailor3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 217px;" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S506zm6I/AAAAAAAAAkk/FIhb3rrrdkQ/s1600/Sailor2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div>
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Despite his lofty associations with dreams and unattainable desires, the sailor is also an emblem of sexuality and passion, often appearing as an amorous lover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drunken sailor or the sailor appearing from within a tomb is thus a symbol of a fatal passion that leads to death and demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S7viYgEI/AAAAAAAAAk8/vIiAx-DEzX8/s1600/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529878210039808066" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S7viYgEI/AAAAAAAAAk8/vIiAx-DEzX8/s320/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 259px;" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4S5b8Z9PI/AAAAAAAAAkc/XaHt_Vet_IE/s1600/Sailor1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, <i>Sueño del marino</i>, 1927</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee; font-size: 16px;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529879753356589490" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4UVk1xubI/AAAAAAAAAlI/vahjiiwjbs8/s320/Pablo+Neruda+and+Lorca+-+1934.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 271px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca with Pablo Neruda and other friends dressed up as sailors in Buenos Aires, 1934</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529879771224113570" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL4UWnZugaI/AAAAAAAAAlg/UbMgV3zV_Q4/s320/thenavigator1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 316px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 275px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Buster Keaton out to sea in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Navigator</span></i></div>
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Some questions to consider…</div>
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How does this interpretation of the sailor relate to or differ from the Sailor in <i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style: normal;">? What is the importance of the Sailor’s isolation from society in our play? How does the Sailor’s relationship with dreams and dreaming relate to the surrealist qualities of our play? Does the Maiden ever attain the unattainable love embodied by her Sailor? How does this symbolism surrounding the Sailor relate to issues of gender and identity in the play and in Lorca’s work in general?</span></div>
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Works Cited:</div>
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Oppenheimer, Helen. <i>Lorca: The Drawings and Their Relation to the Poet’s Life and Work</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. New York, NY: Franklin Watts. 1987. Print.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-14357566431265708822010-10-19T03:45:00.000-07:002010-10-19T07:14:56.966-07:00The Meaning Behind the Mask in Lorca<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Although the mask is a central motif throughout <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html">Lorca</a>’s poetry, plays and drawings, its meaning is in no way clear. Why was Lorca so interested in masks? What do masks mean in Lorca’s work? Are they always symbolic? How does the mask relate to what Lorca was trying to do with his art overall?</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL15I6vu5kI/AAAAAAAAAis/2ec2DmALbz8/s400/Mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529709111596213826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Mask</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span> </div><div style="text-align: left;">First, the mask is a key symbol that appears in <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/10/lorcas-drawings.html">Lorca’s drawings</a> as an objectie representation of his notion of dual identity, or the mask that stands for one’s “social self” that conceals the “solitude behind” (Oppenheimer 50). For example, Lorca’s drawings often explore the image of the clown wearing a comic mask that falls away to reveal a different underneath. For Lorca, the clown mask was about the comic face that people are forced to wear “to face the world,” with <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">Buster Keaton</a> as the quintessential “tragic clown” (Oppenheimer 50). Lorca’s representations of the mask underscore the influence that the work of surrealist and cubist artists such as Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and, of course, <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html">Salvador Dalí</a>, had upon his drawings. His masked faces are often cubist in nature, revealing multiple and shifting perspectives, and exhibit his characteristic “involuntary style” that moved away from conventional representation without becoming complete abstraction (Oppenheimer 71). </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14Vu6r0UI/AAAAAAAAAic/c4JnBSuMW0c/s400/Falling+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529708232247595330" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Falling Mask</i></span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14VmbECqI/AAAAAAAAAiU/iFGvM7Ilx0k/s1600/Face+with+arrows1.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14VmbECqI/AAAAAAAAAiU/iFGvM7Ilx0k/s400/Face+with+arrows1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529708229967481506" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 400px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Face with Arrows</i></span></div><div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL15JdhyyWI/AAAAAAAAAi8/IJCy5-xOM4Y/s400/self+portrait+of+the+poet+in+new+york.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529709120932989282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Portrait of the Poet in New York</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div>One of Lorca’s most famous mask drawings is his <i>Self-Portrait of the poet in New York</i> in which Lorca shows himself as a mask at the center of a New York landscape, surrounded by skyscrapers, strange black animals, and decaying plants. Just like his collection of poetry written during his stay in New York City that he believed should have been titled “New York in the poet,” Lorca is grappling with the issue of self-identity in a modern world, drawing a parallel between his own feelings of being “uprooted” from his homeland and the struggle of the African American community in New York. Whether the mask is a façade determined by the individual or forced upon him by society, Lorca understood the mask primarily as a symbol of a repressed interior identity.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL15Jc7PyfI/AAAAAAAAAi0/KVRrx9SKZxQ/s400/Music+and+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529709120771312114" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Music and Mask</i></span></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14VeHaYwI/AAAAAAAAAiM/1mu0DNJO2c0/s400/Clown+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529708227737576194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Clown Mask</i></span></div> </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL15I4ywsLI/AAAAAAAAAik/z9J2Pwb3m2I/s400/Mask+with+animal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529709111072043186" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 375px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Mask with Animal</i></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">However, the mask also brings with it a number of other cultural associations that surely Lorca and his readers would have recognized and understood. While the most immediate association with the mask for theatre students is commedia dell’arte, I am going to focus on exploring the mask in regards to Spanish Carnival traditions and the rise of modern portrait painting in the early 20th century.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Carnival Masks</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> Carnival is a ritual festival that celebrates both the coming and spring and the beginning of Lent, gaining this latter Catholic definition in the 15th century when Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon conquered Spain from the Moors and introduced Christianity. Its festivities traditionally fall on the Tuesday before Lent, but it is also traditionally celebrated in Spain over the preceding weekend beginning on Friday with a traditional processional of floats and masqueraders. While it became a popular form of lowbrow entertainment during the 18th century, today it remains rooted in rural tradition. Since the Golden Age of Spanish literature, carnival has been closely associated with the genres of farce and satire, serving as a ritualized form of social critique and ridicule. Over the centuries Carnival has frequently been banned or regulated by the authorities that feared social unrest fostered by Carnival’s topsy-turvy spirit that challenges those in power. The masks worn during Carnival were considered especially dangerous because of their anonymous quality that allowed for crime, protest, and generally bad behavior. In 1937, Franco placed a ban on masquerade and festivals throughout Spain, demonstrating the political implications of Carnival as a symbol of the power possessed by the people themselves and the spirit of subversion, disorder and defiance embodied by the mask (Regalado).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14VOFOVlI/AAAAAAAAAh8/tU7_SsAASu8/s400/morena+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529708223433430610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Morena, or cow, mask for Carnival</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Masks and the Modern Portrait</span></div><div><br /></div> The mask is also a tool of modernist portrait painting that developed during the early 20th century and dominated the European art world of Lorca’s lifetime. In painting, modernist art sought to challenge traditional European representational or “realistic” art by instead expressing an essentially “existentialist vision” of the instability and hyper-fragmentation of the human identity as these artists of the historical avant-garde saw it (Serraller 7). Many of these modernist painters like Pablo Picasso were drawn to “primitive” tribal masks because of the unconventional, non-western facial representations that they offered (Klein 31). <div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16-wnbSMI/AAAAAAAAAkI/ZyAYMO3mZQ4/s400/78.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529711136101583042" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Matisse, <i>Portrait of the Artist's Wife</i>, 1912-13</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:16px;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL14VNzwzaI/AAAAAAAAAiE/QySpHDEbI1I/s400/picasso_mask+of+a+woman_1908.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529708223360191906" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Picasso, <i>Mask of a Woman</i>, 1908</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:16px;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL15J5fG2_I/AAAAAAAAAjE/FrNUZVIRCZ8/s400/Salvador+Dali.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529709128437914610" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, <i>Portrait of Dalí</i>. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:16px;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16WQMdMGI/AAAAAAAAAjo/ADLBr95uYJo/s400/Miro_portrait+of+madame+k_1924.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529710440203759714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Joan Miró, <i>Portrait of Madame K</i>., 1924</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Modernist painters seized upon the mask as a “strategy” for mediating between the artist and their subject because of its transformative properties (Klein 27). Rather than using the mask strictly as a means of concealing or revealing an interior individual identity with an exterior social one, modernist portrait artists saw the <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/performative-acts-and-gender.html">mask as a tool for performance</a> and used it to seek the liminal space as defined by the cultural anthropologist Victor Turner between two clearly defined states of being where new identities are formed (Klein 28). The portrait’s subject was not simply the face beneath the mask in the painting but the mask-like identity presented by the portrait itself with no suggestion of a different face hidden beneath. The portrait was no longer a static representation of the individual, but a “bricolage” of face with mask as the portrait shifted between the subjectivity of the artist and that of the model to show multiple perspectives, periods of time, or identities (Klein 33). Just as traces of the Surrealist, Cubist and Expressionist art movements can be found throughout Lorca’s work, this same understanding of the relationship between the mask and identity exists in Lorca’s own artwork with his own highly non-representational drawing style. In his self-portrait in New York, for example, are we looking at the poet or his mask, or has he become his mask? While the mask is certainly a symbol of dual identity in Lorca’s work, it also challenges this concept of identity within the context of modernist portrait painting in which the mask creates a new identity that is not necessarily an oppressive social force upon the individual.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16VnasnMI/AAAAAAAAAjY/hDb6ukiR6-0/s400/egon+schiele_self-portraif+with+chinese+lantern+plant_1912.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529710429257637058" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Egon Shiele, <i>Self-Portrait</i>, 1912</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-size:16px;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16V5rDh3I/AAAAAAAAAjg/k-UJNkLdeSs/s400/KollwitzLament38-40.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529710434158086002" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 400px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kathe Kollwitz, <i>Lament or Self-Portrait</i>, 1938</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16VR0AFdI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/hyENLxVvFD4/s400/dali+self+portrait_1921-22.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529710423458190802" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dalí, <i>Self-Portrait</i>, 1921-22</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16-v49WII/AAAAAAAAAj4/9Gr-7WDJcJw/s1600/salvodar-dali28.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16-v49WII/AAAAAAAAAj4/9Gr-7WDJcJw/s400/salvodar-dali28.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529711135906683010" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 400px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dalí, <i>Cubist Self-Portrait</i>, 1923</span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16WdhiRWI/AAAAAAAAAjw/SSBGXUP1E8w/s1600/dali_self_portrait.jpg"></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16WdhiRWI/AAAAAAAAAjw/SSBGXUP1E8w/s1600/dali_self_portrait.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16WdhiRWI/AAAAAAAAAjw/SSBGXUP1E8w/s400/dali_self_portrait.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529710443781834082" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 400px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dalí, <i>Self-Portrait</i>, 1941</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16-x_2DbI/AAAAAAAAAkA/WNDWo3hQ3dM/s400/FridaThornNecklace.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529711136472436146" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Frida Khalo, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 1940</span></div><div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TL16_LlyStI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/cAMr_Aa3U-U/s400/1926_16.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529711143342459602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 400px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A portrait of Lorca by Dalí</span></span></div><div><br />Works Cited:<br /><br />Klein, John. “The Mask as Image and Strategy.” The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso. Alarco, Paloma and Malcolm Warner. Yale University Press. 2007. Print.<br /><br />Oppenheimer, Helen. Lorca: The Drawings and Their Relation to the Poet’s Life and Work. New York, NY: Franklin Watts. 1987. Print.<br /><br />Regalado, Mariana. “Entroida in Spain.” Carnaval! Ed. Barbara Mauldin. University of Washington Press. 2004. Print.<br /><br />Serraller, Francisco Calvo. “The Spirit Behind the Mask.” The Mirror and the Mask: Portraiture in the Age of Picasso. Alarco, Paloma and Malcolm Warner. Yale University Press. 2007. Print.<br /></div></div></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-49552853426148601252010-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:002010-10-04T11:34:01.391-07:00Impossible Theatre<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Selected quotes from “Toward and Impossible Theatre: An Introduction and Imagined Manifesto” by Caridad Svich, the translator of Lorca’s “impossible theatre" including </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Buster Keaton's Stroll, The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Chimera</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“To begin, there must be space. In it, an image of yearning—the yearning to fill said space with one’s soul. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The soul is composed of signs and metaphors, symbols and lines</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span> Odd disruptions are marked by time, which is incessant and not to be trusted. In the most innocent object lies malice. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Trust nothing. Trust only heartbreak. Make theatre out of that which is broken.</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Then take it apart again.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“This is a naked theatre, a poetic theatre, a theatre of the impossible because it wishes to present on stage elements of the divine, the inexplicable and the unnamed…Too much is at stake here…<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The impossible theatre…is forever marked by the culture from which it springs</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span>”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What is Spanish here is everything</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">: the emphasis on the lyric; the felicitous intrusion of low humor within the tragic or the refined; the inescapable, suffocating nostalgia for a time other than the present; and the coded behavior the restricts relationships and places them in the realm of the public even if what is happening is private.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The audience is positioned as decoder</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"> of the event being witnessed, not merely as spectator…</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The irrational holds the key</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span>”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Talk is abolished. In its place is poetry or musical interchanges<span style="font-weight:normal"> that owe as much to the world of commedia as avant-garde song. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Phrases are repeated at intervals. Each time they are repeated, the meaning changes.</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span>The very repetition makes the audience and the characters question the meaning of what is being said. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Characters in the impossible theatre function as mutable fractals in a fickle universe over which they have little to no control.</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Fate overhangs…a more cruel, less defined fate colored by Catholicism and inevitably marked by sacrifice.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The refuge that is found in this theatre is the one offered by the free mixing of forms. Here are the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">flickering images and devices of the silent screen</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">…</span>There is also a profound use of the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">techniques of animation</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">. In this theatre, objects move and talk, mannequins weep and sing, and it is only natural…”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I give you an exquisite corpse</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">. Pastiche, assemblage, and montage are delivered here in the body of the poet made martyr and celebrated in the cult of death that surrounds celebrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Made up of old texts and new, and those yet to be written, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">this is queer theatre for a non-queer age</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Suffused with fear, trembling at its virility, impassioned at the very thought of love and its possibilities, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">the body thrashes in the bed of memory, and assembles out of it and its artifacts a text governed by the laws of synchronicity and simultaneity. Time is elastic…</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Perspectives shift….To step into the impossible, <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">you must leave preconceptions behind but also bring them with you</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">. The work demands that you understand deeply and with a profound sense of humor the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">traditions that are being called upon and how they are being dismantled and re-assembled</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The two-dimensional experiments are transported into the realm of the three-dimensional. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Painting becomes installation</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Vision is sought, as in trying to capture a dream when waking</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">. Sometimes the vision is lucid, sometimes obscure.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">An unconditional acceptance of the impossible is asked of the audience</span></b><span style="font-weight:normal">. After all, the experience of theatre itself is chimerical. What is at heart here is an evocation of particular states of the human condition…”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The poet’s visions play in the grooves of our mind long after the actual experience in the theatre if over</span></b>.”</p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-10743814201262992542010-10-03T06:53:00.001-07:002010-10-04T11:14:30.720-07:00Lorca's Drawings<div>It is no wonder that <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html">Lorca</a> was a visual artist as well considering the vivid images that saturate his writing. While he began by doodling caricatures of his professors and friends at school in Granada, Lorca continued to draw throughout his life, both exploring new ideas and illustrating his own plays and poems. Most of his drawings come several distinct periods in his life, including the times surrounding his friendship with <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html">Dalí</a>, while Lorca was studying and writing in New York, and later while in Buenos Aires, where he spent a great deal of time drawing rather than writing and even worked on illustrations for Pablo Neruda (Stainton 342). In 1926, Lorca even exhibited his art work at the Dalman Galleries in Barcelona with the help of Dalí and his friend the critic Sebastía Gasch, and his drawings were published in the newspapers and in his own magazine,<i> gallo, </i>throughout his career (Cuitiño 51, Stainton). </div><div><br /></div><div>The following is a selection of drawings and paintings made by Lorca. While they are not necessarily illustrations, they demonstrate the way in which Lorca was thinking about particular themes, symbols and recurring motifs in both language and line, and help us to better understand the images and feelings that are expressed in his writing.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSfSuAUtI/AAAAAAAAAhA/BG78f8jJbek/s1600/lorca-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSfSuAUtI/AAAAAAAAAhA/BG78f8jJbek/s400/lorca-2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523826009268310738" /></a><br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSfABM_BI/AAAAAAAAAg4/785uMGN66Tc/s1600/lorca-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 277px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSfABM_BI/AAAAAAAAAg4/785uMGN66Tc/s400/lorca-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523826004248558610" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSeicGlWI/AAAAAAAAAgw/CdEFNhUUVD4/s1600/Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_Whitman.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 361px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiSeicGlWI/AAAAAAAAAgw/CdEFNhUUVD4/s400/Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_Whitman.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523825996308321634" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRZ5E37MI/AAAAAAAAAgo/eo1QKi7SZ0k/s1600/danza+macabre+1927-8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRZ5E37MI/AAAAAAAAAgo/eo1QKi7SZ0k/s400/danza+macabre+1927-8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824816973933762" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Danza macabra</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRSyo5ySI/AAAAAAAAAgg/265euwLZ6Fo/s1600/Falling+mask.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 354px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRSyo5ySI/AAAAAAAAAgg/265euwLZ6Fo/s400/Falling+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824694986918178" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Falling Mask</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRSsSyfPI/AAAAAAAAAgY/bJkatVXgSuI/s1600/Face+with+arrows2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 328px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRSsSyfPI/AAAAAAAAAgY/bJkatVXgSuI/s400/Face+with+arrows2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824693283552498" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Face with arrows</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRRw99_3I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/iL8QSbKC9t8/s1600/Face+with+arrows1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRRw99_3I/AAAAAAAAAgQ/iL8QSbKC9t8/s400/Face+with+arrows1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824677358534514" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Face with arrows</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRReUxvCI/AAAAAAAAAgI/dlVoJjJ1wv4/s1600/Equipo_Santa_and_Cole_La_Guitarra_Carpet_tnz.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 330px; height: 330px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRReUxvCI/AAAAAAAAAgI/dlVoJjJ1wv4/s400/Equipo_Santa_and_Cole_La_Guitarra_Carpet_tnz.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824672353926178" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">La Guitarra, carpet</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRRX_fRuI/AAAAAAAAAgA/8v4tOMyD4aQ/s1600/465px-Lorca_-_Poeta_NY.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 311px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiRRX_fRuI/AAAAAAAAAgA/8v4tOMyD4aQ/s400/465px-Lorca_-_Poeta_NY.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523824670654023394" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Signature, <i>Poet in New York</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGwIT43I/AAAAAAAAAf4/wlIQdNd2izw/s1600/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 324px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGwIT43I/AAAAAAAAAf4/wlIQdNd2izw/s400/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523821189620032370" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sueno del marino, 1927</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGkEs2UI/AAAAAAAAAfw/A5ZcyHcNZWQ/s1600/The+eye.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 236px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGkEs2UI/AAAAAAAAAfw/A5ZcyHcNZWQ/s400/The+eye.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523821186383665474" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The eye</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGf5__uI/AAAAAAAAAfo/waWFXGi5Ex4/s1600/venetian+harlequin.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGf5__uI/AAAAAAAAAfo/waWFXGi5Ex4/s400/venetian+harlequin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523821185265041122" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Venetian harlequin</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGFf2gbI/AAAAAAAAAfg/QAeca7ZhSLc/s1600/tumblr_kzzru8eEOv1qz762fo1_500.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGFf2gbI/AAAAAAAAAfg/QAeca7ZhSLc/s400/tumblr_kzzru8eEOv1qz762fo1_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523821178176045490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGEPvZEI/AAAAAAAAAfY/BK7ezvcID6M/s1600/Z76RD00Z.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiOGEPvZEI/AAAAAAAAAfY/BK7ezvcID6M/s400/Z76RD00Z.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523821177840034882" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN4WvmnEI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/1aaDpLoL1e4/s1600/Spanish+Dancer.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 321px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN4WvmnEI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/1aaDpLoL1e4/s400/Spanish+Dancer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820942287346754" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Spanish Dancer</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN4BpSh1I/AAAAAAAAAfI/B5QoSjpsIWE/s1600/Solo+la+muerte.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 269px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN4BpSh1I/AAAAAAAAAfI/B5QoSjpsIWE/s400/Solo+la+muerte.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820936623720274" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Solo la muerte</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN37uUzFI/AAAAAAAAAfA/cZl7lXXnNnk/s1600/Soledad+Montoya.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN37uUzFI/AAAAAAAAAfA/cZl7lXXnNnk/s400/Soledad+Montoya.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820935034227794" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Soledad Montoya</div></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN3uxY4OI/AAAAAAAAAe4/diemypjRjqQ/s1600/Signatue.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 222px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN3uxY4OI/AAAAAAAAAe4/diemypjRjqQ/s400/Signatue.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820931557417186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN3aB2AzI/AAAAAAAAAew/LyZvQ56N6EU/s1600/Severed+hands.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 364px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiN3aB2AzI/AAAAAAAAAew/LyZvQ56N6EU/s400/Severed+hands.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820925989290802" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Severed Hands</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNprZv3II/AAAAAAAAAeo/W8tVe_fQOTE/s1600/self+portrait+of+the+poet+in+new+york.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 332px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNprZv3II/AAAAAAAAAeo/W8tVe_fQOTE/s400/self+portrait+of+the+poet+in+new+york.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820690134785154" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Self Portrait of the Poet in New York</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNprkBlwI/AAAAAAAAAeg/GdZdOxlxVuI/s1600/san+sebastian.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNprkBlwI/AAAAAAAAAeg/GdZdOxlxVuI/s400/san+sebastian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820690177890050" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNpUWo8XI/AAAAAAAAAeY/384KVFVGljo/s1600/San+Sebastian,+1927.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNpUWo8XI/AAAAAAAAAeY/384KVFVGljo/s400/San+Sebastian,+1927.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820683947733362" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">San Sebastian, 1927</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNpF5zC3I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/sPdGByIyHQE/s1600/Salvador+Dali.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNpF5zC3I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/sPdGByIyHQE/s400/Salvador+Dali.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820680068664178" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Lorca's Sailors:</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNo_1YI4I/AAAAAAAAAeI/nSr7OGRhYts/s1600/Sailor4.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNo_1YI4I/AAAAAAAAAeI/nSr7OGRhYts/s400/Sailor4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820678439510914" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJ2y9rfI/AAAAAAAAAeA/uBxn30hD2xo/s1600/Sailor3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 271px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJ2y9rfI/AAAAAAAAAeA/uBxn30hD2xo/s400/Sailor3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820143437524466" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJiEooZI/AAAAAAAAAd4/nMs5R7bkdpY/s1600/Sailor2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJiEooZI/AAAAAAAAAd4/nMs5R7bkdpY/s400/Sailor2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820137874497938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJu_O5oI/AAAAAAAAAdw/siERTeSAsBw/s1600/Sailor1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJu_O5oI/AAAAAAAAAdw/siERTeSAsBw/s400/Sailor1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820141341501058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJcAelTI/AAAAAAAAAdo/rEsmYYjLl6w/s1600/Music+and+mask.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJcAelTI/AAAAAAAAAdo/rEsmYYjLl6w/s400/Music+and+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820136246449458" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Music and mask</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJPpRv5I/AAAAAAAAAdg/UydtK4qoiis/s1600/Mask.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiNJPpRv5I/AAAAAAAAAdg/UydtK4qoiis/s400/Mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523820132927913874" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Mask</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgflyfRI/AAAAAAAAAdY/BgSG1DLgtBs/s1600/Mask,+figure+and+tomb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgflyfRI/AAAAAAAAAdY/BgSG1DLgtBs/s400/Mask,+figure+and+tomb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523819432833613074" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Mask, figure and tomb</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgaT-r2I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Df2RNrFT8B8/s1600/Mask+with+black+animal.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgaT-r2I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Df2RNrFT8B8/s400/Mask+with+black+animal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523819431416737634" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Mask with black animal</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgJ9-BLI/AAAAAAAAAdI/Uqk-0vM28zA/s1600/Mask+with+animal.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 375px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMgJ9-BLI/AAAAAAAAAdI/Uqk-0vM28zA/s400/Mask+with+animal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523819427029451954" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Mask with animal</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMf-OwXfI/AAAAAAAAAdA/a-bD64KUgMg/s1600/Love.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMf-OwXfI/AAAAAAAAAdA/a-bD64KUgMg/s400/Love.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523819423878634994" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Amor</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMfiGvh7I/AAAAAAAAAc4/YiWir56FCcQ/s1600/lorca4.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 335px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiMfiGvh7I/AAAAAAAAAc4/YiWir56FCcQ/s400/lorca4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523819416328832946" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL_hgQqcI/AAAAAAAAAcI/SM8pjp6n2RA/s1600/Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 387px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL_hgQqcI/AAAAAAAAAcI/SM8pjp6n2RA/s400/Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818866411612610" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL_NaUj1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/DLRP5Vye68U/s1600/Leyenda+de+Jerez.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL_NaUj1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/DLRP5Vye68U/s400/Leyenda+de+Jerez.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818861017993042" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Leyenda de Jerez</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-_CXIbI/AAAAAAAAAb4/48uwPX-smqs/s1600/Lemons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-_CXIbI/AAAAAAAAAb4/48uwPX-smqs/s400/Lemons.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818857159401906" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Lemons</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-laifbI/AAAAAAAAAbw/y_A1CQZAQdQ/s1600/La+mujer+del+abanico.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-laifbI/AAAAAAAAAbw/y_A1CQZAQdQ/s400/La+mujer+del+abanico.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818850281487794" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">La mujer del abanico</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-TMsF6I/AAAAAAAAAbo/Xrdu1a_LhVY/s1600/Garcia+Lorca,+Frederico,+Untitled,+L.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiL-TMsF6I/AAAAAAAAAbo/Xrdu1a_LhVY/s400/Garcia+Lorca,+Frederico,+Untitled,+L.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818845391558562" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQ2U8YnI/AAAAAAAAAa4/DBSYjKBGWCw/s1600/Costume+for+Leonarda.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQ2U8YnI/AAAAAAAAAa4/DBSYjKBGWCw/s400/Costume+for+Leonarda.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818064547439218" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Costume for Leonarda</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQtwqHLI/AAAAAAAAAaw/FXOb9gMbeT0/s1600/Clown+mask.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQtwqHLI/AAAAAAAAAaw/FXOb9gMbeT0/s400/Clown+mask.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818062247763122" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Clown Mask</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQEhIa6I/AAAAAAAAAao/KC4VYNUoMUY/s1600/Bosque+sexual+1933.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLQEhIa6I/AAAAAAAAAao/KC4VYNUoMUY/s400/Bosque+sexual+1933.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818051176786850" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Bosque sexual, 1933</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLP-hb7oI/AAAAAAAAAag/gXxDZDVLwoM/s1600/24985012.lorcachildhooddrawing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLP-hb7oI/AAAAAAAAAag/gXxDZDVLwoM/s400/24985012.lorcachildhooddrawing.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818049567452802" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLPrZdpBI/AAAAAAAAAaY/QrDE2bQF21w/s1600/444px-Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKiLPrZdpBI/AAAAAAAAAaY/QrDE2bQF21w/s400/444px-Lorca_-_Poeta_NY_5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523818044433736722" /></a><br /></div></div></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-75545158730260934782010-09-30T09:27:00.000-07:002010-09-30T14:39:55.529-07:00Verde<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Like any image that appears in Lorca's writing, the color </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">verde</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is not a fixed symbol but rather a constellation of meanings, many of them anithetical, that help us to understand the complex images and ideas that are presented in his poetry and plays. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the various meanings of the color green in Lorca's writing or the only way to interpret this color symbol, but rather a way to begin thinking about the ways in which green holds symbolic, historical, psychological, archetypal and biographical significance in our play as we build a list of meanings and develop our own symbolic vocabulary.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Green as unrequited or illicit love</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div><!--StartFragment--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In his essay “The Symbolic Ambivalence of ‘Green’ in García Lorca and Dylan Thomas,” Robert G. Havard discusses Lorca's poem “Romance sonámbulo," paying particular interest to </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Lorca’s “verbal conflict,” in which multiple and antithetical meanings and images are contained within a single word that becomes a symbolic unit, such as green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> (811)</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Along with the more traditional associations of green with ripening, youth, fertility, and energy, consequently reminding us of age and mortality, Havard explains that in Lorca’s poem green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> also functions according to more traditional Spanish colloquial negative associations with the color. Havard cites Lorca's use of the term </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">viejo verde</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> to describe the "lascivious Pedrossa" in Lorca's play </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Mariana Pineda</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> as a key example (814). Green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> is not simply “unripeness, immaturity and bitterness,” as it signifies when associated with fruit, but “in the context of love or sexuality…it will inevitably be negative in character, as in the cases of unrequited, perverse of illicit love” (814-815). Green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> is thus associated with both the “enticement and disillusionment” that occurs in the poem, and often goes hand in hand with </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">amarga,</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> bitterness, “which is generally presented in a negative nocturnal atmosphere” (818). </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Havard goes on to explain that this symbol must be understood within the context of the poem’s psychological realm that is created in part by the repetition of green rather than its immediate plot. For example, green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> is not only a physical attribute, but it is also representative of freedom in the poem, whether this is a physical or emotional release or freedom of expression. Havard relates these ambivalent meanings of the symbol green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> to the tragic plot of “Romance sonámbulo” by demonstrating how they contribute to the sense of deception, destruction and hopelessness felt by the man who satisfies his “violent and incurable passion” for the green girl who is the “impure object” of his desire (817).</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKT-M07QVWI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Udd0q5Oyywo/s1600/Costume+for+Leonarda.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKT-M07QVWI/AAAAAAAAAaA/Udd0q5Oyywo/s320/Costume+for+Leonarda.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522818539382134114" style="cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Costume for Leonarda</span></i></div><div><br /></div><!--StartFragment--><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><!--StartFragment--><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Along with the awareness that this essay builds of how and why Lorca uses the color green as a symbol, it also calls attention to the ways in which this symbol becomes problematic and allows us to challenge its meanings in a gender-conscious way. We might ask questions such as: why is the color green associated with women and femininity (both in Lorca's work and more broadly in our culture) and how does this create harmful images of women in accordance with traditional gender roles? How do the ambivalent meanings of the color symbol green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> relate to the virgin/whore dichotomy? Must green always have these negative connotations and can they ever become positive? How does </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> relate to the objectification of the young girl in the poem and her threatening, tragic role? Or how can the reader’s sympathy shift to align with the plight of the ‘elusive girl’ rather than the fate of man who plays her victim? By illuminating what green signifies in Lorca's poetry, this essay allows the reader to cast a critical eye on the problematic, often anti-feminist meanings of the color green</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> and thus encourages the reader to consider how these meanings can be exposed and ultimately changed. </span></span></span><!--EndFragment--> </span><!--EndFragment--><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Green and Granada</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In his essay “A Poet Crazy About Color,” Louis Parrot explores Lorca’s love of color and the way in which it was manifest in his poetry, tracing the evolution of color and its various symbols and associations throughout his wo</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">rk, including</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Gypsy Ballads</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Poet in New York</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, and some of his later work. Parrot begins his essay by describing how Lorca was not only continuing a Spanish literary and artistic tradition that emphasized color, but also how he was interested in illustrating his poetry in sketches and paintings and came to see the two arts as inseparable, thanks in part to the influence of Dalí. Parrot asserts that Lorca’s gift was for “giving back colors their purest brilliance” so that they were “often truer than those we see,” and explains that how Lorca was continually influenced by the images and landscapes of his childhood and the “colors of the South” of Spain (58, 59). For Parrot, the symbolic significance of green has to do with Lorca's relationship to Granada, Fuente Vaqueros and the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">vega</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, the fertile plain that surrounded Lorca's village, helping him vividly evoke his homeland for the reader. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, Parrot tells the reader that in </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gypsy Ballads</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, the city is often painted with vermilions and “apple green” (58). He also</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> suggests that the wind is typically “green-hued” in Lorca's poetry and that many of his landscapes are a “famous green” as well (59). Parrot even references a passage by Jean Camp about Lorca’s use of green when describing Granada, asking “is not green still today the sacred color of Islam, and did not Lorca wish by this device to underline the impact of [Islam?]” (59). Beyond nature and the landscape, Parrot sees the Moorish roots of Granada at the heart of Lorca's frequent use of green to recreate this world on the page.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKUDLUGcQlI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/XJGizCkvFmA/s1600/07072770.JPG.jpeg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKUDLUGcQlI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/XJGizCkvFmA/s320/07072770.JPG.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522824010948952658" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The vega.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Green and Nationalism</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">One of the most terrifying groups organized in September of 1936 by the Civil Government in Granada after the outbreak of Civil War was the Defense Armada de Granada, known as the </span>mangas verdes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">, or green sleeves because they wore green armbands. These were not trained soldiers from the local barracks but rather those men in town who had been labeled unfit for the military who were instead recruited as spies. These men not only spied on their neighbors and reported any "suspicious activity" or those who seemed potentially threatening to the new Nationalist Movement, but they were also responsible for many innocent deaths fueled by personal vendettas and desires for revenge (Gibson 71).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><!--StartFragment--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Works Cited</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;tab-stops:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"> <!--StartFragment--> </span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><p class="MsoNormal">Gibson, Ian. <i>The Death of Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Chicago, IL: J. Philip O’Hara, Inc. 1973. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;tab-stops:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Havard, Robert G. “The Symbolic Ambivalence of ‘Green’ in García Lorca and Dylan Thomas.” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">JSTOR.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> 1972. 6/10/2010. Web.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Parrot, Louis. “A Poet Crazy About Color.” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Lorca: A Collection of Critical Essays</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. Ed. Manuel Duran. NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1965. Print.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--> <!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--> <!--EndFragment--> </i></span></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-72289578925996386072010-09-26T14:23:00.000-07:002010-09-27T11:26:28.696-07:00Federico and Salvador: The Legendary Friendship<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDWvPhdheI/AAAAAAAAARA/HgbPFda9Nys/s1600/zion115.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 204px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDWvPhdheI/AAAAAAAAARA/HgbPFda9Nys/s320/zion115.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521649250265302498" /></a><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca and Dalí in Cadaqués, 1927</span></div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The “legendary friendship” of <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html">Lorca</a> and Salvador Dalì began in 1923 when Dalí arrived at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid to study at the Special School of Drawing at the Academy of San Fernando (Maurer 3). The first time they met, Lorca was amazed by Dalí’s unconventional style of dress while Dalí “in turn, was captivated by Lorca” and his first impression of Lorca was of a “poetic phenomenon in its entirety and ‘in the raw’ appearing suddenly before me in flesh and blood” (Stainton 110-1). Despite their antithetical personalities (Dalí was very shy while Lorca was “a font of laughter and music”) and frequent disagreements about art and literature, Dalí and Lorca became fast friends and Lorca helped Dalí integrate into social life at the Resi (Stainton 111). Though Dalí was expelled for participating in a student protest, only to participate in yet another political demonstration at home where he spent a month in prison, the artist was back at the Resi in 1924 with a new “maniacal zeal” for the avant-garde that became infectious (Stainton 127). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDd9a_fx5I/AAAAAAAAARg/BhvVTZzJ9pU/s1600/With+Dal%C3%AD+at+fair+in+Barcelona+mid-20s.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDd9a_fx5I/AAAAAAAAARg/BhvVTZzJ9pU/s320/With+Dal%C3%AD+at+fair+in+Barcelona+mid-20s.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521657190443632530" style="cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca and Dalí at a fair in Barcelona, mid-1920s</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDhYsgQl7I/AAAAAAAAASQ/jfgkZhoDUc4/s1600/Luis+Bu%C3%B1uel+c.+1920.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDhYsgQl7I/AAAAAAAAASQ/jfgkZhoDUc4/s320/Luis+Bu%C3%B1uel+c.+1920.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521660957535803314" style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Luis Buñuel, c. 1920</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Along with Luis Buñuel, the filmmaker studying science at the time, and other friends, they spent their time at the Resi together talking, drinking, smoking, reading to each other, and playing countless practical jokes and games. Lorca and Buñuel dressed up like nuns and harassed people on the trolly and they all joined Buñuel’s made-up fraternity of Toledo, which involved a trip to the city for a night of drunken antics. Lorca and Dalí made plans for a “book of putrefactions,” or anything they thought was “outmoded, sacred or anachronistic,” or as Dalí defined the term, “EMOTION” (Stainton 128-9). The “near-constant companions” developed a friendship of “mutual awe, but also, increasingly, of love” (Stainton 129).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDePOgXSNI/AAAAAAAAARw/MYGMUL_5Hzw/s1600/PORTRAIT+OF+DALI,+1925.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDePOgXSNI/AAAAAAAAARw/MYGMUL_5Hzw/s320/PORTRAIT+OF+DALI,+1925.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521657496329472210" style="cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Portrait of Dalí, c. 1925.</span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Between 1925 and 1927 the relationship between Dalí and Lorca grew as their admiration for one another and their influence over each other’s work intensified. Lorca fell in love with Cadaqués, a coastal village just north of Barcelona, where he went to stay over Easter holiday in 1925 with Dalí and his family in their summer home there. There, they spent their time walking through town, laughing with Ana María, Dalí’s beautiful sister, wandering the beach and watching each other work (Stainton 130-132). Lorca became the family’s “second son” after reading his play </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mariana Pineda</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, which Dalí for which would later design the set for its premier in Barcelona (Stainton 132). He traveled with the family back to their home in the town Figueres for a reading of his play and poetry, but soon went home to Granada and spent the next year moving between Granada and Madrid desperately missing his friend and keeping steady correspondence with Dalí as their work grew ever closer. While the two spent time together again in the summer of 1927 for the premier of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mariana Pineda</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in Barcelona and then went to Cadaqués, something happened that led Lorca to suddenly return to Granada. Dalí was soon drafted into the Spanish army for a year, separating the friends even further. Lorca returned to Madrid again to work and participate in the Luis de Gongóra festival then went home once again to Granada where he realized that his relationship with Dalí had irreversibly changed (Stainton 132-178). By 1928, they were both personally and artistically estranged from each other, moving in two different directions, only to meet briefly once more in 1935 (Maurer 4). </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDeHqlqVCI/AAAAAAAAARo/PDc-0ggfC5E/s1600/SLAVDOR+ADIL+(Peintre),+1925.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDeHqlqVCI/AAAAAAAAARo/PDc-0ggfC5E/s320/SLAVDOR+ADIL+(Peintre),+1925.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521657366428931106" style="cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">From a letter to Dalí, 1925</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfBsqR4BI/AAAAAAAAAR4/QovkFgxim9s/s1600/7.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfBsqR4BI/AAAAAAAAAR4/QovkFgxim9s/s320/7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521658363417583634" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dalí with his sister, Ana María Dalí in Cadaqués, 1927.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDbjerX7aI/AAAAAAAAARQ/Qpqri60jeKM/s1600/Lorca+and+Dal%C3%AD+Barcelona+Spring+1927.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDbjerX7aI/AAAAAAAAARQ/Qpqri60jeKM/s320/Lorca+and+Dal%C3%AD+Barcelona+Spring+1927.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521654545733119394" style="cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca with Dalí in uniform, 1927</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Despite each man having his own distinctive approach to art and poetry and the ways in which they eventually became increasingly critical of each other’s work, Lorca and Dalí both had considerable influence over how their work evolved between 1923 and 1928. Early on in their relationship at the Resi Dalí and Lorca were exposed together to the latest in art, literature and music, including American jazz and Buster Keaton films, and they fueled each other’s interest in modernism and the avant-garde developing in Europe (Stainton 128). Soon, they were showing up frequently in each other’s work. Lorca’s famous “Ode to Salvador Dalí,” written during his first long separation from Dalí in 1925, captured both Lorca’s deep feelings for the artist as well as his “cubist ideals” and “dispassionate, analytical approach to reality” captured in the poem’s “rigid, ordered, classical” style (Stainton 141). In Dalí’s paintings from the period it is not uncommon to spy Lorca’s head floating amidst torsos, severed limbs and “rotting animals,” as in his famous works “Little Ashes” and “Honey is Sweeter than Blood,” and he began to paint Lorca’s face overlapping with his (Stainton 165, 166). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfixnffsI/AAAAAAAAASI/B4WGz78j5Mo/s1600/dali.honeysweeterblood.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfixnffsI/AAAAAAAAASI/B4WGz78j5Mo/s320/dali.honeysweeterblood.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521658931683753666" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Honey is Sweeter than Blood.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While Dalí began to write more, Lorca began to draw more and Dalí helped him to exhibit his paintings in Barcelona at the Dalmau Gallery in June 1927. Not only do his drawings from this show reflect the extent to which “[Lorca] had absorbed [Dalí’s] cubist aesthetic and…enthusiasm for surrealism,” but they also reveal the deep understanding of one another that these artists shared (Stainton 163). They developed their own “private vocabulary” of motifs and images in their letters to each other, such the meaning surrounding the figure of <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html">St. Sebastian</a>, and experimented together with the same “surrealist techniques,” like “automatic writing and drawing” and with “dream images” (Stainton 168). Dalí was also a great source of encouragement to Lorca as he published his first poetry collections and praised his emerging plays and books (Stainton 151, 155). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDdvQ4v3wI/AAAAAAAAARY/ujUDoNn4mZU/s1600/DS1495_52.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDdvQ4v3wI/AAAAAAAAARY/ujUDoNn4mZU/s320/DS1495_52.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521656947212803842" style="cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dalí, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Little Ashes</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 1928. Lorca's image can be seen towards the bottom just right of center.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, by 1928, the two friends had a falling out reflected in their personal histories and in their divergent aesthetics. For Dalí, art became about objectivity, strange juxtapositions, “anti-art,” “the surface of things,” and must “let go of the anti-rot that is historical” while Lorca remained interested in discovering “inner life,” studying the “mystery” of art and recalling a pre-Castilian past rooted in his Andalusian homeland despite his admiration for the avant-garde and surrealism (Maurer 11, 87, 8). Lorca demonstrates this dichotomy between “surface and depths, clarity and mystery” that evolved between their artistic ideas in his prose poem written in 1927 called “<a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html">St. Lucy and St. Lazarus</a>,” each symbolizing a side of the debate (Maurer 10). At this time Dalí became increasingly critical of Lorca’s work, particularly his “Andalusian altarpiece,” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gypsy Ballads</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. In September 1928, Dalí sent Lorca a seven-page critique of his somewhat controversial collection of “tragic tale’s of life and death,” “sensual language and baroque delight to the human body” that he described as “stereotypical and conformist” as well as “fully within the traditional” (Stainton 192, Maurer 13). However, despite his negative reaction, Dalí also wrote to Lorca, “I love you for what your book reveals you to be” and his belief that Lorca would go on to “produce witty, horrifying…intense, poetic things such as no other poet could” (Stainton 192-3).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While there is little information about what caused this separation between Lorca and Dalí, it is clear that this rift had to do with their fear and discomfort around the homosexual feelings for one another they both struggled with. Lorca, who identified his homosexual love for the artist as early as summer 1925, suffered greatly due to his awareness of the attitude of Catholic society towards homosexuality which labeled his desires “perverse” as well as his own personal fear of sex (Stainton 138). Dalí too was “obsessed by Lorca, and troubled by his obsession” (Stainton 166). The letters between Lorca and Dalí written during this period reflect this intense passion as well as unease about their love for one another. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The mystery surrounding their homoerotically charged relationship is best illustrated by their discussion of the iconic <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html">St. Sebastian</a> who came to symbolize the growing divide in their aesthetic views as well as a potentially homoerotic relationship and who appeared throughout their letters, drawings, and paintings. Though Dalí revered the passivity and serenity in St. Sebastian’s expression while Lorca was more interested in the saint’s depiction of vulnerability and martyrdom in relation to artistic creation, both artists “were keenly aware of the intensely erotic meaning of their saint, and of a ‘penetration’ both figurative and physical” (Maurer 20). Though Dalí makes reference to both himself and Lorca as a St. Sebastian throughout his letters, in one letter in particular he remarks, “Didn’t you ever think how strange it is that his ass doesn’t have a single wound?” before finishing with his usual, “I love you very much” (Maurer 62). Is this a slightly cruel, teasingly homoerotic reference to Lorca’s desire for his friend? Is there a more personal meaning to St. Sebastian’s martyrdom for these two artists? Dalí would in fact eventually claim that Lorca was openly homosexual and that he had ultimately “spurned Lorca’s sexual advances” (Stainton 165). Some also implicate Luis Buñuel in their estrangement, suggesting that he “was appalled by the intensity of Dalí’s attachment to Lorca” and had to do with Dalí disinterest in Lorca and decision to pursue his career and the Surrealist movement in Paris (Maurer 16). Whatever happened to distance these two dear friends, it is clear that both Dalí and Lorca were indeed “wounded” by each other’s friendship and love, each irreversibly marked by the life and work of the other in a way that was befittingly tragic and poetic.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfHnejwQI/AAAAAAAAASA/JS7_MePTZSk/s1600/20090528-165406-pic-570545263_s640x428.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDfHnejwQI/AAAAAAAAASA/JS7_MePTZSk/s320/20090528-165406-pic-570545263_s640x428.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521658465105461506" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Robert Pattinson as Dalí and Javier Beltrán as Lorca in the film dramatizing their relaitonship, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Little Ashes</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (2008).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maurer, Christopher. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sebastian’s Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dalì and Federico Garcìa Lorca.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Swan Isle Press. 2005. Print.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Stainton, Leslie. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca: A Dream of Life</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Print.</span></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-50806596291342131802010-09-26T06:10:00.000-07:002010-09-27T12:34:07.801-07:00The Life of Federico García Lorca<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr0A17BpI/AAAAAAAAAWw/egtl0ufJLjg/s1600/Signatue.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 178px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr0A17BpI/AAAAAAAAAWw/egtl0ufJLjg/s320/Signatue.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672421968119442" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is befitting to our play that critic Maria M. Delgado presents Lorca himself as a performer of his own identity, his persona historically developing away from the man himself to become its own cultural symbol imbued with ever-changing meaning. In the introduction to her book <i>Federico García Lorca</i>, Delgado asserts that<br /><blockquote>Lorca is now a national trademark, a potent icon whose valuable wares are exported across the global cultural marketplace. More so than any other twentieth-century Spanish writer, he remains a paradoxical embodiment of the local, the national and the global. His life and work have become indelibly bound up in a process of mythification that has converted him first into the ultimate countercultural icon—the gay, martyred seer and a taboo topic in Franco’s Spain—and now the establishment face of the newly tolerant post-dictatorship Spain. (2)</blockquote>Delgado’s reading of Lorca’s iconographic role in Western culture not only suggests why it is important to know about Lorca’s biography and who he is, but it also speaks to many of the questions at the heart of our play about the <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/performative-acts-and-gender.html">performative nature of identity</a> and how this everyday experience is enacted and reified in the theatre, suggesting that Lorca’s interest in a dual identity was connected to his own personal experiences. In order to fully understand Lorca’s relationship to performance, myth and the dual identity, we must look to his life.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Timeline:</span></b></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1898:</span></b> Federico García Lorca is born 5 June in his Father’s hometown of Fuente Vaqueros, a small farming village in the province of Granada (Cuitiño 4). His father, Federico Lorca Rodrígez, was a wealthy landowner whose second wife, Vicenta Lorca Romero, was Lorca’s mother and a school teacher. Lorca was one of three siblings, Francisco (Paco), Concha and Isabel, and was very much brought up as “a rich little boy in the village,” which he later resented (Cuitiño 5, Stainton 15). As a child, Lorca was surrounded by influential role models of talent, creativity and intelligence, especially by relatives who were excellent musicians and singers. One of the most important was his great-uncle Baldomero García Rodriquez who sang in the cante jondo, or deep song, style of the Andalusian gypsies, about which Lorca would later theorize (Cuitiño 6). </span><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDsDh8z3kI/AAAAAAAAAXg/vF7nNOyFAsw/s1600/Lorca%27s+Family.jpeg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDsDh8z3kI/AAAAAAAAAXg/vF7nNOyFAsw/s320/Lorca%27s+Family.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672688553418306" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 221px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca with his family, c. 1912</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpbKoo1_I/AAAAAAAAAUg/-gBMK876YUs/s1600/LocationFuente_Vaqueros.png"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpbKoo1_I/AAAAAAAAAUg/-gBMK876YUs/s400/LocationFuente_Vaqueros.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669796076771314" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 329px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Fuente Vaqueros in the Province of Granada in Spain.</span></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">He also showed an early fascination with drama and Catholic liturgy, delivering long sermons in imitation of the priest at mass or setting up elaborate pageants, and one of his first toys was a miniature puppet theatre (Cuitiño 8, Stainon 13). 1898 is also the same year that Spain lost the last of its overseas possessions, including Cuba, in the Spanish-American War, suggesting that this revolutionary poet was born in a year of great changes (Cuitiño 4). This year is also used to refer to a group of influential Spanish authors, including Basque Unamuno and Ramón del Valle-Inclán, known as the Generation of ’98 who sought to “restore Spain’s eminence…with the indomitable Spanish spirit” (Cobb 17). Lorca’s own Generation of ’27 is greatly influenced by this earlier group of writers.<br /><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqNcI04bI/AAAAAAAAAVI/Q1dxe_dSkrM/s1600/age+six+1904.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqNcI04bI/AAAAAAAAAVI/Q1dxe_dSkrM/s320/age+six+1904.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521670659768639922" style="cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, age six.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1909:</span></b> Lorca moves to a house called Huerta de San Vicente in Granada with his family where he attends the private Sacred Heart of Jesus Academy and the General and Technical Institute as well. Lorca, however, was never a good student and for the rest of his student career, Lorca was constantly battling his parents who insisted he pass his exams and his stodgy professors who saw him as “a wayward dreamer” (Stainton 28). Despite his difficulties at school, Lorca “read avidly” and studied music, “his greatest love,” with Antonio Segura Mesa (Stainton 23, 26).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDsDq8tKOI/AAAAAAAAAXY/dR9J4E5TODY/s1600/Huerta+se+San+Vicente.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDsDq8tKOI/AAAAAAAAAXY/dR9J4E5TODY/s320/Huerta+se+San+Vicente.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672690968897762" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">The Huerta de San Vicente, named after Lorca's mother.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpkjhjABI/AAAAAAAAAUw/aFhRFSUjqfs/s1600/lfgl_1935_2.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpkjhjABI/AAAAAAAAAUw/aFhRFSUjqfs/s400/lfgl_1935_2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669957376737298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca's family outside the Huerta.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpMO9FLNI/AAAAAAAAAUA/2s_8E7YT4vY/s1600/lfgl_1914.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpMO9FLNI/AAAAAAAAAUA/2s_8E7YT4vY/s400/lfgl_1914.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669539538218194" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reading to his youngest sister Isabel, 1914.</span></div><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1915:</span></b> Lorca attends the University of Granada where he studies philosophy, literature and law, despite his lack of interest in school. Soon, he begins “his first nocturnal scirbblings” of poetry and plays while studying the piano and attending lectures during the day (Cuitiño 11). He also joins El Rinconcillo, or “The Little Corner,” a group of students and artists that met at the back of the Alameda Café. While Lorca began to write and to collaborate with this tertulia, or literary group, he mostly spent his time on the café’s little piano. Nevertheless, Lorca fervently took up the Rinconcillo’s mission to “reform and revitalize Granada” and its culture that they saw as threatened by modernization, a passionate for his home that would bleed through all of Lorca’s work (Stainton 33, Gibson 4).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1918:</span></b> <i>Impressions and Landscapes</i> is published based upon Lorca’s travels through Spain several years earlier with his beloved professor Martín Domínguez Berrueta. This book, however, was dedicated to Lorca’s music teacher, Antonio Segura Mesa. About this time Lorca also meets the composer Manuel de Falla, an important figure in his early career (Cuitiño 12). Although this year marks the end of the First World War, Lorca becomes eligible at age 20 for the draft and his parents pay a doctor to proclaim him “unfit” for the military, possibly changing the fate of his career (Stainton 55).<br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUgjwwyI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/0I4G_RE9_k4/s1600/Uni+of+Granada+students+in+Alhambra.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUgjwwyI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/0I4G_RE9_k4/s320/Uni+of+Granada+students+in+Alhambra.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671880726070050" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 257px; " /></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUgjwwyI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/0I4G_RE9_k4/s1600/Uni+of+Granada+students+in+Alhambra.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With other University og Granada students and faculty in the Alhambra</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1920:</span></b> Lorca moves into the Residencia des Estudiantes in Madrid after his father refuses to allow him to study music in Paris. Like his “pampered existence” at home in Granada, Lorca lives very comfortably at this elite, liberal-minded residence hall modeled after Oxbridge and designed for Spain’s brightest new thinkers (Stainton 62). Lorca flourished among the Resi students, “his daily life…a performance” with music and poetry recitals and attendance at the tertulias, or literary gatherings, at local cafés, where Lorca is exposed to modernismo, the avant-garde, cubism, futurism and Dada (Stainton 63). His first play, <i>The Butterflies Evil Spell</i> is produced. It was a huge flop (Cuitiño 16).<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1921:</span></b> <i>Book of Poems</i>, began in 1917, is published. Lorca also begins writing <i>Poem of the Deep Song</i>, already thinking about the cultural importance of the cante jondo music that embodies Lorca’s poetics.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1922:</span></b> Lorca and Manuel de Falla organize a cante jondo festival in Granada to promote this traditional, popular, folk music associated with the gypsies and the Moors of Granada before flamenco became the dominant style (Maurer). This same year Salvador Dalí arrives at the Resi and Lorca works on his Billy Club Puppet plays, including <i>The Tragicomedy of Don Cristobál and Miss Rosita.</i></span></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDp--SwIFI/AAAAAAAAAU4/trBII3t2XVc/s1600/455302.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDp--SwIFI/AAAAAAAAAU4/trBII3t2XVc/s200/455302.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521670411239039058" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 119px; " /></a></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDp--SwIFI/AAAAAAAAAU4/trBII3t2XVc/s1600/455302.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Festival de Cante Jondo in Granada</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqIEF9wxI/AAAAAAAAAVA/HVi-qrKn_dE/s1600/Poema+del+cante+jondo.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqIEF9wxI/AAAAAAAAAVA/HVi-qrKn_dE/s320/Poema+del+cante+jondo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521670567414842130" style="cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First edition cover for </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Poem of the Deep Song</span></i><br /></span></span></span></span></i><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1923-25:</span></b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca graduates (somehow) with a degree in law in 1923 and spends his time writing and goofing off with Dalí and Luis Buñuel in Madrid. In 1925, he visits Dalí’s family Cadaqués where he falls in love with Dalí’s family, the seaside and with Dalí himself. Lorca begins to work on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gypsy Ballads, Songs</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mariana Pineda</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, of which he gives a memorable reading to Dalí’s family, during these years. During the summer of 1925 he returns home to Granada and spends a restless and melancholy time away from his friend, composing several short pieces including “Buster Keaton’s Stroll,” his “Ode to Salvador Dalí,” and “Dialogue with Luis Buñuel” (Stainton 126-136). </span></span><br /><!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1926:</span> </b></span>Writes his essay, “The Poetic Image in Don Luis de Góngora,” the Golden Age symbolist poet so admired by his contemporaries, and the first version of <i>The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife</i> (Delgado 19). His “Ode to Salvador Dalí” is published (Cobb 15). He also meets the popular actress Margarita Xirgu, who helps him to produce <i>Mariana Pineda</i> in Barcelona at the Teatro Goya (Cuitiño 39).</span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>1927:</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Lorca’s drawings are exhibited in Barcelona in June and Lorca again stays with Dalí and his family in Cadaqués. Mariana Pineda premiers in Madrid. Later that year Lorca travels to Seville with a group of writers representing the “new Spanish literature” for a three-day celebration of the tricentennial of Góngora’s death, and this group of writers became known as the Generation of ’27 (Stainton 173).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpf_phv5I/AAAAAAAAAUo/9h-vy4o05zM/s1600/lorca+a+cadaques.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpf_phv5I/AAAAAAAAAUo/9h-vy4o05zM/s400/lorca+a+cadaques.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669879027056530" style="cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 400px; " /></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpf_phv5I/AAAAAAAAAUo/9h-vy4o05zM/s1600/lorca+a+cadaques.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In Cadaqués while staying with Dalí and Ana María, his sister, in 1927</span><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1928:</span> </b></span>Lorca releases his avant-garde magazine gallo, featuring <i><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/production-history-of-buster-keatons.html">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</a></i> (written in 1925) in the second issue. In April, he published <i>Gypsy Ballads</i>, which Dalí harshly criticizes for its return to the traditional. By this time, Lorca and Dalí have fallen out. However, Lorca begins an affair with the young, exotic-looking artist, Emilio Aladrén (Stainton 181). Lorca delivers one of his only other lectures, “On Lullabies.” He also writes <i>Don Perlimplín</i> and <i>Don Christóbal</i>.<br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1929:</span></b> In June, Lorca goes to New York City with one of his closest friends, Fernando de los Ríos, where he begins working on <i>Once Five Years Pass</i> and <i>The Public</i>, composes the first version of <i>Yerma</i> and writes the poems that will become perhaps his most famous collection, <i>Poet in New York</i>. Overwhelmed, speaking almost no English and homesick, Lorca enrolled at Columbia University and took a student dorm room. Lorca quickly made friends, but never really learned English, using bizarrely elaborate gestures, a small dictionary, and conversational French to get around and spending time with other Spanish-speakers. Though at first Lorca was in awe of “Dalí’s machine-age aesthetic come to life,” he would soon see the “rootlessness” city as “an alien metropolis where life has no value,” to which he would constantly compare his lost childhood in rural Spain (237). He witnessed death, poverty, cruelty and the Stock Market Crash. Even the greater freedom around homosexuality and his interest in Harlem jazz culture only reminded him of the isolation he felt because of his sexuality, expressed in many of his poems, and the discrimination faced by Blacks in America that reminded him of the persecuted Moors and gypsies in Granada. When he took a short trip to visit a friend in New English, Lorca declared “Ay! I’ve left the dungeon!” (226). </span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpSYTlkmI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/Q8hRC1Dw1_A/s1600/lfgl_1929_2.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpSYTlkmI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/Q8hRC1Dw1_A/s400/lfgl_1929_2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669645127750242" style="cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 400px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In New York outside Columbia University, 1929</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr07y5cUI/AAAAAAAAAXI/S9zqN4Rst9M/s1600/self+portrait+of+the+poet+in+new+york.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr07y5cUI/AAAAAAAAAXI/S9zqN4Rst9M/s320/self+portrait+of+the+poet+in+new+york.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672437793124674" style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Self Portrait in New York</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1929</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqgtqPVSI/AAAAAAAAAVY/l2E1X5x8Tdo/s1600/first+edition+1940+bilingual.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqgtqPVSI/AAAAAAAAAVY/l2E1X5x8Tdo/s200/first+edition+1940+bilingual.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521670990889702690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 200px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First edition of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Poet in New York</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, first bilingual edition published in 1940.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, Lorca also thought that American theatre was “revolutionary” and wrote to his family that, “Everything that now exists in Spain is dead. Either the theatre changes radically or it dies away forever” (232). In 1930, Lorca joyously goes to Cuba before returning to Spain, describing his time in New York as “the mot useful experience of my life” (241). He embraced Havana with energy and warmth, “donned a white linen suit, turned his face towards the light, and settled into the relaxed rythms of island existence” (244, Stainton 214-244).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq8YqaT4I/AAAAAAAAAVg/7uCeXiL7a6k/s1600/Havana+1930,+4+days.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq8YqaT4I/AAAAAAAAAVg/7uCeXiL7a6k/s320/Havana+1930,+4+days.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671466289614722" style="cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca in Havana, Cuba on his way home to Spain.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrU1GKuAI/AAAAAAAAAWg/eIDYr5w_7Ew/s1600/With+Havana+Yacht+Club+1930.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrU1GKuAI/AAAAAAAAAWg/eIDYr5w_7Ew/s320/With+Havana+Yacht+Club+1930.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671886239086594" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 197px; " /></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrU1GKuAI/AAAAAAAAAWg/eIDYr5w_7Ew/s1600/With+Havana+Yacht+Club+1930.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With the Havana Yacht Club, 1930.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUHz7cjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/xxolPP_tJCs/s1600/with+Francisco+1930.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUHz7cjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/xxolPP_tJCs/s320/with+Francisco+1930.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671874082992690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px; " /></a></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUHz7cjI/AAAAAAAAAWI/xxolPP_tJCs/s1600/with+Francisco+1930.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With his brother Francisco, 1930.</span><br /></span></span></span><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1931:</span></b> Back in Spain, Lorca becomes the artistic director of La Barraca, a state-run traveling theatre troupe founded by students and faculty of the University of Madrid. As a part of the “Missiones Pedagógicas” program of the new Republic, the “socially engaged” theatre focused on making plays from the Golden Age canon accessible and relevant to a rural audience through simple staging, music, and new settings. This marked the start of battles with right-wing critics and the Catholic Church who abhorred Lorca’s socialist, “homosexual” company. As part of this popular movement for education and social consciousness, Lorca opens a library in his hometown Fuente Vaqueros (Delgado 28-31). <i>Poet in New York </i>is published.</span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpWEwayXI/AAAAAAAAAUY/avxRDkCQm0M/s1600/lfgl_1932.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDpWEwayXI/AAAAAAAAAUY/avxRDkCQm0M/s400/lfgl_1932.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521669708599445874" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Traveling with La Barraca.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqVqzkNxI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/S3C84IrzuX0/s1600/Co-director+Eduardo+Ugarte+and+Lorca+-+company+tour+-+1932.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDqVqzkNxI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/S3C84IrzuX0/s320/Co-director+Eduardo+Ugarte+and+Lorca+-+company+tour+-+1932.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521670801144952594" style="cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With his co-director of La Barraca in their company uniforms.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUy9RozI/AAAAAAAAAWY/RcSudqTbAJc/s1600/With+niece+Tica,+1931.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUy9RozI/AAAAAAAAAWY/RcSudqTbAJc/s320/With+niece+Tica,+1931.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671885664920370" style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrUy9RozI/AAAAAAAAAWY/RcSudqTbAJc/s1600/With+niece+Tica,+1931.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With neice Tica, 1931</span><br /><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1933:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span>Under the new conservative catholic majority in government, La Barraca is no longer subsidized by the state. <i>Blood Wedding</i> premiers in Madrid on 8 March, a play that revisits many of the themes and symbols from Gypsy Ballads and reflects Lorca’s view of “rural Spanish life…as innately tragic” (Cuitiño 82, Stainton 298). Lorca also travels to Argentina in October for productions of <i>Blood Wedding</i>, <i>Mariana Pineda</i>, and <i>The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife</i>. It is here in Latin America where Lorca first achieves real commercial success as a theatre artist and becomes known as a “pan-Hispanic” writer (Dalgado 18). In Buenos Aires, Lorca delivers his essay <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/play-and-theory-of-duende.html">“Play the Theory of the Duende”</a> to an enthusiastic audience (Maurer viii).<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1934:</span> </b></span>He writes his "Lament for the Death of Ignacio Sánchez Mejías," a famous bullfighter and friend of Lorca’s whom he and the Generation ’27 greatly admired. <i>Yerma</i> premiers in Madrid at the end of the year, drawing great support from the “left liberal intelligentia” because its director and lead actress were associated with the Republicans and Lorca himself was increasingly seen as a leftist figure (Delgado 32, Cuitiño 107).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr0V6SMSI/AAAAAAAAAXA/k4j0mxuG-es/s1600/Pablo+Neruda+and+Lorca+-+1934.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr0V6SMSI/AAAAAAAAAXA/k4j0mxuG-es/s320/Pablo+Neruda+and+Lorca+-+1934.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672427623559458" style="cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr0V6SMSI/AAAAAAAAAXA/k4j0mxuG-es/s1600/Pablo+Neruda+and+Lorca+-+1934.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With Pablo Neruda and others at a party in Buenos Aires, 1934</span><br /><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr1KlmqAI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/q6avnd4eJbo/s1600/Sailor3.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDr1KlmqAI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/q6avnd4eJbo/s320/Sailor3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521672441763899394" style="cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of Lorca's </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sailor</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> drawings</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq8uzI_qI/AAAAAAAAAVo/mPy5fRVeJRY/s1600/Lorca+-+1934.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq8uzI_qI/AAAAAAAAAVo/mPy5fRVeJRY/s320/Lorca+-+1934.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671472231808674" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 217px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Montevideo, 1934.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1935: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca writes </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Doña Rosita the Spinster, or the Language of Flowers</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, also starring Xirgu, and the play is performed in Barcelona in December (Cuitiño 114). Lorca also meets Dalí one more time in Barcelona, abandoning a poetry and music recital in his honor to spend a few hours with his estranged friend in stead. Lorca later described this meeting as proof that they were “twin spirits” because after “seven years without seeing each other” they “still [agreed] on everything as if [they’d] never stopped talking” (Maurer 26).</span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq9oQSyFI/AAAAAAAAAWA/BoxRxTsTnHg/s1600/Lorca+-+reading+a+script+-+1935.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq9oQSyFI/AAAAAAAAAWA/BoxRxTsTnHg/s320/Lorca+-+reading+a+script+-+1935.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671487654905938" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 187px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reading his latest script for </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Doña Rosita</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in Barcelona, 1935.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrVJG7zlI/AAAAAAAAAWo/mm7L2kyOYKQ/s1600/Lorca+with+Margarita+Xirgu+and+Cipriano+Rivas+Cherif+-+Barcelona+-+1935.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDrVJG7zlI/AAAAAAAAAWo/mm7L2kyOYKQ/s320/Lorca+with+Margarita+Xirgu+and+Cipriano+Rivas+Cherif+-+Barcelona+-+1935.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671891611012690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span style="font-style:normal"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With Margarita Xirgu in Barcelona, 1935</span></span></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq9PoY-CI/AAAAAAAAAVw/6PjQeS-3LS8/s1600/Lorca+at+piano.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq9PoY-CI/AAAAAAAAAVw/6PjQeS-3LS8/s320/Lorca+at+piano.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521671481045088290" style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDq9PoY-CI/AAAAAAAAAVw/6PjQeS-3LS8/s1600/Lorca+at+piano.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At home in Granada at the piano, 1935.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">1936:</span> </b></span><i> First Songs</i>, written in 1922, is published. In July, Lorca returns home to Granada to escape the dangers of Madrid with outbreak of the <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/granada-and-spanish-civil-war.html">Spanish Civil War</a>. On 16 August Lorca is arrested by the Civil Government under the Nationalist Movement at the home of his friend, Luis Rosales. On the morning of 19 August he is <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/death-of-lorca.html">executed</a> outside the city (Gibson).<br /><br /><b>Works Cited:</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><br /></b>Cobb, Carl W. Federico García Lorca. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers. 1967. Print.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />Cuitiño, Luis Martínez. García Lorca For Beginners. New York, NY: Writes and Readers Publishers, Inc. 2000. Print.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />Delgado, Maria M. Federico García Lorca. New York, NY: Routledge. 2008. Print.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />Gibson, Ian. The Death of Lorca An Investigation Establishing the Guilt for One of the Great Crimes of the Spanish Civil War. Chicago, IL: J. Philip O’Hara, Inc. 1973. Print.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in">Maurer, Christopher. "Introduction." <i>In Search of Duende</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Federico García Lorca. New Directions. 2010. Print.</span></p></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;">Sawyer-Lauçanno, Christopher. “Introduction.” Barbarous nights: legends and plays from the Little theater/Federico Garcia Lorca, Trans. Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno. San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books. 1991. Print.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />Stainton, Leslie. Lorca: A Dream of Life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Print.</span><br /></div></div></div></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-85533985058321806702010-09-24T21:19:00.000-07:002010-09-24T21:21:49.498-07:00A Production History of “Buster Keaton’s Stroll” and “The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> are two of Lorca’s best-known “impossible plays,” which first appeared in his avant-garde magazine </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">gallo</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in 1928 (Stainton 177-8). </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> was written sometime around 1925 while Lorca was living in the Residencia in Madrid. There, Lorca was introduced to <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">Buster Keaton</a>’s films by Buñuel and he and Dalí began thinking about this iconic celebrity and how he could relate to surrealist cinema as well as homosexuality and reversed gender roles (Sawyer-Lauçanno 8). Although these were originally left out of his </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Obras Completas,</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> appeared in a collection entitled </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tres Farsas</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in 1959 (Dardis 281). </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> was written later, in late 1927 to 1928, and moves towards Lorca’s “more highly developed drama,” perhaps taking inspiration for its narrative from a poem in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gypsy Ballads</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> called “the Gypsy Nun” (Sawyer-Lauçanno 9). </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was not until after the 1970s, when Lorca’s plays came within the public domain, that these avant-garde works were rediscovered and Lorca’s lesser-known or unpublished plays began to be performed in Spain and abroad, and both plays premiered in Spain in 1986 as a “5 Lorca 5” season (Delgado 121, 127). Also in 1986, Lindsay Kemp staged </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton Takes a Walk</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> for Madrid’s Centro Dramático Nacional that fully embraced the many challenges that this play presents its production team. For example, the sense of Keaton’s “dislocation” from his surroundings and himself was expressed by making him a sort of cycling trapeze artist suspended over the stage. This production played with the movement of other characters as well, putting some on roller skates and including dance, emphasizing the imaginative, dream quality of the show (125).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">More recent productions of these works include </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Impossible Lorca: A Theatrical Hat-Trick</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> produced by New York’s Milk Can Theatre Company in its 2006 Scene Herd Uddered seven-week workshop. Under the direction of Melissa Fendell, this workshop culminated in staged readings of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton Takes a Walk, Chimera,</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Maiden, the Sailor, and the Student</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. Based on Caridad Svich’s translation Lorca’s </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Impossible Plays</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, these productions focused on the experimental and surrealist quality of the plays and grappled with interpreting the physical and visual challenges presented by these works. It began with a two-day workshop using Viewpoints technique in order to emphasize the importance of physicality and awareness of the body needed by the six actors performing these works and then it grew into a collaborative, movement-oriented piece over the course of the workshop. While there was a sound and a set/costume designer attached to the production, the design elements remained minimal, mainly involving fabric used for both draped costumes and props, and movement was instead the most important storytelling tool (Scene). </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In 2005, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> was featured at the International Toy Theatre Festival at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY by the Chicago puppeteer Blair Thomas. This show was part of one of Thomas’ larger works entitled </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cabaret of Desire</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> that is based on Lorca’s writing and includes, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Chimera</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton’s Stroll</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, as well as some poems and letters. The Toy Theatre was made of up doll-sized puppets and used objects like</span></span><span style="font-family:TrebuchetMS"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> “</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">a motorized scroll, multiple tubas, and bicycle wheels” (Great). Thomas has produced this work with the help of four other puppeteers and musicians at the Blacksheep Puppet Festival in Pittsburgh in 2002, the Puppeteers of America Southwest Regional Festival in 2008, and the Storefront Theatre in Chicago in 2008 (Touring).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In June 2009, the company Imaginary Beasts premiered “Dream of Life: the Impossible Theatre of Garcia Lorca” at the Boston Center for the Arts. Performed in the Plaza Black Box Theatre, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton Takes a Walk</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> appears in the second half of the show, after the audience has been shaken by the direct call for revolutionary action by the poet-playwright persona Lorenzo in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Play Without a Title</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. Described as “action-rich,” </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> includes an energetic clown cyclist, gracefully maneuvered sun and moon props, and birds vividly evoked through sound. The actors wear full, colorful costumes except for shoes, and the action appears to take place before a plastic shower-curtain-like backdrop (Beckner).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While this somewhat shallow production history tells us little about the history of these two lesser-known plays, it is also exciting because it means that there is plenty of room for imagination and exploration in our own production. The production history also helps us think about these plays not as impossible, but as works ready to be brought to life in the theatre in new and surprising ways.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Works Cited: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Beckner, Jules. “García Lorca’s ‘Dream’ Lives on at the BCA.” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My South End News</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. 17 June 2009. Web. 9-22-10. <</span><a href="http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=arts&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=92688"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=arts&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=92688</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">>.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dardis, Thomas A. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Keaton, the man who couldn’t lie down.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> New York, NY: Proscenium Publishers, Inc. 1979. Print.</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">281.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Delgado, Maria M. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Federico García Lorca</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. New York, NY: Routledge. 2008. Print.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Great Small Works 7</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> International Toy Theatre Festival 2005,” Advertisement. Web. 9-22-10. <</span><a href="http://www.greatsmallworks.org/pages/festival-2005/ttf_2005.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.greatsmallworks.org/pages/festival-2005/ttf_2005.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">>.</span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sawyer-Lauçanno, Christopher. “Introduction.”</span><span style="font-family:ArialMT;color:#352629"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="color:#352629"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Barbarous nights: legends and plays from the Little theater/Federico Garcia Lorca, Trans. Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno.</span></i></span><span style="color:#352629"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books. 1991. Print.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Scene Herd Uddered Workshops 2005-2006 Season.” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Milk Can Theatre Company.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Web. 4-9-10. <</span><a href="http://www.milkcantheatre.org/Productions/2005-2006/SHU/SHU2005-2006.html#SHULorca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.milkcantheatre.org/Productions/2005-2006/SHU/SHU2005-2006.html#SHULorca</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">>. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stainton, Leslie. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lorca: A Dream of Life</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Print.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“Touring Repertoire,” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Blair Thomas.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> 2009. Web. 9-22-10. <</span><a href="http://www.blairthomas.org/Repertoire/TouringRepertoire/tabid/64/Default.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.blairthomas.org/Repertoire/TouringRepertoire/tabid/64/Default.aspx</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-91309386418912542742010-09-23T05:09:00.000-07:002010-09-26T06:44:49.433-07:00“Play and the Theory of the Duende”<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What is </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Play and the Theory of the Duende</span></b></i><span style="font-style:normal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">? </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In 1933, <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html">Lorca</a> gave a lecture in Buenos Aires entitled “Play and the Theory of the Duende” in which he described this elusive concept of artistic inspiration that is just one facet of Lorca’s profound fascination with the mystery of art and life.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Composed after his time spent in New York City in 1929, Cuba in 1930, and when he had been immersed in the work of the traveling theatre troupe La Barraca since 1931, a group that brought classic plays to the uneducated people of rural Spain, Lorca turned once again to folk tradition in order to think about what gave life to the great art and culture of Spain. The word duende comes from “duen de casa,” a phrase meaning “master of the house” that refers to a “playful hobgoblin” from Spanish popular culture who haunts the house causing trouble (ix).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca was also thinking about another popular usage of the term to describe a performer with an “inextricable power of attatraction” who can “send waves of emotion through the audience” (ix).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is this earthy spirit that Lorca chose to embody the sense of inspiration that “climbs up inside” the artist to bring passion and power to the site of artistic creation (57, 59).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What is the duende?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Neither Muse nor Angel, the duende is a struggle that happens within the individual artist to give life to their creative work.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A force that comes from within “the remotest mansions of the blood,” the duende is not something that can be found like other exterior influences on art but rather must be fought with inside of the artist at the moment of creation, bringing with it a kind of purity of emotion that “shakes the body” (62).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The four elements associated with duende are earthiness, irrationality, a heightened awareness of death, and the diabolical (ix).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, Lorca describes a performance given by the revolutionary flamenco singer Pastora Pavón in which she did not exhibit just talent but “[robbed] herself of skill and security” in a kind of helpless struggle with the song and the duende inside of her (62).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Vulnerability, such as that which is symbolized by </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">St. Sebastian</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, is a central part of the experience of duende, and Lorca describes duende as a force that “changes a girl into a lunar paralytic” (xi, 69).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The duende however is not limited to the performer and affects both the artist and her audience (x).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The duende is transient, fleeting, never to repeat itself, and it also relies on risk taking.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca tells us that “duende does not come at all unless he sees that death is possible,” and that the duende is fought “on the edge of the well” and inside the “open wounds where creation happens” (67).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is why duende is connected to the bullfight, an art that relies on the possibility of death and thus the duende comes at “the point of danger” where “artistic truth” can be achieved (69).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The connection between the duende and the bullfight offers an interesting insight into the way death functions in Spanish culture, highlighting the way in which death is associated with celebration and feeling alive.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca’s suggestion that in Spain death is the “national spectacle” takes on another macabre layer of meaning when one thinks ahead to the gruesome Civil War that would take this poet’s life along with thousands of others.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca makes several other explicitly Spanish cultural connections with the duende, suggesting that this artistic struggle is particular to the collective Spanish psyche and performance tradition.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, Lorca assigns the duende a regional representation in Castille, while the muse rests in Catalonia and the angel in Galicia (71).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">He also explains that while “each art has a duende different in form and style,…their roots meet in the place where the black sounds…come from—the essential, uncontrollable, quivering, common base of wood, sound, canvas and word” (71). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Where is the duende,” Lorca asks? His answer: “through the empty arch [representing the duende] comes a wind, a mental wind blowing relentlessly over the heads of the dead, in search of new landscapes and unknown accents…announcing the constant baptism of newly created things” (72).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maurer, Christopher. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In Search of Duende</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">New York, NY: New Directions Books. 1998. Print.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-38493866142749096082010-09-21T14:14:00.000-07:002010-09-21T14:19:07.597-07:00“Performative Acts and Gender Construction” in "Barbarous Nights"<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">Judith Butler’s theory of how performance defines gender identity is key to understanding our own exploration of identity, performance and gender in <i>Barbarous Nights</i><span style="font-style:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Butler’s essay from her book </span><i>Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity</i><span style="font-style:normal"> raises many of the same universal questions as our text does about how identity is created, understood and performed by the individual, how identity is fragmented, fluid, and un-unfixed, and to what extent we have any power over both the social forces that repress and control our expressions of self and how our gender identity is established in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>What is Gender?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Gender is a “stylized repetition of acts” that are performed by the body as it “actively embodies certain cultural and historical possibilities.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is not predetermined by an “essence,” but continually materialized when we reproduce and reify the historical and social conventions that give the body meaning. In other words, gender is not an expression of biology or a concrete identity, but created by our individual everyday actions. These performances disappear because they are naturalized and seem grounded in our physical bodies.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Example:</i><span style="font-style:normal"> The Maiden’s constant work on her embroidery can be conceived not as an expression of her gender identity, but rather as an act that she performs in order to portray femininity that in turn defines her as female based on the cultural values attributed to the act.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>How do we know what to perform?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Simone de Beauvoir said that, “the body <i>is</i><span style="font-style:normal"> a historical situation.” Though each performative gender act is unique, it is based on historical “corporeal styles” that determine how gender is performed again. We are not just performing but “dramatizing and reproducing a historical situation.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We operate according to a “tacit collective agreement to perform,” meaning that while we each perform our gender individually, our behavior is limited by a set of cultural values and social rules that decide what each gender is embodied according to previous performances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“The personal is political” because we are conditioned by the social and culture structures around us, even when we act individually. These acts are rehearsed and have a ritualistic, public dimension because there are consequences when you do not comply with your given gender identity.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>How is the performance of gender different than actual theatre?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we perform our gender, the line between the performance and reality becomes indistinguishable, naturalizing the gender performance while also calling reality into question altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is nothing to delineate the “act” that is performed from real life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Example</i><span style="font-style:normal">: When the Mother blinds her daughter, she alters her physical existence so that she will properly embody her female gender identity according to social custom (not looking at men).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>While the Maiden is performing her gender through various acts, she is irreversibly blind so that her performance is now her reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>What does it mean when the body is permanently changed to embody a particular gender identity? Does this border on essentialism by presupposing a biological or physical definition of gender?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This example exposes not only the violence and pain that results from extremely repressive social conventions that dictate how one performs one’s identity but also the tragic possibility that one’s identity might be permanently constrained by one’s own inability to perform beyond the body’s limitations, once again blurring the line between performance and reality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>So what?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Performance theory destabilizes our notion of gender because it asserts that gender does not express any sort of interior “self.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Instead, the self becomes “irretrievably outside,” negating the presence of an true core identity or self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>While the elimination of any interior self or predetermined identity can be problematic and disheartening, it is also an incredibly liberating concept that gives a great amount of agency to the individual in his or her everyday life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If gender only exists in so far as we perform it, than we have the potential to change our identity with each new act and expression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Next to the sorrow, fear, emptiness and uncertainty of an identity that is not based on an essential or interior self there is also hope, power and opportunity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Central Questions:<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is there an “essential self”? Is there a difference between our physical self and our “performative self”?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Are we ever not performing our identity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>How does this performed identity relate to our unconscious, our ego and our superego?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">If our “acts” do not solely constitute our identities, what does? What about emotions, instincts, beliefs, desires, fears, dreams, etc. that pre-exist our expressions of them? What relationship do these play to our performances, the social conventions that define them, and our identities in general?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does Butler’s theory relate to the way gender functions in the script? Does is make this a feminist or anti-feminist text? How does this theory relate to heterosexuality and homosexuality and their respective functions in the play?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does this theory help us understand the meaning of props, costumes, images, <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/symbolism-in-barbarous-nights.html">symbols</a>, colors, etc. throughout the play?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In general, how does the play call attention to itself as a performance and what does this do?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do we highlight the perfomative nature of identity and challenge the notion of “reality” when reality only exists in so far as the individual is performing a series of acts?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How might Lorca respond to Butler’s theory? In what ways does Butler's theory challenge Lorca's notions of a dual identity made up of an inner and outer self?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does Butler’s theory relate to the “fragmented” identity of <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/dual-identity-of-buster-keaton.html">Buster Keaton</a> in the film? Is there a “real” Keaton besides the public persona as portrayed in his films? Is this suggested by his inability to comprehend life beyond the screen?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What about death? What does it mean to this theory that Buster Keaton realizes death is not a performance while at the same time he draws attention to the end of the actual theatre performance? How does the play overall challenge the difference between performance and reality or challenge the notion of performance as reality?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">How might technology alter the way in which Butler’s theory relates to our text?<i><o:p></o:p></i></p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-22622591060536068782010-09-21T14:10:00.000-07:002010-09-21T14:13:56.893-07:00The Symbolic World of Lorca and "Barbarous Nights"<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;">In the introduction to <i>The Symbolic World of Federico Garcìa Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal">, Rupert C. Allen asserts that the psyche is “simultaneously the source and goal of Lorca’s poetry” (3). Throughout this book, Allen not only interprets the symbolism found in Lorca’s poetry, but also argues the importance of the poet’s unconscious to understanding his use of <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/symbolism-in-barbarous-nights.html">symbolism</a> and the way in which this ultimately allows readers and critics to take a biographical approach to the Lorca’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This essay is an important tool for understanding the theoretical aspects of Lorca’s writing, whether this is Freudian or biographical analysis, and also for establishing a vocabulary of symbolism and imagery that is necessary for understanding the meaning of individual words and images in the world of Lorca’s poetry and plays.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Allen speaks primarily in the introduction of the “vital energy of symbol” that is not only significant to the individual, in this case the author, but also bears archetypal importance and represents the creative drive of the unconscious, in which Lorca strongly believed (4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In Freudian terms, the unconscious is suppressed by the individual ego, so that conscious life is in fact a fragmentation of the unconscious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Allen establishes a three-fold relationship between the unconscious and the conscious within Lorca’s symbolism: the mythic level, the esthetic level and the psychological level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>According to Allen, the mythic level is distinguished by collectiveness, the symbols that emerge from conscious lived experience and the “biosphere,” found in world and culture of the Gypsy (6).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The esthetic level on the other hand has to do with the interplay between the conscious and the unconscious and the inspiration that arises from this interaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Allen suggests that this interaction is normally one of frustration and repression of the unconscious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As his example of a release of the unconscious to mix with the conscious he cites the “shock poetry” written by Lorca while in New York while he remained in a “dissociated state” (6).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The psychological level is then to Allen about reestablishing the lost connection between the psyche and the natural world, a vital connection broken in childhood (7).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It becomes clear that Freudian theory and psychoanalysis are crucial to understanding these different aspects of Lorca’s symbolic world and to understanding how the author’s own unconscious and its creative powers might be influencing the symbolism in his work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Later in the book, Allen goes on to outline some of the predominant symbolism in Lorca’s writing, which can be categorized as it relates to nature, culture and the lifecycle.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For example, Allen begins by describing Lorquian birth symbolism by explaining how the ocean represents “the womb of all life” and that the child is “the promise of continual renewal” (7).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Another example of lifecycle symbolism is the connection created between blood and the libido, the Sun God, and even Dionysus. Cultural symbols are people, places or objects in Spanish life that gain archetypal significance and symbolism, such as the liminality encompassed in the <i>carabineer</i><span style="font-style:normal"> border guards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The </span><i>glorieta</i><span style="font-style:normal"> is another important cultural symbol, which functions as a layering of meanings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s symbolic significance comes from the layering of its literal meaning, “little glory” and “radiant center,” with its social meanings, a public square or meeting place, that allow this word to be connected to the “circle of silence” associated in Lorca’s beloved </span><i>canto jondo</i><span style="font-style:normal">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Often several of these aspects are combined in one symbol, such as Allen’s description of gypsy lunar symbolism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The moon is connected to the tambourine, the Basque drum, horses and hypnosis by its importance in gypsy fertility spells that thus link all of these both natural and cultural symbols and images to the essence of traditional womanhood (17).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Many of the nature symbolism is also related to fertility, such as the recurrence of the laurel plant and its connection to Apollo or the “generative powers” associated with wind and water, becoming libidinal symbols (18, 25).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Snow, on the other hand, is “symbolically opposite to vitality,” and death, freezing, paralysis, madness, ego-consciousness and the moon all become intertwined in a sort of symbolic system (26).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>While these explanations of the symbolism in Lorca’s work are by no means the only way to interpret these frequent images and words, but they do begin to illuminate some of the multiple and complex meanings behind Lorca’s use of symbolism and can help us better think about the interaction between symbols, images and overarching themes in the play.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Works Cited:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in">Allen, Rupert C. <i>The Symbolic World of Federico García Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. 1972. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-33126764809160595122010-09-21T14:01:00.000-07:002010-09-27T11:43:42.176-07:00The Dual Identity of Buster Keaton<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDidtSWlYI/AAAAAAAAAS4/bsdTpdEVu2E/s1600/The+Marriage+of+Buster+Keaton,+collage+(part+1),+1926.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDidtSWlYI/AAAAAAAAAS4/bsdTpdEVu2E/s320/The+Marriage+of+Buster+Keaton,+collage+(part+1),+1926.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521662143156884866" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDij4swMvI/AAAAAAAAATA/xzj6qBkp9Ag/s1600/The+Marriage+of+Buster+Keaton,+collage+(part+2),+1926.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDij4swMvI/AAAAAAAAATA/xzj6qBkp9Ag/s320/The+Marriage+of+Buster+Keaton,+collage+(part+2),+1926.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521662249299620594" style="cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Marriage of Buster Keaton, a collage by Dalí sent to Lorca in a letter in early 1926</span></div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In their article “Dreaming in Pictures: The Childhood Origins of Buster Keaton’s Creativity,” Judith Sanders and Daniel Lieberfeld argue that Buster Keaton’s signature “stone face” as well as the prominent characters and themes in his films are related to a traumatic childhood.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not only does this article offer insight into the life of Buster Keaton, but it also highlights the ways in which </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/performative-acts-and-gender.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">performance and identity</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> become blurred for this celebrity chosen by Lorca to explore the nature of dual identity.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Joseph Keaton had an incredibly unconventional childhood that exposed him to the both the amusements and hardships of vaudeville and was overshadowed by the physical abuse by his father both on and off-stage.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Born on the road in 1895, Keaton was put on stage by age three and quickly rose to stardom.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Rather than attend school, Keaton spent his youth practicing slapstick physical comedy routines with his father, that is, when he wasn’t getting into accidents: he got his nickname “Buster” falling down a flight of stairs (16).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The injuries only grew worse as Keaton spent more time onstage participating in dangerous and abusive stunts about a father punishing his son.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Keaton became known as “the Human Mop,” was thrown into walls and beaton with heavy objects (16). Though some were concerned for his safety, mostly the public just found Keaton and his father hilarious. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiFlZJeAI/AAAAAAAAASg/fS5TEWk5lFs/s1600/Keaton+in+vaudville,+c+1900.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiFlZJeAI/AAAAAAAAASg/fS5TEWk5lFs/s320/Keaton+in+vaudville,+c+1900.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521661728721041410" style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Keaton was already performing by age 3.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiJELvKuI/AAAAAAAAASo/dStm1FJUWw4/s1600/127_keatonchild.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiJELvKuI/AAAAAAAAASo/dStm1FJUWw4/s320/127_keatonchild.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521661788525898466" style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Keaton with his parents, age 4</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Keaton’s alcoholic father did not limit his violent behavior to the stage, however, and during this time Keaton developed his signature “blank” face at the insistence of his father, a look which these critics believe was a representation of Keaton’s interior emotions and not simply a “blank pan or the puzzled puss” put on to get a bigger laugh (16).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This question of how Keaton adopted this expression for the rest of his career suggests why Lorca was thinking about the comedian, like the mask, as a symbol of dual identity.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Other details about Keaton’s life and career also relate to this question of his identity, such as the way in which Keaton himself performs his own biography.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While some critics believed that, “the [characters he played] took hold of Buster Keaton himself,” the authors of this article suggest that it was in fact the other way around and that Keaton’s characters and films became a creative outlet for his own troubling life experiences.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, reflected in Keaton’s autobiography is the way in which he and his mother lived in constant denial of his father’s violent cruelty until Keaton was 21 when the two left their father and went to Los Angeles, suggesting that Keaton invented a much happier childhood for himself in his interviews and autobiography than he actually experienced (17).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Another interesting overlap between Keaton’s life and work is the way in which the films he created and starred in himself possibly served as a way for Keaton to cope with his trauma by “[recreating] the physical dangers of his childhood, this time under circumstances of his own choosing” through his incredible stunts (18). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDjcDLRrXI/AAAAAAAAATI/KPC5qIBT-kg/s1600/Brown+Eyes+and+Friendless.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDjcDLRrXI/AAAAAAAAATI/KPC5qIBT-kg/s400/Brown+Eyes+and+Friendless.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521663214184672626" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 284px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">Brown Eyes and Friendless</span></i></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The plots of Keaton’s films also address many of the issues he himself struggled with growing up, such as feeling unfairly and inexplicably punished as in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Convict 13</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, proving his masculine identity to a cruel father in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Steamboat Bill, Jr.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and a psychological battle with “insecurity, inadequacy, and isolation” in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The General</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Cameraman</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. (26).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Keaton’s own favorite film and his biggest box-office success, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Battling Butler</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, is also one of many films that enact a sort of “fantasy of revenge on a bullying parent” (26).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In this way Buster Keaton serves as an appropriate case study for the tension between the identity of the performer and his character.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiMbO_Y3I/AAAAAAAAASw/fj1QhYWUptA/s1600/Annex-Keaton-Buster_38.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDiMbO_Y3I/AAAAAAAAASw/fj1QhYWUptA/s320/Annex-Keaton-Buster_38.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521661846253167474" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A sad looking Keaton surrounded by ladies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDkf4szA5I/AAAAAAAAATQ/XyzYLt68F0I/s1600/College.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDkf4szA5I/AAAAAAAAATQ/XyzYLt68F0I/s400/College.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521664379603583890" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Keaton in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">College</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, the film referenced by the Man with the White Feather Duster in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Babarous Nights</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This article highlights several other interesting overlaps between Keaton’s life and work and our text.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, in light of his traumatic childhood abuse, Keaton becomes an interesting example of another type of painful parent-child relationship that might mirror the relationship of the Maiden and the Mother in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Barbarous Nights</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It also becomes clear how many of the qualities of Lorca’s imagined Keaton character relate to his own performances.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, many of Keaton’s films take place in the context dream or a nightmarish world, suggesting a surreal quality to Keaton’s own films.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In addition, many critics suggest that it is Keaton’s technique for distancing himself from the audience and becoming emotionless and flat as he first appears in our play that makes his work comedic.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDlrSxQxsI/AAAAAAAAATg/YgHWmN8K8NQ/s1600/Buster+Keaton+Navigator.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDlrSxQxsI/AAAAAAAAATg/YgHWmN8K8NQ/s400/Buster+Keaton+Navigator.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521665675091822274" style="cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 304px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A forlorn Keaton in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Navigator</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">From his earliest performances, Keaton relied on the “mechanical quality of his rigidly controlled face” along with literally becoming objectified to his audience so that he no longer seemed human (26).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Keaton also makes himself puppet-like in order to “limit the possibility of empathy” from the audience and create the amount of “insensitivity” necessary to invoke laughter (26).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ultimately this article offers unique insight into why Lorca may have been thinking about the figure of Buster Keaton in the way that he did, imagining him in terms of a dual identity that provokes serious questions about the relationship between the actor and his role as well as performance and identity and how the theatre can shed light on exactly what it means to be human.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDk97ECt9I/AAAAAAAAATY/gWoM0TGBKms/s1600/In+the+Good+Old+Summer+Time,+1949+(left)+and+The+Railrodder,+1965+(right).jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDk97ECt9I/AAAAAAAAATY/gWoM0TGBKms/s400/In+the+Good+Old+Summer+Time,+1949+(left)+and+The+Railrodder,+1965+(right).jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521664895634028498" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></a></p><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDk97ECt9I/AAAAAAAAATY/gWoM0TGBKms/s1600/In+the+Good+Old+Summer+Time,+1949+(left)+and+The+Railrodder,+1965+(right).jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">Keaton in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">In the Good Old Summertime</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">, 1949 (left) and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">The Railrodder</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">, 1965 (right)</span></div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sanders, Judith and Daniel Lieberfeld. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Film Quarterly</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, Vol. 47, No. 4. Summer, 1994. JSTOR. Web. 8-31-2010.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-29731773317097359642010-09-20T18:56:00.000-07:002010-10-06T19:19:31.609-07:00Symbolism in Barbarous Nights<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><div>Animals and Birds:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Bull: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The national symbol of Spain with the bullfight as Spain's national sport. Children are even taught in school to recognize the shape of Spain because it looks like a bull (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In Search of Duende </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">95</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">)</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. Lorca himself greatly admired the bullfight because it is where "the duende is most impressive" because the fighter battles both death and "geometry" (</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Play and the Theory of Duende </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">69).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Butterflies:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Crickets:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Crocodile:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Dog:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Fish:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Frogs:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Horse:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> The horse is often a sexual image in Lorca, associated with gypsy drums and music in a way that relates to gypsy moon imagery as well (Allen).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nightingale:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Owl:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Panther:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Partridge: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Commonly a symbol of the devil, but can also symbolize the church or Christ.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Rooster: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is the animal chosen to symbolize Lorca's avant-garde magazine </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">gallo</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">, released i 1928 in Granada. As a "rooster of resistance," it symbolizes the liberation from the "conservative tradition" in Granada that his magazine embodied (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Sawyer-Lauçanno 3).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Snake/Serpent:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Swan:</span></span></div><div>
<br /></div><div>Colors:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Red: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First and foremost red is blood and is related to both life and death, the life-cycle and menstrual cycle, libido and Dionysus (Allen 7).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">White: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">V</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">irginity and purity at the same time as it suggests coldness, sterility and death (Havard 819).</span></span></span></div><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Green: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">See "</span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/verde.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Verde.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Yellow/Gold: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In Lorca's poetry, yellow often seems to signify childhood and warm colors are used to describe the landscape of Granada where he grew up (Allen). Also, executioners in Spain traditionally wore yellow or red (Brewer 1317).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Blue: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In his essay, "Play and the Theory of the Duende," Lorca describes an Andalucian night as blue (15).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gray/Silver: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Associated with Lorca's New York poetry and also his use of "veiled tones" to evoke poverty and differentiate man-made objects from things found in nature.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Orange:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> Warm colors are typically associated with Andalusian imagery in Lorca's poetry.</span></span></div><div>
<br /></div>Flowers and Trees According to Kate Greenaway's </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Language of Flowers:</span></b></i><div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Camellias</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Red--unpretending excellence; White--perfected loveliness</span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cypress</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Death and mourning</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">
<br /></span></i><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Iris</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Message</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lily</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Day--coquetry; White--purity, sweetness; yellow--falsehood, gaiety; of the Valley--return of happiness. Lorca also described himself as having within him a "white lily impossible to water," while the rest of the world saw him as a red rose, suggesting a profound fear or passion and sex (Stainton 65).</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Myrtle</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Love</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Narcissus</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Egotism</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oleander</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Beware</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Orange Blossom</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Your purity equals your loveliness</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Pine</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Pity</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Poplar</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Black--courage; White--time</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Red Rose</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Love; Deep red--bashful shame</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">White Rose</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: I am worthy of you; Withered--transient impressions</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sunflower</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Haughtiness</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Spikenards: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Also known as muskroot, this flowering plant from the Himilayas was traditionally made into an essential oil used as a perfume or medicinal oinment. This is the oil with which Mary Magdalene anoints Jesus.</span></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tulip</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: Fame; Red--declaration of love; Variegated--Beautiful eyes; Yellow--Hopeless love</span></div><div>
<br /></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Fruits and Food:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Apples:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> The symbol of temptation and the Fall of Man from the Garden of Eden. Also, "hard apples" are used to describe the work of the "popular school" of embroidery in Granada in "History of this Rooster."</span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cherry:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cinnamon:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Grapefruit:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lemon: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Childhood.</span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD6bxetTuI/AAAAAAAAAZw/u5qjkNE94U0/s1600/Lemons.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD6bxetTuI/AAAAAAAAAZw/u5qjkNE94U0/s320/Lemons.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521688498201775842" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px; " /></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lorca's drawing of lemons.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Melon:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Milk:</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Olives: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One at a café with friends, Lorca told his company that he was going to Mass that afternoon because he was intoxicated by the ritual and the aroma of the incense. Dalí pointed at the table replied that he was more interested in this olive.</span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oranges:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Pomegranite:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Shaddock: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A south asian citrus fruit like a pomelo or a grapefruit.</span></span></b></div><div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Other References:</b></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Boletos: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Spanish for "tickets."</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Boreal auroras: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">an inversion of the name for the colorful northern light phenomenon "aurora borealis," named after the Roman goddess of the dawn Aurora and the Greek word for wind.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Crepuscular: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Of or relating to twilight (dawn or dusk).</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Crinoline: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A type of many-layered women's petticoat.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dante:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Author of the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Divine Comedy</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, including</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Inferno</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Purgatorio</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Paradiso</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, written in the 14th century.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Great Stone Face": </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton was known for keeping a straight face while performing slapstick routines and ridiculous stunts. Some scholars believe this was related to traumatic childhood abuse by his father, who taught him to play it straight.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Hermetic song: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As in songs sung in solitude.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Magnesium lights:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Megatherium:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> A pre-historic genus of giant sloths that lived in Central and South America, referring to their enormous, elephant-like size.</span></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Meningitis: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This disease affecting the brain and spinal cord caused by either bacterial or viral infection was a major problem around the world at the turn of the 20th century without much treatment. The line about "masks of meningitis" inverts one of the common treatment that calls for patients to wear masks so as to limit their contagion.</span></div><div><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A Midsummer Night's Dream</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Miss Eleonora:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Moiré tie: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A fabric with a wave pattern woven into it, such as "watered silk," so called for its appearance like water ripples.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Narcissus: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The beautiful Greek mythological hero described by Ovid in book three of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Metamorphosis</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> who died starring at his own reflection with which he had fallen in love as punishment for his pride and vanity.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Natalia: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Natalia Talmadge was Buster Keaton's first wife (1921-32), the sister-in-law of his boss in Hollywood, and a silent film actress with whom he had two sons.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"The Navigator": </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Buster Keaton's 1924 film in which he and his love interest are stranded on a ship adrift on the Pacific Ocean.</span></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Nebulae:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Polyphemus: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The name of the cyclopse in Homer's </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Odyssey</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and one of the sea-god Poseidon's sons. His Greek counter part is Chronus, who became a god associated with time during the Renaissance.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Saetas: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A song of traditional Andalusian flamenco music, related to Catholicism.</span></div><div><b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">San Lazáro</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Mystery, inner self, depth of feeling.</span></div><div><b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">San Lucía</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Associated with blindness and sickness; the surface, the superficial.</span></div><div><b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">San Sebastían</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The artist and his creation; homoeroticism; </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lorca's relationship with Dalí</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Saturn: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Roman god of agriculture and harvest.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>
<br /></b></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Other Symbols:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Arrows/target: </span></b><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/three-saints-santa-lucia-san-lazaro-and.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">San Sebastían</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> was killed by arrows and the arrow became a motif in the work of Lorca and Dalí; both the symbol of King Ferdinand who expelled the Moors from Granada and one of the symbols of the Falange, a radical Right-wing group that took power during the Civil War in Spain.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Blood:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cathedrals:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Country of the Dead: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lorca may be referring to his own beloved Spain and not the underworld, and in his essay </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Play and the Theory of Duende</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> he notes how Spaniards welcome death, celebrate it as "a national spectacle" in the bullfight, and that a "dead man is more alive in Spain as a dead man than anyplace else in the world" (64).</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Crossroads:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gardens:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gloves:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jasper: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A speckled or striped stone with religious meaning that is generally red, yellow, brown or sometimes green. In Revelation 21, jasper is used to describe the "shining" city of New Jerusalem and makes up the first layer of the city's foundation. It is also one of the twelve stones in the High Priest Aaron's breastplate, described in Exodus 28. Its symbolism includes "blood atonement" via the sacrifice of Christ, prosperity, protection from spirits, and the "perfection of saints" (Gaylord).</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Mask:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Moon and stars: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Eternity and romance (Maurer). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The moon is also connected to the tambourine, the Basque drum, horses and hypnosis by its importance in gypsy fertility spells that thus link all of these both natural and cultural symbols and images to the essence of traditional womanhood (Allen 17).</span></span></div><!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--> <div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Neuter moon: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Latin for "neither," as in neither male or female, stripping the moon of its typical gendered image and symbolism.</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ocean/wave/tide: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Sexual and emotional freedom" associated with Cadaqués where he spent his spring with </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dalí</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in 1925 in contrast to the "repressed desires" represented by "landlocked Granada" where he missed his friend and love; the Mediterranean as a "life-giving force" (Stainton 136-7). Wind too becomes associated with libido (Allen).</span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sword/dagger:</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Thread/embroidery: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In "The History of This Rooster," a prose piece written to launch his avant-garde magazine </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">gallo</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in 1928 and to "attack...the conservative tradition in Granada," there is a rivalry between "two great schools of embroidery" in town (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Sawyer-Lauçanno </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3, 29). The first school is the Sacred Convent of Santo Domingo, associated with purity, tradition, and wealth, while the second is the "more popular, more vibrant...republican art" of Paquita Raya (29). It is the latter embroiderer to which Don Alhambro, the magazines fictional founder, goes to have his rooster emblem realized. At the end of the story, the rooster resurrects himself after Don Alhambra has been martyred in order to return and take his place as the title of the magazine, "four bright yellow hens" are embroidered onto silk (33). </span></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Wings:</span></b></div><div><b>
<br /></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited:</span></div><div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Allen, Rupert C. <i>The Symbolic World of Federico García Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Albuquerque, NM: University <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>of New Mexico Press. 1972. Print.</span></span></div><div>
<br /></div><div>Brewer, Ebeneezer Cobham. <i>Dictionary of Phrase and Fable</i>. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Co. 1905.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Gaylord, Harry A. "Christian Symbolism in the Breastplate of Judgement--Chapter 12." Web. 10-6-10. <<a href="http://sunandshield.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/breastplatechapter12.pdf">http://sunandshield.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/breastplatechapter12.pdf</a>>.</div><div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;tab-stops:.5in">Havard, Robert G. “The Symbolic Ambivalence of ‘Green’ in García Lorca and Dylan Thomas.” <i>JSTOR.</i><span style="font-style:normal"> 1972. 6/10/2010. Web. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in">Lorca, Federico Garcìa. <i>In Search of Duende</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Ed. Christopher Maurer. New Directions. 2010. Print.</span></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in">Maurer, Christopher. <i>Sebastian’s Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dalì and Federico Garcìa Lorca.</i><span style="font-style:normal"> Swan Isle Press. 2005. Print.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Sawyer-Lauçanno, Christopher. “Introduction.”</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span><span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Barbarous nights: legends and plays from the Little theater/Federico Garcia Lorca, Trans. Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno.</span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books. 1991. Print.</span></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><!--StartFragment--><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Stainton, Leslie. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca: A Dream of Life</span></i></span><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1999. Print.</span></span><!--EndFragment--> </div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div></div></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-35096712471844979692010-09-20T13:43:00.000-07:002010-09-27T13:03:55.923-07:00Surrealism<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">A necessary disclaimer: </span></span>
<br />Lorca did not identify himself as a Surealist poet. In fact, when talking about a series of his poems influenced by Salvador Dalí’s paintings made in 1927 and 1928, Lorca insisted that his work represented his “new spiritualist manner, pure, raw emotion, unleashed from the control of logic, but—careful! careful!—with a tremendous poetic logic. They are not surrealism, careful! The clearest consciousness illuminates them” (Maurer 14). Even so, it is undeniable that Lorca was thinking about surrealism and was very much a part of the context from which Spanish Surrealism emerged, especially as he began to diverge even further from the aesthetic of artists like Dalí and Luis Buñuel and define his own “hecho poético” beyond traditional metaphor (Maurer 14). It is perhaps for each of us to judge for ourselves whether or not Lorca’s work is “hopelessly traditional” and a form of “false” Surrealism as Buñuel firmly believed (Maurer 15).<div>
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FgEh90I/AAAAAAAAAZA/NIx_i_4-7AY/s1600/Bosque+sexual+1933.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FgEh90I/AAAAAAAAAZA/NIx_i_4-7AY/s320/Bosque+sexual+1933.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521682618013316930" style="cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FgEh90I/AAAAAAAAAZA/NIx_i_4-7AY/s1600/Bosque+sexual+1933.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bosque Sexual</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1933.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">From “Towards a History of Surrealism” by Scott M. Silsbe, Nidus, Summer 2005:</span></span>
<br />
<br />In his essay, Silsbe offers a brief history of Surrealism, beginning with Andre Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism (1924) with its origins in the Dada movement. At the heart of Surrealism are the Freudian unconscious and the dream state. Surrealism abandons ordinary logic, challenging the limits of the real and the imagined, the conscious and the unconscious. </div><div>While Silsbe does not directly address Lorca’s contribution to the Surrealist movement, many aspects of his description of Surrealism can be seen throughout Lorca’s poetry and plays. This essay helps to place Lorca’s work within the context of his contemporaries and their approach to art and poetry, particularly in light of his relationship with Salvador Dalí, who became a prominent Surrealist painter after traveling to France, while also offering insight into the world of our play.</div><div><div>
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FyHhwnI/AAAAAAAAAZI/2wzQhXQfaQY/s1600/Man+Ray_A+l%27Heure+de+l%27observatoire_les+amoureux.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FyHhwnI/AAAAAAAAAZI/2wzQhXQfaQY/s320/Man+Ray_A+l%27Heure+de+l%27observatoire_les+amoureux.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521682622857724530" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FyHhwnI/AAAAAAAAAZI/2wzQhXQfaQY/s1600/Man+Ray_A+l%27Heure+de+l%27observatoire_les+amoureux.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Man Ray,</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A l'heure de l'observation</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span>
<br />
<br />‘Breton defined Surrealism as "pure psychic automatism whose intention is to express verbally, in writing, or by other means, the real process of thought and thought’s diction, in the absence of all control exercised by reason and outside all aesthetic and moral preoccupations" (Breton 26). Surrealism, then, in its original manifestation, attempted to come as close to a documentation of the unconscious mind through works of art.’</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1Ff82UHI/AAAAAAAAAY4/86hE1-4iiRo/s1600/Autumn+canibalism_1936-7.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1Ff82UHI/AAAAAAAAAY4/86hE1-4iiRo/s320/Autumn+canibalism_1936-7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521682617981096050" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1Ff82UHI/AAAAAAAAAY4/86hE1-4iiRo/s1600/Autumn+canibalism_1936-7.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Salvador Dalí, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Autumn Canabalism</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1936-7.</span>
<br />
<br />‘Surrealism can be seen as a reactionary movement to both Romanticism and French Symbolism… [T]he Surrealists advocated for a great liberation in poetry. Surrealist poetry relished spontaneity, the unpredictable, the startling, the never-seen-before.”
<br />
<br />‘In Surrealism, it is believed true poetry is that which comes from the unconscious mind.’</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cyP7bbI/AAAAAAAAAYw/lzPWwW4nRqY/s1600/Adre+Kertesz_Distortion+1933.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cyP7bbI/AAAAAAAAAYw/lzPWwW4nRqY/s320/Adre+Kertesz_Distortion+1933.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521681918518324658" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cyP7bbI/AAAAAAAAAYw/lzPWwW4nRqY/s1600/Adre+Kertesz_Distortion+1933.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Andre Kertesz, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Distortion</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1933.</span>
<br />
<br />‘Literary scholar Anna Balakian clearly articulates Breton's end aim of Surrealism: "He foresaw as the ultimate achievement . . . the marriage of the two states, in appearance so contradictory, of dream and reality, into one sort of absolute reality which he called surreality" (Balakian126).’
<br />
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0bQkTunI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/5VksD8MXm0Q/s1600/DS1495_52.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0bQkTunI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/5VksD8MXm0Q/s320/DS1495_52.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521681892297128562" style="cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dalí, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Little Ashes</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1927-8.</span></div><div>
<br />‘Breton and his fellow Surrealists developed several ways at getting at this surreality to create poetry. The most frequent way was what they called automatic writing, which basically meant writing in a near-trance state, or as close as one could get to writing while dreaming. It was through this kind of method that the Surrealists developed a poetry based almost entirely on intuition and association.’
<br />
<br />‘The early Surrealists, then, relied heavily on the image in their poems, and the more startling -- the unpredictable the image -- the better.’
<br />
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0b3pr5BI/AAAAAAAAAYY/wHDQypa86q8/s1600/Jose+Caballero_yerma_1939.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0b3pr5BI/AAAAAAAAAYY/wHDQypa86q8/s320/Jose+Caballero_yerma_1939.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521681902788666386" style="cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jose Caballero, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yerma,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 1939.</span></div><div>
<br />‘Probably the most striking difference between the French and Spanish Surrealists is the manner in which each group carried out Surrealist activity. In his book The Surrealist Mode in Spanish Literature, Paul Ilie notes that "there were no self-proclaimed exponents of Surrealism [for the Spanish Surrealists]…no manifestoes or statements of purpose" (Ilie 1). Also unlike the French, the Spanish Surrealists were not inclined to collective efforts.’<div>
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FwkmZwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/N_yZbpNCvko/s1600/Miro_Femme+en+revolte_1938.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FwkmZwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/N_yZbpNCvko/s320/Miro_Femme+en+revolte_1938.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521682622442792706" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px; " /></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1FwkmZwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/N_yZbpNCvko/s1600/Miro_Femme+en+revolte_1938.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Joan Miro, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Femme en Revolte, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1938. Both Dalí and Lorca greatly admired Miro.</span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">From Andre Breton’s 1934 Lecture “What is Surrealism?” and it’s political implications:</span>
<br /></span>
<br />‘Surrealism rests in the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of association neglected heretofore; in the omnipotence of the dream and in the disinterested play of thought. It tends definitely to do away with all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in the solution of the principal problems of life.’
<br />
<br />‘Surrealism, starting fifteen years ago with a discovery that seemed only to involve poetic language, has spread like wildfire, on pursuing its course, not only in art but in life. It has provoked new states of consciousness and overthrown the walls beyond which it was immemorially supposed to be impossible to see; it has—as is being more and more generally recognized—modified the sensibility, and taken a decisive step towards the unification of the personality, which it found threatened by an ever more profound dissociation.’
<br />
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cI9ODsI/AAAAAAAAAYg/8oho9B8nves/s1600/Sweet+pleasures+of+sadism+jose+caballero+1934.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cI9ODsI/AAAAAAAAAYg/8oho9B8nves/s320/Sweet+pleasures+of+sadism+jose+caballero+1934.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521681907434000066" style="cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jose Caballero, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sweet Pleasures of Sadism</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1934.</span></div><div>
<br />In response to rising fascism:
<br />‘Let it be clearly understood that for us, surrealists, the interests of thought can not cease to go hand in hand with the interests of the working class, and that all attacks on liberty, all fetters on the emancipation of the working class and all armed attacks on it cannot fail to be considered by us as attacks on thought likewise.’
<br />
<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1GEWU9EI/AAAAAAAAAZY/UUa74BKbG58/s1600/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD1GEWU9EI/AAAAAAAAAZY/UUa74BKbG58/s320/Sueno+del+marino_1927.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521682627751638082" style="cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sueno del marino</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 1927.</span></div><div>
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Online Surrealism Resources:</span></span><div><span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Breton, Andre. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Manifesto of Surrealism</span></i></span><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">. <</span><a href="http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Breton, Andre. “What is Surrealism?” <</span><a href="http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/whatsurr.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/whatsurr.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Espace Dalí Monmartre. <</span><a href="http://www.daliparis.com/mouvement-surrealiste-dali.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.daliparis.com/mouvement-surrealiste-dali.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Silsbe, Scott M. “Towards a History of Surrealism.” Nidus No. 9. Summer 2005. <</span><a href="http://www.pitt.edu/~nidus/current/surrealism.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.pitt.edu/~nidus/current/surrealism.html</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">“Surrealist Art.” Centre Pompidou. <</span><a href="http://www.cnac-gp.fr/education/ressources/ENS-Surrealistart-EN/ENS-Surrealistart-EN.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.cnac-gp.fr/education/ressources/ENS-Surrealistart-EN/ENS-Surrealistart-EN.htm</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">*Best Surrealist resource on the web!</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </b></span><b>Works Cited:</b></div><div><b> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Breton, Andre. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Manifesto of Surrealism</span></span></i></span><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">. <</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm">http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T340/SurManifesto/ManifestoOfSurrealism.htm</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Breton, Andre. “What is Surrealism?” <</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/whatsurr.html">http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/whatsurr.html</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Maurer, Christopher. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Sebastian’s Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dalì and Federico Garcìa Lorca.</span></span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> Swan Isle Press. 2005. Print.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Silsbe, Scott M. “Towards a History of Surrealism.” Nidus No. 9. Summer 2005. <</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.pitt.edu/~nidus/current/surrealism.html">http://www.pitt.edu/~nidus/current/surrealism.html</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">>.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </b></div></div></div></div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-76351035777421334572010-09-20T12:54:00.000-07:002010-10-22T16:43:02.748-07:00Three Saints: Santa Lucía, San Lázaro and San Sebastián<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Who are these three saints?</span>
<br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Santa Lucía</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, or Saint Lucy in English, was a virgin martyr born to nobility in Syracuse, Sicily who became the patron saint of blindness, hemorrhage disease and authors.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Her troubles began when Santa Lucía wished to remain a virgin as a sign of her faith although her mother had arranged a marriage for her. She prayed to St. Agatha for a miracle that would convince her mother, and when her mother's hemorrhage disease was cured she decided to give in to her daughter and Lucy became the patron of this illness. However, her suitor did not back down and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">yet still she refused. Her punishment was to become a prostitute, but God saved her from being dragged away by a team of oxen. Next she was tortured and sentenced to death but the fires for her burning at the stake would not stay lit. Finally she was killed by being stabbed in the neck with a dagger or a sword, winning her crown of virginity and martyr<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">dom (Saint Lucy).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDniy6O3MI/AAAAAAAAATo/lbwodVp4Crk/s1600/34649737_2868df08f8.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDniy6O3MI/AAAAAAAAATo/lbwodVp4Crk/s400/34649737_2868df08f8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521667728123813058" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 338px; " />
<br /></a></p><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDniy6O3MI/AAAAAAAAATo/lbwodVp4Crk/s1600/34649737_2868df08f8.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, 'Palatino Linotype', Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Siciolante_da_Sermoneta" style="text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">St. Lucy and St. Agata</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 16th </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">c. St. Agatha, to whom St. Lucy prayed for a miracle, is traditionally depicted carrying her breasts on a plate to represent one of the tortures she was subjected to during her martyrdom. It is also speculated that St. Lucy too had her breasts sliced off during her torture.</span></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is unclear whether her eyes were gouged out during her torture or if she cut them out in response to her unwanted suitor's advances. St. Lucy is traditionally represented in art as carrying her eyes on a golden platter or in a cup or bowl to represent her martyrdom. Before her death, it is said that her eye sight was miraculously restored. The online source for this part of her legend also offers a unique image of St. Lucy painte<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">d by Francesco del Cossa</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in the late-fifteenth century in which her eyes are depicted instead growing like buds from plant stem (St. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lucy)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Golden Legends of the Medieval Sourcebook state that, “In Lucy is said, the way of light” because not only does her name mean "light" but her feast day, December 13th, also fell on the winter solstice before the Gregorian calendar was introduced(Bridge).</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKK1nRO8pXI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/ke0kS8rBv58/s1600/ngaluci.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKK1nRO8pXI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/ke0kS8rBv58/s320/ngaluci.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522175779355272562" style="cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Lucy holding her eyes like flowers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Saint Lázaro</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, or Saint Lazarus of Bethany, who is the patron saint of lepers, was a disciple of Jesus who fell ill and died before Jesus was able to reach him. After mourning with Lazarus’ two sisters, which is described by the simple and famous phrase "Jesus wept," Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus after he had been dead for four days and called him out (John 11:35). Lazarus was thus raised from the dead (Lazor). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This story comes from the Gospel of John, although there is also a legend that Lazarus later was cast out of Bethany by the Jews and arrived in Provence to later become the first bishop of Marseilles, where his head is kept, while according to the Eastern Orthodox Church, his remains lie in Constantinople (Clugnet). In the Orthodox religion, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, is Lazarus Saturday (Lazor). The Order of St. Lazarus is a military and religious order of Christian chivalry dedicated to defending the faith, the sick and the poor. Its symbol is the Maltese Cross, and it is represented by the color green, an interesting coincidence because of the importance of the color green and its symbolic, highly sexual meanings evident in Lorca’s work (Clugnet).</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDoVjTY8QI/AAAAAAAAATw/1TL_v-cMx1M/s1600/lazarus4b.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDoVjTY8QI/AAAAAAAAATw/1TL_v-cMx1M/s400/lazarus4b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521668600107692290" style="cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 350px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Born in Nar<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">bonne, Gaul, and raised in Milan, Italy, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Saint Sebastian</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> was born to a wealthy Roman family and became known for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">his acts of kindness and charity towards fellow Christians.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In ord<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">er to carry out these acts, he joined the Roman army around 283 to escape suspicion.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As a soldier, Sebastian made many converts and helped to cure many people including the Roman governor by making the sign of the cross and performing baptisms. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">By 286, many of his converts and fellow Christians had been martyred, and Sebastian himself was found out by the Emperor Diocletian to be a Christian.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">He was then given to Mauritanian archers, tied to a tree, and shot to death with arrows.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7YDjyQI/AAAAAAAAAmA/_RTp6rwl2PU/s1600/saint-sebastian-18.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7YDjyQI/AAAAAAAAAmA/_RTp6rwl2PU/s320/saint-sebastian-18.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531018397294512386" style="cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Holbein, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Martyrdom of St. Sebastian</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, c. 1516</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDoaTCPoWI/AAAAAAAAAT4/DxUSJirdDMM/s1600/baleison_canavesio_a.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDoaTCPoWI/AAAAAAAAAT4/DxUSJirdDMM/s400/baleison_canavesio_a.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521668681640157538" style="cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 400px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A traditional Renaissance depiction of St. Sebastian.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf61lqDBI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qf9v99fs_eE/s1600/11625-st-sebastian-el-greco.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf61lqDBI/AAAAAAAAAlw/qf9v99fs_eE/s320/11625-st-sebastian-el-greco.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531018388042288146" style="cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">El Greco, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Sebastian</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, he was found alive by Saint Irene, who nursed him back to health.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Soon enough, he was found again by the Emperor and sentenced to be clubbed to death and his body thrown into a sewer.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">His body was recovered by a young woma<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">n and buried at the catacombs of Calixtus instead, where a church was built over his remains.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are several relics of Saint Sebastian scattered in cathedrals throughout France. Traditionally, he is considered a protector against the plague because he supposedly saved the cities of Rome (680), Milan (1575), and Lisbon (1599) from epidemics ("St. Sebastian").</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7ARoAII/AAAAAAAAAl4/Xt0V49ef99M/s1600/saint-sebastian-05.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7ARoAII/AAAAAAAAAl4/Xt0V49ef99M/s320/saint-sebastian-05.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531018390911058050" style="cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Sebastian with an angel</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7ikjDGI/AAAAAAAAAmI/zqxkdrGIsQE/s1600/St-Sebastian.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf7ikjDGI/AAAAAAAAAmI/zqxkdrGIsQE/s320/St-Sebastian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531018400117230690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Sebastian Basilica, Rome</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf8GU9K0I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/IdihmYbhXCA/s1600/st.+sebastian.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TMIf8GU9K0I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/IdihmYbhXCA/s320/st.+sebastian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531018409715510082" style="cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Sebastian today: Robert Mapplethorpe, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">St. Sebastian</span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;">Lorca, Lucy and Lazarus</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html">Lorca</a> was not a practicing Catholic, he was fascinated by Catholic liturgy and ritual, leading him to seek inspiration from religious themes such as the lives of saints which he would have studied while reading </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Golden Legend</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> by Jacobus de Vorgine.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In his introduction to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sebastian’s Arrows</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, Christian Maurer explains how St. Lucy, St. Lazarus and St. Sebastian relate to Lorca’s poetics as well as his relationship to Salvador Dalí.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">St. Lucy and St. Lazarus appear in Lorca’s 1927 poem as symbols of the different directions each artists philosophy seemed to take: while “St. Lucy, which favors ‘the exterior of things, the clean airy beauty of the skin, the charm of slender surfaces,’ would appear to represent the art of Dalì in the mid-1920s,” St. Lazarus appears to “[symbolize] Lorca’s own poetics” which had to do with mystery, depth and inner life (Maurer 17).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For Dalí, however, St. Lazarus was “the quintessence of putrefaction” (Maurer 18). Maurer suggests that Lorca was thinking about these two poles as “dialectical principles” in art as well as in his relationship with Dalí that would soon come to an end (20).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Unpacking the Symbolism of St. Sebastian</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For both <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/federico-and-salvador-legendary.html">Lorca and Dalí</a>, St. Sebastian became a symbolic figure with many meanings, particularly in light of the deep but often tense relationship between the two young artists.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While Maurer’s insights into the symbolism of St. Sebastian according to Lorca and Dalí give us clues as to how to interpret the appearance of this figure in Lorca’s work, the multiplicity of meanings and intersections with Lorca’s art and life also leaves room for further interpretation by theatre artists like us. Although Lorca would have been familiar with this well-known Spanish icon, he first mentions St. Sebastian in 1926 after seeing a renaissance sculpture of the saint by Alonso Berruguette at the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladoid (18). It was only six years later while giving a public reading of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Poet in New York</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> that Lorca paused to say that, “one of man’s most beautiful postures is that of St. Sebastian” (20).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TJ_vF9tX5cI/AAAAAAAAAQw/iItcisjKlkM/s320/san+sebastian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521394553922774466" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 320px; " /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca began by thinking about St. Sebastian as an “emblem of poetry,” planning to give three lectures on “The Myth of Saint Sebastian,” although these were never written (18).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While it is unclear why Lorca chose St. Sebastian as a symbol of poetry, he clearly connected archery with the work of the poet who “fires his arrows” only at the best images” (19). Here, St. Sebastian is symbolic of the target of</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“the artistic creation” of the poet or artist (19).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, St. Sebastian also represents the state of vulnerability that Lorca believed was essential for the creation of poetry, suggesting that despite his passive posture, he is also a figure for the artist. Lorca describes this understanding of St. Sebastian as a symbol for the artist in a letter to Dalí, explaining that “[St. Sebastian] uses his body to lend eternity to whatever is fleeting, giving visible form to an abstract aesthetic idea, just as the wheel gives us the consummate idea of perpetual motion. That is why I love him” (20).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For Lorca, St. Sebastian functions at once as a metaphor for both poetry and the poet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, San Sebastián</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 1927</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TJ_xX3Td6GI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/Y5jtebnMO6A/s320/San+Sebastian,+1927.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521397060464404578" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 320px; " /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Just as the dichotomy between the symbolism of St. Lucy and St. Lazarus can be compared to the philosophy of Dalí and Lorca respectively, St. Sebastian is essentially an antithetical figure invoked by these artists to “[mediate]…the debate between modernity and tradition, pathos and ‘asepsia,’ [or freedom from contaminants]” that Lorca and Dalì were constantly in dialogue about (17).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Both Dalí and Lorca, for example, had differing perspectives on the vulnerable, passive posture of the saint.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dalí thought that as a protector against plague St. Sebastian could function as a protector against “the ‘germs’ of emotional ‘putrefaction’” (23). In addition, Dalí saw the traditionally “impassive” expression of St. Sebastian as a “flight from emotion” that made him another “spiritual ‘straight man,” like Buster Keaton (23). Lorca, on the other hand saw St. Sebastian’s “serenity in the midst of misfortune” as an admirable quality in the face of what amounted to social criticism and oppression (23).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Both men, however, recognized the homoerotic symbolism of St. Sebastian because of the way he functioned as a metaphor for their relationship and covert homosexuality.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca and Dalí would have been aware of how St. Sebastian acquired homoerotic meaning in the 19</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> century from Wilde and his contemporaries, who developed his physical penetration to reflect a figurative one in which his serenity and open posture were signs of his enjoyment and willing desire (21).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Moreover, there were also parallels drawn between the way in which St. Sebastian suffered for his faith that he had to conceal and the suffering of the covert homosexual.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca would have certainly identified strongly with this symbolism of St. Sebastian, both in terms of his ideas about dual identity and his own homosexuality.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dalí clearly connected St. Sebastian to Lorca, writing that, “sometimes I think he [St. Sebastian] </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">is</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> you [Lorca],” and using Lorca as a model for drawings of their favorite saint (21).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However Dalí himself identified with St. Sebastian when it came to his relationship with Lorca, whom he believed was in love with him, and Dalí mocks the fact that Lorca’s desire was never consummated when he asks his friend in a letter, “Didn’t you ever think how strange it is that his ass doesn’t have a single wound?” (22).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In this context, St. Sebastian’s passive expression is that of “a figure who inspires passion without returning it” and an object of the lover’s gaze (22).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Perhaps the most tragic meaning of St. Sebastian for Lorca is not one that makes a general statement about the nature of inner identity and homosexuality but is rather the way in which St. Sebastian might symbolize unrequited love.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Bridge, James. "St. Lucy." </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Web. 9-14-2010 </span><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09414a.htm><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09414a.htm></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;tab-stops:.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clugnet, Léon. "St. Lazarus of Bethany." </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Web. 9-14-2010 </span><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09097a.htm><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09097a.htm></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;tab-stops:.5in">Lazor, Rev. Paul. "Feasts and Saints." <i>Orthodox Church in America</i>. Web. 9-28-10. <<a href="http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=19">http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=19</a>>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maurer, Christopher. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sebastian’s Arrows: Letters and Mementos of Salvador Dalì and Federico Garcìa Lorca.</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Swan Isle Press. 2005. Print.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">“Saint Lucy of Syracuse”. </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Saints.SQPN.com</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. 20 April 2010. Web. 9-28-10. <<a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-lucy-of-syracuse/">http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-lucy-of-syracuse/</a>>.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px;font-size:medium;">"St. Lucy." <i>Library of University of California Images</i>. Web. 9-28-10. <<a href="http://vrc.ucr.edu/luci/index.htm">http://vrc.ucr.edu/luci/index.htm</a>l>.</span></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“St. Sebastian.” </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Eternal World Television Network</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. Web. 9-14-10. <</span><a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/SEBASTN.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/SEBASTN.htm</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-81929850835302087552010-09-20T12:21:00.000-07:002010-09-27T12:42:56.062-07:00The Death of Lorca<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDysGyPxQI/AAAAAAAAAYI/03fmZs37mnc/s1600/Solo+la+muerte.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDysGyPxQI/AAAAAAAAAYI/03fmZs37mnc/s320/Solo+la+muerte.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521679982705755394" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Solo la Muerte</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-of-federico-garcia-lorca.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> arrived home to the Huerta on 17 July 1936, he was already distressed by the assassinations and political demonstrations that were already taking place in Madrid as the country headed for </span><a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/granada-and-spanish-civil-war.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Civil War</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca came home not only to escape the turmoil, but also to celebrate Saint Frederick’s Day, for whom he and his father are named.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But this important family holiday was overshadowed by the distressing news that his brother-in-law Montesinos had been arrested while in his office at the Civil Government and imprisoned. Over the next few days, the family huddled in terror during air raids beneath the grand piano while Lorca badgered the nanny, Angelina, about whether she would cry if he were to die. The Nationalist Movement had seized Granada.</span><br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The personal threats towards Lorca began when two strange men were seen lurking in the garden one day. Soon after, Lorca receives an anonymous letter insulting “his demagogy, his political friends, his irreligion, and his private life” and threatening him with death (83).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Shortly after, strange men arrived again, this time ransacking the home and searching for the caretaker, although Lorca was also abused by these men and it is clear that they recognized him.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Terrified, Lorca decided to go to stay with his friend Luis Rosales, another prominent poet and son of an important Falangist official. On August 9th, Lorca was already gone when this time men arrive asking specifically for him.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Though Lorca was by no means safe at the Rosales’ home, he kept his spirits up by telling stories and talked of writing an elegy for the dead of Spain with his friend.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When weapons appeared in the house, he would ask that they were removed from the room, so distressed was he by the sight of violence.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It was on the afternoon of August 16</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> that Ruiz Alonso, a fascist MP working for the new Civil Government arrived at the Rosales home to arrest the poet.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">He was shocked that a Falangist official was hiding this man who “did more damage with his pen than others with their guns,” but asserted in an interview that he knew nothing of what Valdés planned to do with Lorca, only that he wanted him alive (99).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Supposedly, Lorca thanked Alonso for his kindness when he assured Lorca that he would make it safely to the Civil Government as he went “trembling with fear to the car” (100).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is still unclear whether Alonso acted alone, whether or not he carried a warrant, and how Lorca made it to the Civil Government building. Either way, he was detained there for three more days while Valdès decided what to do.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">By the 16</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of August when Lorca was arrested, already at least 236 people had been murdered by the firing squads that awaited prisoners at the cemetery on the edge of town.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It was here that more than two thousand people were executed and buried by the Movement in Granada.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Every night at the jail, a list was read of the names to be executed the next morning, when men and women were roped and wired together like animals and taken in crowded trucks to the cemetery at dawn. In the Catholic tradition, the prisoners for forced to take a last confessional, though all other niceties were dispensed with. While Spanish law requires that prisoners be blindfolded and facing the firing squad when executed, at the cemetery men were made to kneel or stand against a wall to be shot in the back.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca no doubt would have heard the sounds of the firing squads and the dying victims as the sun came up on Granada.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrmH2gQI/AAAAAAAAAX4/37vqBXQgzZo/s1600/wall+of+Granada+cemetary.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrmH2gQI/AAAAAAAAAX4/37vqBXQgzZo/s320/wall+of+Granada+cemetary.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521679973938004226" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 258px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The cemetary wall where the firing sqauds made their executions.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While being held at the Civil Government, Lorca was visited each morning by Angelina who brought him food. She remembered that he sat in a room by himself with pen and paper, though he did not write.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On the morning of August 19</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, she discovered that Lorca was no longer there. He had already been driven that night to the Barranco mass graves outside of town towards a beautiful mountain range to a place called Fuente Grande, or "the fountain of tears" to the ancient Arabic poets. He was kept until dawn in a small bungalo with three other prisoners, where it is rumored that he kept the men’s spirits up with his talking and asked to see a priest.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While it is unclear whether he was tortured or not, we do know that in the morning he was lead to the foot of the sierra where the prisoners were shot and then buried on top of each other in a shallow grave beneath an olive tree. In his death certificate, which appeared in 1940, his cause of death was listed as “war wounds” (123). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyr9mSD1I/AAAAAAAAAYA/1I7wsDu3oJE/s1600/Map+of+Viznar,+places+connected+with+Lorca%27s+execution.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyr9mSD1I/AAAAAAAAAYA/1I7wsDu3oJE/s320/Map+of+Viznar,+places+connected+with+Lorca%27s+execution.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521679980239654738" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A map showing the place where Lorca was executed at the Fuente Grande outside Granada.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrHObWZI/AAAAAAAAAXo/xGPp0Ng6ze8/s1600/La+Colonia.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrHObWZI/AAAAAAAAAXo/xGPp0Ng6ze8/s320/La+Colonia.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521679965644085650" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 273px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">La Colonia, the house where Lorca was kept the night before he was killed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It would be weeks before accurate news that the poet was dead reached the public, and still years before the Nationalists would openly accept responsibility for his murder.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For the rest of Franco’s rule, Lorca’s work was censored and even as this book was written by Gibson Granada remained under heavy oppression of basic freedoms of speech.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To this day there remains a “collective evasiveness and unease” surrounding the death of Lorca, for which the Nationalists have never completely faced their guilt (163).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Why was Lorca killed in this gruesome way? Why did the Movement perceive him as a threat in the first place? Firmly in favor of liberalism, democracy, and the interests of the working class, Lorca was naturally in danger when the Movement began.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not only was Lorca associated with other liberal intellectuals in Granada early in his career as a member of the “Rinconcillo” that met at the Café Almeda and had faced issues of censorship under Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, but the celebrity of his work at this point meant that his leftist politics were very well-known.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Lorca’s </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gypsy Ballads</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, published in 1928, for example, were the most widely read book in Spain at the time and clearly illustrated Lorca’s sympathies with the oppressed, persecuted peoples of Spain who suffered at the hands of the Catholic state and the dominant traditionalist classes. When </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yerma</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> appeared in Madrid, it received criticism from conservatives who said that it was “immoral” and “anti-catholic” (22). Lorca’s association with La Barraca, a state-sponsored traveling theatre, also illustrated his Socialist tendencies and interest in the</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">theatre as a political and social tool.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">One of Lorca’s more explicit connections with the Left includes an interview with Lorca was published in Granada’s Leftist paper </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">El Defensor</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in 1934 in which he declared that he was on the “side of those who have nothing” and felt responsibility to make sacrifices as a member of the wealthy, educated middle-class (21).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">By 1936 and the outbreak of the Civil War, Lorca was also participating in many anti-fascist and Republican meetings and social gatherings, making himself a conspicuous Leftist artist.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">He even signed multiple anti-fascist manifestos about this time.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Moreover, in his last interview he described the fall of Granada to the Catholics as a “disastrous event” and nationalism as a sort of “blindfold” (43).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In Granada and indeed throughout Spain there was no question of to which side of the political divide Lorca stood.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While many different explanations for why exactly Lorca was singled out and executed were proposed at the time in the press, especially rumors that the deed was retaliation for atrocities on the part of the “Reds,” Gibson asserts that the most valid explanation lies in the political agenda of Valdés and other traditionalists in power.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Like the other executions carried out at the time, Lorca’s was also part of establishing a “system of terror set up for the express purpose of crushing all possible resistance…to the Movement” (125).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, it is clear that Lorca was also specifically detested by the “group of ultra-Catholic and like-minded members of the Accíon Popular” because of his politics and his sexuality and for these reasons was targeted by Alonso, Valdés, and other members of this group (127).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gibson asserts that Lorca’s homosexuality was not a secret in Granada, gleaned from his friends and the “sexual malaise” expressed in his early poems, and that he was persecuted in 1936 for this deviant sexuality that undermined conventional Spanish masculinity and morality (10).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A newspaper article published after his death confirms this theory, suggesting that part of his enemy lay in his “doubtful sexuality” (138).</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As a very famous and popular author with liberal sympathies, Lorca was potentially a “dangerous agitator” and had to be silenced by the Movement seeking to secure its power (134).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrQmqo8I/AAAAAAAAAXw/Z25jrTHMFP8/s1600/Lorca%27s+death+certificate.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKDyrQmqo8I/AAAAAAAAAXw/Z25jrTHMFP8/s320/Lorca%27s+death+certificate.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521679968161670082" style="cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca's death certificate.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Works Cited:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gibson, Ian. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Death of Lorca</span></i><span style="font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. Chicago, IL: J. Philip O’Hara, Inc. 1973. Print.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9201389132881950598.post-22630614940329269282010-09-20T12:10:00.000-07:002010-09-27T13:09:20.921-07:00Granada and the Spanish Civil War<p class="MsoNormal">Although Lorca did not survive to see more than the first few weeks of a civil war that eventually claimed an estimated one million lives, the outbreak of the Spanish Civial War is critical to understanding the political and social context surrounding Lorca’s life and work as well as the cultural significance of this national poet’s <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/death-of-lorca.html">tragic death</a> (167).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Despite declaring that he would “never be a politician, never!”, Lorca did see himself as a “revolutionary” and it is because of this political spirit behind his work that makes the events surrounding the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and Lorca’s death important to thinking about the implications and impact of performing Lorca today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The information for this post is taken entirely from Ian Gibson, Lorca’s best-known biographer, and his book <i>The Death of Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal"> published in 1973 after the author spent many years collecting documents and interviews in Granada about the circumstances surrounding Lorca’s arrest and execution. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:16px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cSJ-nOI/AAAAAAAAAYo/_TCerHOu2zw/s1600/Soft+Construction+with+Boiled+Beans_Premonition+of+Civil+War_1936.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cSJ-nOI/AAAAAAAAAYo/_TCerHOu2zw/s320/Soft+Construction+with+Boiled+Beans_Premonition+of+Civil+War_1936.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521681909903432930" style="cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 320px; " /></a></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD0cSJ-nOI/AAAAAAAAAYo/_TCerHOu2zw/s1600/Soft+Construction+with+Boiled+Beans_Premonition+of+Civil+War_1936.jpg"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Salvador Dalí, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Soft Construction with Boiled Beans: Premonition of Civil War</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 1936.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Granada before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span>The political situation in Spain during the early 1930s was one of growing tension between the traditionalist Right and the liberal Left as control of the government oscillated between the two parties. Specifically in Granada, this gulf between the two parties was related to a rigid class divide as well, in which the Right was overwhelmingly supported only by the wealthy ruling class.<span> </span>These Spanish traditionalists were devout Catholics and nationalists, seeing the two identities as inextricably linked, and they considered anyone an enemy of the Faith and the State who supported liberal politics.<span> </span>While the poor, rural majority tended to vote democratic, their opinions were oppressed and controlled by the ruling Right, the “caciques” or provincial landowners that controlled the wealth.<span> </span>As a family member of the propertied elite with a Leftist political attitude, Lorca did not fit into the accepted political system established in Granada.<span> </span>In addition, Granada saw the effects of a “world slump” in the economy, and unemployment was rampant while income was also very low (16, 22).<span> </span>As Civil War approached, social unrest became more apparent in Granada, particularly because of the many strikes that occurred by the Socialist labor union, UGT.<span> </span>As violence grew between the peasants and the landowners who saw the Republic as a threat to their power and way of life, Lorca declared that he himself was on the “side of those who have nothing” (21).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD5y7QmO5I/AAAAAAAAAZo/PhsEqUfpKBM/s1600/Severed+hands.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD5y7QmO5I/AAAAAAAAAZo/PhsEqUfpKBM/s320/Severed+hands.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521687796452309906" style="cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Severed Hands</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>The Major Players:</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Civil Government:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Civil Governor José Valdés, the police, the Falangists, other officials and generally nasty men who brutally tortured those who were interrogated at the civil government.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Falange: </b><span style="font-weight:normal">the Falange Española was a violent Right-wing group founded in 1932 by de Rivera’s son, José Antonio, and merged with the fascist group the JONS in 1934. The Falange used the yoke and arrow as their symbols, the personal badges of Isabella and Ferdinand respectively, showing its overtly Catholic sympathies.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>CEDA:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> a Right-wing, middle-class Catholic organization that formed around the </span><b>Accíon Popular</b><span style="font-weight:normal">, an older Catholic traditionalist group in Granada.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Black Squads:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> a loose organization of men given carte blanche by Valdés to carry out assassinations and to create fear and panic in the town. These brutal men took great pleasure in killing, which they often did by dragging men from their homes and shooting them on the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They were even known to remove men who were in the hospital from an earlier Black Squad encounter and kill them. In Granada, as many as 26,000 people were executed by the end of the war.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Military:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> the local garrison with artillery and infantry</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Requetés:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> the Carlist militia supporting the Movement.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Civil Guard:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> known for its brutality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>The Assault Guards:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> the “asaltos” were a Republican response to the Civil Guard.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Defensa Armada de Granada:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> a.k.a. the “mangas verde,” or green sleeves because they wore green arm bands. These were civilians deemed “unfit” for the military and instead signed on to spy on their neighbors and denounce liberals. This position was often abused for the purposes of personal revenge and many innocent deaths were carried out because of these men.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Other groups:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span><b>Españoles Patriotas</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> (civil militia), </span><b>The Spanish Foreign Legion</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> (aided with Republican offenses), the </span><b>Pérez del Pulgar Battalion</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> (convicts and prisoners), and the </span><b>Police</b><span style="font-weight:normal">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD5PGjc06I/AAAAAAAAAZg/oRGxnpxaq4U/s1600/danza+macabre+1927-8.jpg"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XEumqASVqLc/TKD5PGjc06I/AAAAAAAAAZg/oRGxnpxaq4U/s320/danza+macabre+1927-8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521687181008884642" style="cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lorca, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Danza macabre</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">A Brief Timeline Pre-Civil War Granada:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>1923-1930:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Spain ruled by the authoritarian regime of General Primo de Rivera</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>12 April 1931:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Municipal elections held in Spain end in victory for The Republic. Large cities, such as Granda are majority anti-monarchist and pro-Republican. King Alfonso XIII is expulsed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>1931-1933: </b><span style="font-weight:normal">Manuel Azaña leads the country with a strong Republican government with a Constituent Cortes, or Spanish parliament. In Granada there are worsening clashes between the rich landowners and the peasants.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>1932:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Electoral Law passed that divides Spain into six constituencies and makes it necessary to have at least forty-percent of the vote in order to be elected.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>33 November 1933:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> A Right-wing coalition government made up of many conservative parties wins the national election and comes into power because Leftist groups fail to unify themselves and ruling-class supporters are able to bully workers into voting for the Right. Ignites violent reaction from the Left, especially strikes.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> The Popular Front wins the national election by a narrow margin, but in Granada the Right is victorious. The outcome provokes an enormous protest from the Left, resulting in a large strike in March by the trade unions who call for all local right-wing organizations to be dissolved. The bloody disturbance ends in shootings and multiple churches set on fire. The National Front calls for new elections to be held in May. Right-wing Catholic and fascist parties ally themselves, but the Popular Front wins again. Clandestine Right-wing discontent leads to preparations for an uprising.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>16 July 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Lorca arrives back in Granada from Madrid on the same train as the Ruiz Alonso, the man who is later responsible for his arrest.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>17 July 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Word reaches Granada of an uprising in Spanish Morocco with the support of the Spanish Legion.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>18 July 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Franco delivers his Manifesto declaring a Nationalist Movement, appealing to the loyalty of all Spaniards. In Granada, the left requests arms to be distributed by the local military to the workers and is refused, leaving the people helpless to resist the Right-wing rebels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The General and his army fall to the conspirators and the Civil Government is overthrown by Valdés. The cheers of the crowds gathered to watch the soldiers station themselves around town turn to screams as gun fire is heard. Hundreds of middle-class men arrive at the Civil Government to declare their loyalty to the Movement.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>20 July 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> A State of War is declared on Radio Granada at 6:30pm. The new military commander proclaims martial law, meaning “criminals” are subject to tribunals and execution for carrying weapons, organizing strikes, sabotaging communications, or even walking through the streets in groups of more than three people. Lorca’s brother-in-law, Manuel Fernándes Montesinos is arrested and taken to the provincial jail, which would soon hold five times its capacity and house horrific abuses and deaths. About that time, Lorca receives the first visit from two unknown men who ransack his family home looking for the groundskeeper, and later for Lorca himself.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>21 July 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> A Nationalist offensive is carried out in the Albacín. Women and children are forced out of the quarter into temporary concentration camps outside of town. The men are bombarded and the quarter destroyed. The Movement now has complete control of the town.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>9 August 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Lorca leaves the Huerta for his friend Luis Rosales’ home in town.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>16 August 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Lorca is arrested by Ruiz Alonso and taken to the Civil Government where he is kept until the night of August 18<sup>th</sup>. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>19 August 1936:</b><span style="font-weight:normal"> Lorca is driven that morning to the Barranco mass graves where he is <a href="http://barbarousnights.blogspot.com/2010/09/death-of-lorca.html">executed</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Works Cited:</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Gibson, Ian. <i>The Death of Lorca</i><span style="font-style:normal">. Chicago, IL: J. Philip O’Hara, Inc. 1973. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Corinna Archer Kinsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960615213836100023noreply@blogger.com2