Galician Poetry: 1975 to 1990s – Key Movements

Posted on Jan 25, 2025 in English Studies

Galician Poetry from 1975 to the 1990s

1975: A Profound Renewal

The year 1975 marked a profound renewal in international poetry, with an outbreak of feminine writing and various authors in full creative activity.

Four Key Inflection Points

a) Consolidation of Social Realism (Late 1960s – “Novos”):

  • Work emerged during a time of intense anti-Franco struggle.
  • Implementation of left-wing nationalism.
  • Themes of complaint, struggle for language, national oppression, and the desire for individual and collective freedom.
  • Important teachings of Celso Emilio and Manuel María.
  • Major poets: Helena Villar Janeiro and Xesús Rábade Paredes, co-authors of The Blood in the Landscape.

b) Reaction to Social Realism (1976 – Con pólvora e magnolias by Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín):

  • A result of socio-political changes that produced the end of the dictatorship and the establishment of Portuguese independence.
  • The teachings of Con pólvora e magnolias were decisive.
  • Two groups emerged: In and Rompente.

c) “Generation of 80” – New Aesthetic:

  • Admiration for poets of the past.
  • Rejection of politically compromised poetry.
  • Greater attention to form and style.
  • Openness to new topics such as eroticism and culturalism.
  • Consolidation through participation in collective volumes like De amor e desamor and magazines like Luces de Galicia and Dorna, as well as the Poetry Festival of the County.
  • Fundamental traits: culturalist and decadent aesthetic, a distance between the poet and society, an attempt at synthesis between modernity and tradition, a taste for experimentation and interdisciplinarity, and marginal urban counterculture.
  • Notable poets: Lois Pereiro and Xela Arias, concerned with linguistic style and form, rebuilding and recovering mythical themes of intimacy and eroticism.
  • Major works:
    • Naomi Caccamo: Praia das Furnas
    • Xela Arias (intimate eroticism): Darío a diario
    • Manuel Rivas’s first book of poetry: Libro do entroido. All his poetry is collected in O pobo da noite.

d) “Generation of 90”:

  • Continued writing by poets of previous generations.
  • Many narrators and authors who previously had difficulty publishing now saw their work come to light (Marilar Aleixandre, Marica Campo, Isidro Novo, Xabier R. Baixeras, Chus Pato, etc.).
  • The Generation of 90 published individual and collective books, shared recitals and performances, etc. (Estevo Creus, Eduardo Estévez, Séchu Sende, Yolanda Castaño, Olga Novo, etc.).
  • The journal Festa da palabra silenciada, a meeting point for poets, was muted.
  • Characteristics: neat use of language, free verse, globalization, ecologism, etc.