Roots of a Religious Crisis: García Lorca and "El libro de poemas"

Abstract

Federico Garc?a Lorca ultimately rejected completely both traditional Christianity and the institution of the Church. The roots of his of 1927, which lie buried in the conflicts of his adolescent years, find first expression in the Libro de poemas (1921), taking at least three forms: (1) the use of small animals to voice questions, as in Encuentros de un caracol aventurero and ?Cigarra!, (2) a contemplation of nature cloaking a deep spiritual debate, as in Canci?n oto?al and Los ?lamos de plata, or (3) the unorthodox juxtaposition of Biblical figures with those from classical mythology to raise doubts about Christianity, as in Mar and Ma?ana. These poems, little-studied but typical of about one third of the collection, merit serious examination because they contain the first evidence of Lorca's struggles and associated imagery developed in later works, such as Poeta en Nueva York and Llanto por Ignacio S?nchez Mej?as. The opening years of the twentieth century saw Spanish society undergoing a crisis, questioning not only deeply-held Christian beliefs, but also the institution of the Church. While writers of the Generation of 1898, such as Miguel de Unamuno and Anto nio Machado, challenged Christian tenets and the role of the Catholic Church in their society, they made a marked distinction between institutions and Christianity. They harshly chastised the Catholic Church for perceived excesses and hypocrisy, but stopped short of rejecting totally the Christian faith. The Generation of 1927, influenced by their predecessors, continued this process even as they too distinguished between the Church and faith. Many of them, however, including Federico Garc?a Lorca, went further, ultimately rejecting com pletely any belief in traditional Christianity and the Church, although not necessarily rejecting all or spiritual expressions. While several members of his generation experienced a of sorts, none evinced the ongoing concern with spiritual issues and imagery that marked Lorca's poetic production. Most scholars cite 1927 as the year of Lorca's crisis. Lorca's mature poetry, written after this date, clearly repudiates the institution of the Church, although he continued to use Christian imagery. Whatever he may have believed in his heart of hearts, Lorca wrote in his later verses of Christ with broken clay fingers in Navidad, highlighting a com-pletely ineffective icon. While the term may suggest a sudden event, in Lorca's case, his had a lengthy gestation. The roots of what most critics term Lorca's religious crisis or subsequent alienation and loss of faith (Newton, Understanding 84) lie buried in the conflicts of his adolescent years, especially his awakening homosexuality that clashed with social and norms and his increasing awareness of time. His first published collection of poems, Libro de poemas (1921), contains much poetry that in its questioning of traditional values and its musings typifies his late adolescence and early adult years. The early poems seem paradigmatic of the existential angsf of Lorca's generation. However, a significant number of these poems, more than 20 of the 70, raise issues and/or employ language, a larger number than those found in the earliest poetic production of others of his generation. In these early poems, the