In Search of Duende

Resumen del libro

Prose selections edited and translated by Christopher Maurer
Poems translated from the Spanish by Norman di Giovanni, Edwin Honig, Langston Hughes, Lysander Kemp, W. S. Merwin, Stephen Spender, J. L. Gili and Christopher Maurer

An excellent compilation of Lorcas poetry and prose, emphasizing Lorcas notion of the duende, the 'earth spirit of irrationality and death.'

The notion of 'duende' became a cornerstone of Federico García Lorcas poetics over the course of his career. In his lecture 'Play and Theory of the Duende,' he says, 'there are no maps nor disciplines to help us find the duende. We only know that he burns the blood like a poultice of broken glass, that he exhausts, that he rejects all the sweet geometry we have learned...' The duende is portrayed by Lorca as a demonic earth spirit embodying irrationality, earthiness, and a heightened awareness of death. In Search of Duende gathers Lorcas writings about the duende and about three art forms most susceptible to it: dance, music, and the bullfight. A full bilingual sampling of Lorcas poetry is also included, with special attention to poems arising from traditional Spanish verse forms.

Biografía del autor

Federico García Lorca (Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, 1898 - camino de Víznar a Alfacar, Granada, 1936) es tal vez el poeta más importante de la Generación del 27 y el más popular e influyente en la literatura española del siglo XX. Convivió en la Residencia de Estudiantes de Madrid con Luis Buñuel y Salvador Dalí y fue amigo de Juan Ramón Jiménez y Manuel de Falla. En 1929 emprendió un viaje a Nueva York que cambiaría radicalmente su poesía con "Poeta en Nueva York" (1940). Tan solo un mes después del comienzo de la Guerra Civil fue detenido por la Guardia Civil y posteriormente fusilado.