Publications

The peculiar nature and circumstances of Galician drama from the end of the 19th century onwards left even those involved in the art form with a fragmented sense of its existence. With no surviving record of the theatre in Galicia from before that time, the rest of the story is silence.

A huge amount of creative energy was expended in a succession of revival movements, yet the gains and enthusiasm from each renaissance never managed to carry forward into the next. This sense of discontinuity was further compounded by the privileged status of Spanish theatre and the dependent, fragmented counterview of its Galician analogue.

In the historical and cultural context of Galicia, artistic creation in the national language – especially dramatic creation – is inextricably linked to the political defence of Galicia as a nation. This new study by Carlos Caetano Biscaínha Fernandes and Cilha Lourenço Módia focuses attention back onto a vital but neglected period in the history of Galician drama and the central role of the nationalist Irmandades da Fala.

The analysis is completed by a short anthology of scenes from fourteen plays from the period, including Enredos, A man de Santiña, farsada en dous pasos, Donosiña, A tola de Sobrán, comedia galega n’un acto, Alén, comedia dramática and O Mariscal, traxédia histórica en verso.