From Landscapes and Villages to Celebrations and Legends in Rosalía de Castro’s Cantares gallegos

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/madr.104757
Keywords: Poetry, Culture, Galicia, Rosalía de Castro, Cantares gallegos

Abstract

Cantares gallegos by Rosalía de Castro is a landmark work not only for the aesthetic quality of its poems, but also for the impact of producing a literary book in Galician in the nineteenth century – a development that signaled a revival of letters and culture in this historical language. What stands out in Cantares is the presence of elements characteristic of Galicia interwoven throughout the volume, belonging to the traditions, customs, and folk knowledge of the Galician nation. This article examines references to settlements, music, dance, festivities, religious beliefs, legends, and everyday activities, as well as the recurrent strain of melancholy – features that, although rooted in nineteenth-century settings, remain part of Galician cultural identity. The principal aim of this reading is to demonstrate that Cantares gallegos is not merely a compilation of poetic glosses on popular cantigas, but a journey through Galicia and its ancestral customs.

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Author Biography

María Berenice González Godínez, Universidad de Guadalajara

She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1996. She studied Hispanic Letters at the University of Guadalajara, where she earned her degree with the thesis “La huella del agua y los árboles como puentes entre la poesía de Rosalía de Castro y Federico García Lorca.” She is an author of poetry, short fiction, and essays in literary criticism. Her work has been published in national and international journals and anthologies, among the most representative: Luvina (Mexico), Cuadrante (Galicia), and Madrygal (Madrid), among others. She won First Place in the IX “Luvina Joven” Literary Contest; Third Place in the GDLee State Microfiction Contest; and an Honorable Mention in the II International Poetry Contest “Siglema 575,” in Puerto Rico. In 2025 she was recognized as one of Mexico’s twenty young women writers and was included in the anthology Novísimas. República de poetas mexicanas. She recently published her first poetry collection, Canto a una nebulosa, and is working on her next book. At present, in addition to writing, she combines this activity with theater and music, and is the co-founder, together with Spanish actor Franco Méndez, of the performance movement Teatro del Abandono, within which she is primarily engaged in acting, lighting design, and cultural management. Works created within the movement include: Te adivinaba en todo y en todo te buscaba. Rosalía de Castro; Lorca es poesía, es flamenco; Mutis por el foro. Diálogos del Siglo de Oro; Te sigo buscando en otra canción; Tributo a Santa Teresa; and Sacro Cervantino.

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Published
2023-12-21
How to Cite
González Godínez M. B. (2023). From Landscapes and Villages to Celebrations and Legends in Rosalía de Castro’s Cantares gallegos. Madrygal. Revista de Estudios Gallegos, 26, e104757. https://doi.org/10.5209/madr.104757
Issue
Vol. 26 (2023)
Section
Notes

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