New Lenses for Lorca: Literature, Art, and Science in the Edad de plata by Cecelia J. Cavanaugh (review)

First of all, let me state that as an editor of a journal (Ometeca), and an anthology (Science, Literature, and Film in the Hispanic World) I have published two of the author's essays. Additionally, I attended a conference in Madrid (2012) at which the author was present. The conference took place at the Residencia de estudiantes and the Instituto Cajal, two locations central to Cavanaugh's book.

In her book, Cavanaugh attempts — successfully I feel — to demonstrate the influence of the science of his day on Federico García Lorca's literary and artistic production. Essentially, her argument is that Lorca's years spent living in and around the Residencia de estudiantes, roughly from 1916 until his death in 1936, exposed him to not only the literary and artistic ideas of his day but also to the scientific images and discourses of the period. This owes to the interdisciplinary nature of the students, teachers, and colleagues with whom he shared the intellectual world surrounding the Residencia. Cavanaugh concentrates on two of the most influential and important of these, biologist and Nobel Laureate Ramon Santiago y Cajal, and biologist Pío del Río-Hortega.

In the introduction to her book Cavanaugh summarizes how she came to realize the depth of the relations between Lorca and the science of his day, and what she did in order to validate her conclusions:

Over the years, I have read scientific texts, poured over the correspondence of Lorca, Cajal, del Río-Hortega and others, examined drawings, and conversed with family members and students of the three men and their contemporaries. I have interviewed specialists in the fields of science, literature, art, and the history of science. The result is my firm conviction that science and scientists did indeed influence Lorca, most importantly in his thought and creative process, and in some of his drawings and writings. (xiii-xiv)

Perhaps the greatest impact, and utility, of Cavanaugh's efforts is not the revelation that a Nobel Prize winning biologist was an both an artist and fiction writer, nor that Lorca's art at times directly reflects Cajal's scientific drawings, as when an anatomy drawing comes to life in el hombre de las venas. Rather, it is the cumulative effect of the years spent on researching not just primary sources, but, as mentioned above, friends, family, students, letters, and all the rest of it to arrive at as complete a picture of not only the principals but of the surrounding Madrid intellectual scene, or Umwelt, as one might dare to hope for. Thus, the book is a goldmine for future researchers in that it contains a wealth of data, as well as a perhaps infinite number of possible new avenues of inquiry.

That said, there is a price to pay for such informatic density. The book is not an easy read. The prose is dense, packed with details and quotations from both major and minor players, and relentless in its documentation of seemingly everything. Cramming ten years of concentrated effort into 200 pages does not a page-turner make. It is not, however, all tough slogging. The contraposition of Lorca's and Río-Hortega's drawings shows the mutual influence of science and art in a striking manner which obviates the need for words. These pictures really are worth their quota of words. And here a small caveat. None of Cajal's works are reproduced, due to the wishes of the Cajal family. There are apparently conflicting interpretations regarding legal rights which resulted in the denial of publication permission. In the book Cavanaugh states "Because a representative of the Cajal family has stated specifically that she does not wish her grandfather's drawings compared to other's work, Cajal's drawings will not be reproduced in this book" (30). There are, however, references in Cavanaugh's book to guide the reader to the pertinent Cajal...