Imagination and persecution: The Roma community in Federico García Lorca’s poems

Abstract

The article, after a short presentation of the history of the arrival of Gypsy groups on the Iberian Peninsula, focuses on their image emerging from the poems of Federico García Lorca contained in his two famous poetry volumes: Poema de cante jondo (1931) and Romancero gitano (1928). In the case of the first volume, the axis of analysis focuses on an attempt to characterize the Gypsy character of the songs known as cante jondo in reference to the author’s various public statements and lectures and their poetic reflection. The analysis of the second volume includes primarily an attempt to show the conflict between the Gypsy community characterized by imagination and inspiration and Civil Guard officers representing order and repressive utilitarianism. The power of the Gypsy imagination that allows them to survive with dignity the greatest persecution and repression comes
to the fore.