ABSTRACT
Federico García Lorca was murdered on an August day of 1936 by right-wing nationalists as the Spanish Civil War unfolded. He was born in Fuentevaqueros, a small town in Andalusía. Andalusian culture is at the heart of his lyrical poetry. In it he sings to the guitar, to gypsies, to bullfighters and knives. He is also known as a playwright for dramas such as Blood Weddings (1933) and The House of Bernarda Alba (1936). In 1919, Garcia Lorca moved to Madrid. The encounter of metropolitan life made him feel more connected with the Spanish rural folk. He toured Latin America, but only after a 1929 visit to New York, where he was a student at Columbia University. In that period he was influenced by Walt Whitman. The product of that experience is Poet in New York, published posthumously in 1940, where he sings to sexual freedom, the anonymous masses, architecture, and nature. His interest in Jewishness was slight, yet Poet in New York includes the following poem written on January 18, 1930. It showcases his view of Judaism as a depository of ancient memory. As such, it is a continuation of the vision proposed by Miguel de Unamuno and other Spaniards whose link to Jews was tangential.
