Rosalía de Castro
Encyclopedia
María Rosalía Rita de Castro (rosaˈli.a ðe ˈkastɾo; 24 February 1837 – 15 July 1885), was a Galician
romanticist
writer and poet
.
Writing in the Galician language
, after the Séculos Escuros (lit. Dark Centuries), she became an important figure of the Galician romantic
movement, known today as the Rexurdimento ("renaissance"), along with Manuel Curros Enríquez
and Eduardo Pondal
. Her poetry is marked by saudade
, an almost ineffable combination of nostalgia, longing and melancholy.
She married Manuel Murguía
, member of the Galician Academy
, historian
, journalist
and editor of Rosalía's books. (Her married name was Rosalía Castro de Murguía.) The couple had seven children: Alexandra (1859–1937), Aura (1868–1942), twins Gala (1871–1964) and Ovidio (1871–1900), Amara (1873–1921), Adriano (1875–1876) and Valentina (stillborn, 1877). The only two that married were Aura in 1897 and Gala in 1922; neither they nor their siblings left any children, and thus there are no living descendants of Rosalía de Castro and her husband. Their son Ovidio was a good painter, but his early death cut his career short.
The date she published her first collection of poetry in Galician, Cantares gallegos ("Galician Songs"), May 17, 1863, is commemorated every year as the Día das Letras Galegas
("Galician Literature Day"), an official holiday of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, and has been dedicated to an important writer in the Galician language since 1963.
Relative poverty and sadness marked her life, although she had a strong sense of commitment to the poor and to the defenseless. She was a strong opponent of abuse of authority and defender of women's rights. She suffered from cancer of the womb and died of this illness. Her image appeared on the 500 peseta
Spanish banknote.
In Japan the first volume of Rosalian poetry was translated in 2009 by Takekazu Asaka and is available from DTP Publishing (Tokyo). In the nineteen-nineties Katsuyo Ohata wrote two articles in the journal "The Review of Inquiry and Research" of Kansai Gaidai University (Osaka, Japan) on the Galician poet: "El inconsciente creativo de Rosalía de Castro" and "En las orillas del Sar: El mundo íntimo de Rosalía de Castro."
In the Portuguese-speaking world Editoria Crisálida in 2008 published an anthology of Rosalia's Galician poems translated by Andityas Soares de Moura.
In the French-speaking world Folle Avoine in 2003 offered a French anthology of Galician poems translated by Jose-Carlos Gonzalez.
Prose
Prose
set Cuatro canciones sobre textos gallegos (1957–1962).
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
romanticist
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
writer and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Writing in the Galician language
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
, after the Séculos Escuros (lit. Dark Centuries), she became an important figure of the Galician romantic
Spanish Romance literature
Spanish Romanticism arrived late and lasted only for a short but intense period, since in the second half of the 19th century it was supplanted by Realism, whose nature was antithetical to that of Romantic literature....
movement, known today as the Rexurdimento ("renaissance"), along with Manuel Curros Enríquez
Manuel Curros Enríquez
Manuel Curros Enríquez was a Galician writer and journalist in the Galician language, and is considered to be one of the leading figures of Galician culture and identity.-Early life:...
and Eduardo Pondal
Eduardo Pondal
Eduardo María González-Pondal Abente was a Spanish poet, who wrote in both Spanish and GalicianOf Hidalgo origin Pondal was the youngest of a family of seven. From 1884 onwards he studied Latin in a school in Vilela de Nemiña which belonged to his cleric relative, Cristobal Lago...
. Her poetry is marked by saudade
Saudade
Saudade ) is a unique Galician-Portuguese word that has no immediate translation in English. Saudade describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. It often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return...
, an almost ineffable combination of nostalgia, longing and melancholy.
She married Manuel Murguía
Manuel Murguía
Manuel Murguia was a Galician journalist and historian who created the Real Academia Galega. He was one of the main figures in Galician Rexurdimento movement. He is also remembered as Rosalía de Castro's husband, publisher and main supporter.-Life:...
, member of the Galician Academy
Real Academia Galega
The Royal Galician Academy is an institution dedicated to the study of Galician culture and especially the Galician language; it promulgates norms of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary and works to promote the language. The Academy is based in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. The current president is...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and editor of Rosalía's books. (Her married name was Rosalía Castro de Murguía.) The couple had seven children: Alexandra (1859–1937), Aura (1868–1942), twins Gala (1871–1964) and Ovidio (1871–1900), Amara (1873–1921), Adriano (1875–1876) and Valentina (stillborn, 1877). The only two that married were Aura in 1897 and Gala in 1922; neither they nor their siblings left any children, and thus there are no living descendants of Rosalía de Castro and her husband. Their son Ovidio was a good painter, but his early death cut his career short.
The date she published her first collection of poetry in Galician, Cantares gallegos ("Galician Songs"), May 17, 1863, is commemorated every year as the Día das Letras Galegas
Día das Letras Galegas
Galician Literature Day is a public holiday observed in Galicia, Spain. Introduced by the Royal Galician Academy in 1963 it is a celebration of the Galician language and its literature. This celebration has taken place on May 17 since 1963...
("Galician Literature Day"), an official holiday of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, and has been dedicated to an important writer in the Galician language since 1963.
Relative poverty and sadness marked her life, although she had a strong sense of commitment to the poor and to the defenseless. She was a strong opponent of abuse of authority and defender of women's rights. She suffered from cancer of the womb and died of this illness. Her image appeared on the 500 peseta
Spanish peseta
The peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra .- Etymology :...
Spanish banknote.
Dichotomy of response in Galician society
Rosalia de Castro is today the unquestioned poet laureate of Galicia (Spain). Highly educated, expected to speak and write Spanish only, she took the bold, unconventional step of writing her early poems in the Galician language. Her defiance earned her the contempt and spite of that segment of the population for whom Galician was a dialect fit only for the illiterate and the churlish; but Rosalía's gallant gesture won her the love and admiration of the rest. Schools in Galicia, in Spain, in Russia and in Uruguay, libraries, cultural associations, awards, parks, folklore groups, choirs, compositions of her poems, a Galician traditional morning song adorned with the lyrics of one of her poems, a professional sports team, monuments at home and abroad, a theater, restaurants, a label of white wine, lodgings, a money bill formerly in circulation, a postage stamp, a FS98 Iberia Airbus A340, a sea-rescue plane, and many streets have all taken her name.International reputation
In the English-speaking world Edwin Mellen Press published in 2010 "the most thorough and representative volume of poetry and prose from Rosalia de Castro (1837-1885) ever translated into English." In 2007 Shearsman Books presented a paperback of selected poems translated by Michael Smith. In 2004 Louis J. Rodrigues gave in the literary magazine Babel a translation and analysis of two Rosalian poems, Nasín cando as prantas nasen and Negra Sombra. In 1991 State University of New York Press launched an English anthology edited and translated by Anna-Marie Aldaz, Barbara N. Gantt and Anne C. Bromley. In 1977 Kathleen Kulp-Hill translated several Galician poems as part of her work entitled "Rosalía de Castro"; this book is still available from AllBookstores.com. In 1964 the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a selection of Galician poems translated into English by Charles David Ley; this book may be found in Spanish Rare Books libraries.In Japan the first volume of Rosalian poetry was translated in 2009 by Takekazu Asaka and is available from DTP Publishing (Tokyo). In the nineteen-nineties Katsuyo Ohata wrote two articles in the journal "The Review of Inquiry and Research" of Kansai Gaidai University (Osaka, Japan) on the Galician poet: "El inconsciente creativo de Rosalía de Castro" and "En las orillas del Sar: El mundo íntimo de Rosalía de Castro."
In the Portuguese-speaking world Editoria Crisálida in 2008 published an anthology of Rosalia's Galician poems translated by Andityas Soares de Moura.
In the French-speaking world Folle Avoine in 2003 offered a French anthology of Galician poems translated by Jose-Carlos Gonzalez.
Works
Each year links to its corresponding year-in-poetry article or year-in-literature article:In Galician
Poetry- Cantares gallegos (18631863 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May 17 – The date Rosalía de Castro published her first collection of poetry in Galician, Cantares gallegos , has commemorated every year as the Día das Letras Galegas , an official holiday of...
) - Follas novas (18801880 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* H.C. Beeching and J.W...
)
Prose
- Contos da miña terra I (18641864 in literatureThe year 1864 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Ambrose Bierce is wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.*Charles Baudelaire leaves Paris for Belgium in the hope of resolving his financial difficulties....
)
In Spanish
Poetry- La Flor (18571857 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Edward Bulwer-Lytton, writing under the pen name "Owen Meredith", The Wanderer...
) - A mi madre (18631863 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May 17 – The date Rosalía de Castro published her first collection of poetry in Galician, Cantares gallegos , has commemorated every year as the Día das Letras Galegas , an official holiday of...
) - En las orillas del Sar (18841884 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Isabella Valancy Crawford, Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie, and Other Poems. Published at author's expense....
)
Prose
- La hija del mar (18591859 in literatureThe year 1859 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*George Eliot's novel Adam Bede is accused of being the "vile outpourings of a lewd woman's mind" in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and was consequently withdrawn from libraries.*30 April - Charles Dickens's...
) - Flavio (18611861 in literatureThe year 1861 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*October 20 - Poet and dramatist Apollo Korzeniowski is arrested for his political activities and placed in the infamous Tenth Pavilion of the Warsaw Citadel....
) - El cadiceño (18631863 in literatureThe year 1863 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*First reunions of the Romanian Junimea literary society, a group which was to exercise a major influence on Romanian culture until the 1910s.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon...
) - Ruinas (18661866 in literatureThe year 1866 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Ludwig Anzengruber returns to Vienna after working as a travelling actor.*Luigi Capuana becomes theatre critic for Italian newspaper The Nation....
) - Las literatas (18661866 in literatureThe year 1866 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Ludwig Anzengruber returns to Vienna after working as a travelling actor.*Luigi Capuana becomes theatre critic for Italian newspaper The Nation....
) - El caballero de las botas azules (18671867 in literatureThe year 1867 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* Three new American periodicals for children — Oliver Optic's Magazine, Frank Leslie's Boys' and Girls' Weekly, and the Riverside Magazine for Young People — all begin publishing.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon...
) - El primer loco (18811881 in literatureThe year 1881 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* March 4 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.* The first of the three-volume History of Woman Suffrage, was published by Susan B...
) - El domingo de Ramos (18811881 in literatureThe year 1881 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* March 4 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.* The first of the three-volume History of Woman Suffrage, was published by Susan B...
) - Padrón y las inundaciones (18811881 in literatureThe year 1881 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* March 4 - A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, begins.* The first of the three-volume History of Woman Suffrage, was published by Susan B...
)
Settings in music
Antón García AbrilAntón García Abril
Antón García Abril is a Spanish composer and musician. In 1997 Plácido Domingo created the role of Lucero in his Divinas Palabras at the Teatro Real in Madrid.-Biography:...
set Cuatro canciones sobre textos gallegos (1957–1962).