Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), author of Blood Wedding, Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba, who mixed the traditions of Andalusia with the avant-garde. He found his first major success with his Gypsy Ballads, although Dali, once his close friend, mocked him for these, accusing Lorca of being too conservative. He preferred performing his poems to publishing them, and his plays marked a revival in Spanish theatre. He was captured and killed by Nationalist forces at the start of the Civil War, his body never recovered, and it's been suggested this was punishment for his politics and for being openly gay. He has since been seen as the most important Spanish playwright and poet of the last century.
With
Maria Delgado Professor of Creative Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London
Federico Bonaddio Reader in Modern Spanish at King’s College London
And
Sarah Wright Professor of Hispanic Studies and Screen Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.9 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:07.5 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website and you can get news about our programs |
| 0:11.4 | if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:14.8 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:16.7 | Hello, Federico Garthio Locker, 1898 to 1936, is one of the great Spanish writers of |
| 0:22.9 | the 20th century and his death is still a disturbing mystery. |
| 0:27.9 | In his poems and plays he blended his childhood experiences in underla Thea with the modernity |
| 0:33.3 | and avant-garde Madrid and Barcelona. |
| 0:36.0 | And his rural trilogy, Blood Wedding, Yerma and the House of Bernada, Alba, have become |
| 0:41.6 | some of Spain's greatest cultural exports. |
| 0:45.0 | Yet he was one of the first writers to be executed by nationalists at the start of the Spanish |
| 0:48.8 | Civil War, perhaps through his writing, or politics, or family feud, or because he was gay, |
| 0:54.2 | and his body has never been found. |
| 0:56.7 | When me to discuss the life and works of Locker are Federico, Bairn Dio, reader in modern |
| 1:01.4 | Spanish at King's College London, Sarah Wright, Professor Heavy Spaniard Studies and Screen |
| 1:06.3 | Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Maria Delgado, Professor of Creative Arts |
| 1:11.6 | at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. |
| 1:16.3 | Maria Delgado, Locker was born in 1898. |
| 1:18.8 | What was his family background? |
| 1:20.5 | Well, his family background was quite mixed. |
| 1:23.7 | I mean, his father was a very wealthy landowner, and people often forget, because he's seen |
... |
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