Citation

Cohn A. Anales de la Literatura Espanola Contemporanea 2020; 45(1): 21-47.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Federieo Garcia Lorca's "Cementerio judlo," from Poeta en Nue-va York, has attracted critical attention for its interpretation^ challenges, and for its unique status as the poet's only text in which he extensively explores Jewish history and memory. These commentaries, however, have not established a convincing relationship between the two settings described in the poem. The present study provides a close reading of "Cementerio judio," and contends that the protagonist, upon entering the titular cemetery, evokes historical memory, and, ultimately, inscribes his present, urban landscape with characteristics of an imagined scene of exile, a conflation that prompts his suicide by cutting off his hands. Finally, these hands remit the reader to the artistic dialogue that Lorca maintained with Salvador Dall, revolving around putrefaction and St. Sebastian, and, furthermore, may allude to a notable tombstone in the cemetery that the poet visited while in New York City. (AC). © 2020 Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Memory; Federieo garcia lorca; Jewish history; Poeta en nueva york; Salvador dali; Urban landscapes