Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013

Title: Rafael Alberti’s Coplas de Juan Panadero: Communist Propaganda, Valuable Poetry, or Both? Author: Grant D. Moss Affiliation: Pittsburg State University Abstract: Rafael Alberti’s Coplas de Juan Panadero exemplifies both a Communist ideology and a search for a sublime aesthetic. Until recently, however, criticism of Alberti’s poetry in general has separated both elements as if they opposed one another. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Coplas de Juan Panadero in order to value the work’s simultaneous dual commitment to both Communist politics and aesthetic poetics. First, this paper engages with the literary criticism of Alberti’s poetic project and focuses on the lack of emphasis on the political-poetic synthesis in Coplas. Second, it centers on the relationship between politics and aesthetics in the poems of the collection and how they shed light on the author’s careful maneuvers between aesthetics and littérature engagée. Keywords: Rafael Alberti, political poetry, Communism, poetics, Juan Panadero’s Couplets Resumen: Coplas de Juan Panadero de Rafael Alberti ejemplifica tanto una ideología comunista como una búsqueda de una estética sublime. Hasta hace poco, sin embargo, la crítica de la poesía de Alberti en general ha separado los dos elementos como si se opusiesen el uno al otro. El propósito de este ensayo es analizar Coplas de Juan Panadero a fin de valorar el doble compromiso simultáneo hacia la política comunista y la poética estética dentro de la obra. Primero, este ensayo entabla con las críticas literarias del proyecto poético de Alberti y se enfoca en la ausencia de énfasis en la síntesis política-poética en Coplas. Segundo, se centra en la relación entre la política y la estética en los poemas de la colección y cómo nos iluminan sobre la maniobras cuidadosas del autor entre la estética y littérature engagée. Palabras clave: Rafael Alberti, poesía política, comunismo, poética, Coplas de Juan Panadero Date Received: 09/14/2012 Date Published: 03/20/2013 Biography: Grant D. Moss is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Pittsburg State University. He earned his M.A. at the University of Salamanca in Spain and his Ph.D. at the Ohio State University. His research interests include: politics and poetics, Iberian and Latin American poetry of the 20th and 21st centuries, and poetry of the Spanish Civil War.

ISSN: 1548-5633 22 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013

Rafael Alberti’s Coplas de Juan Panadero: Communist Propaganda, Valuable Poetry, or Both?

Grant D. Moss, Pittsburg State University

Critics have often condemned or openly poetic stance, or both, the collection as a whole avoided Rafael Alberti’s poetic project during emphasizes the struggles and truces between the 1930s either because it appears to be too the two supposed contradictory roles. Further- propagandistic or because it might not pro- more, the roles go beyond the poet himself or vide the aesthetic pleasure of the poet’s earlier his poetry to the increasingly global society of works.1 Others have claimed that a focus on the 1940s and 1950s. On the one hand, the col- aesthetics returns to his poetry during the late lection’s political function emphasized the con- 1940s and early 1950s only to leave commit- tradictions in socialism and capitalism at the ted poetry behind.2 Among Alberti’s collec- beginning of the cold war. On the other hand, tions, Coplas de Juan Panadero (1949) has been Coplas’ aesthetics demarcate the battles be- nearly forgotten despite the fact that the col- tween bestsellers and bohemia. This paper first lection reflects a synthesis between aesthetics looks at the criticism of Alberti’s poetry and and politics.3 One reason that might account the lack of focus on Coplas de Juan Panadero. for the lack of a focus on Coplas could be sim- Because albertiano studies have overlooked ply that Alberti wrote and published the col- one of the key moments of Alberti’s worldview lection about the same time that he produced and lifetime poetic project, the first part of this other more popular texts.4 Although many of analysis also contains a brief description of the Alberti’s collections either side with aesthetics collection as a whole. The second part focuses (Pleamar (1944), A la pintura (1948) or Retor- on the poems of the collection as they propa- nos de lo vivo lejano (1952)) or with politics (El gate both Communist ideals and at the same poeta en la calle (1935), De un momento a otro time the artistic, aesthetic ability of the author. (1937) or Signos del día (1961)), others such as The reader will notice Coplas’ careful balance Entre el clavel y la espada (1941) and Coplas de between Communist and art-for-art’s-sake Juan Panadero offer glimpses of Alberti’s dual ideals. By looking at Alberti’s poetical develop- commitment to both. Although his life’s work ment during his life as a synthesis of both his did not open the debate between “art for art’s politics and his poetics, one might argue that sake” and “committed art,” Coplas exemplified on a universal level the majority of effective Alberti’s connection with both sides of that poets have always combined both elements; in controversial battle. In fact, the poems found fact, I would argue that Alberti’s project rep- in Coplas undoubtedly are committed to a po- resents a wider view of poetics in general and litical purpose, yet at the same time, the poems openly reproduces a dilemma of other poets embrace aesthetic pleasure throughout the who either follow suit openly or who slyly and poemario (very nearly rubbing shoulders with quietly do the same.5 Therefore, we can see the an art-for-art’s-sake ideal). The purpose of this greater implications of a study of Coplas de paper is to show the value of the Coplas both as Juan Panadero. Communist political commentary and inspira- If a reader were to agree with Terry Ea- tional, aesthetically pleasing poetry at the same gleton in After Theory that our society has be- time. While each poem has a political stance, a come enamored with pluralism and that our Grant D. Moss 23 current focus on the marginalized sectors of Robert G. Havard’s “Rafael Alberti’s De un society pushes us toward an all-inclusive net- momento a otro: The Matter of Poetry, Politics work (18), Alberti’s Coplas de Juan Panadero and War” describes that stance: fits that pluralistic endeavor in dual fashion. First of all, aesthetes might consider the col- The quality of Alberti’s 1930s poetry lection as overtly political and consequently is a matter of some debate. Many crit- unaesthetic; they would wish to discourage ics take the view that after the peak any political implications in any text in order of Sobre los ángeles in 1929 the poet to uphold a purist art-for-art’s-sake view. Sec- went into sharp decline when he ad- opted the role of political agitator and ond, members of the Communist Party might that, essentially, in this period, he sac- denote this work as overly aesthetic and self- rificed his art for the sake of voicing serving in that the work does not solely pro- trite communist propaganda. (81) mote the Party. The aforementioned double- marginalization would then qualify the work To argue that Alberti’s poetry up until 1930 for study in the twenty-first century and demonstrated solely an art-for-art’s-sake po- would show that both elements contribute etic vision or that after 1930 his adherence to and place it on the forefront of the trend to Communism forfeited his aesthetic qual- to praise that which fell by the wayside in the ity seems to undermine his lifetime poetic 1950s. project. As we will see in his Coplas de Juan Despite the importance of a study of Panadero almost two decades later, the poet Coplas, criticism up to this point has primar- had not given up one aspect of his poetry in ily focused either on Alberti’s poetry before favor of the other.6 However, despite his fer- the 1930s or his political conversion during vor for his political beliefs, authors such as the Spanish Republic. Felipe B. Pedraza Jimé- Ricardo Gullón and C. B. Morris respond nez and Milagros Rodríguez Cáceres point negatively to Alberti’s so-called political po- out the diverging interpretations of Alberti’s etry.7 More recently, however, other works shift toward political poetry in the 1930s: look to find value in the political poetry as part of Alberti’s lifetime project.8 Despite the No faltan quienes censuren este giro excellent research on Alberti’s poetry to date, que, a su juicio, desvía al autor de sus both of these acercamientos lack an interlock- objetivos estéticos. Otros [...] valoran más positivamente esta poesía revo- ing way to analyze Alberti’s Coplas de Juan lucionaria liberada de las cadenas del Panadero where aesthetic pleasure and politi- purismo. (Pedraza Jiménez and Ro- cal awareness complement each another. dríguez Cáceres 608) In the very titles of Coplas de Juan Panadero’s nineteen sections the reader will Since the majority of the criticisms of Al- notice how politics and aesthetics mesh to- berti’s poetry focus on either the political gether.9 Each of these sections has between or the aesthetic properties in his poetry, the six and thirty-two poems; the majority of the two camps strive to prove his purist rhetoric poems has three lines, an imperfect couplet; among his political poetry on one hand or his each three-line poem supports the topic of communistic rhetoric among his aesthetics the section where it is housed.10 What stands on the other. out from the titles of these subdivisions Many of Alberti’s critics claim that his within the collection is that six of them re- shift to a more politicized poetry during the fer specifically to Juan Panadero’s poetics (or Republic either degraded his poetics or gave the artistic illumination that occurs within him the necessary tools to survive as a poet. or because of it). Undoubtedly the collection Until relatively recently, most criticism re- contains a political bent that strives to influ- sponded negatively to this politicized poetry. ence the reader through a representation of a 24 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013 poor, uneducated Juan who produces imper- text, although valuable, offers an incomplete fect couplets. At the same time, the feigned analysis of the poet’s poetics especially in his ingenuity, the feigned lack of understanding post-1940 work.11 of forms (couplets as two-lined rhetorical de- On the other hand, we cannot reduce vices that Juan recites as three-lined morphs Alberti’s poetry to simple socialist-realist of the poetic tradition) in fact contributes to rhetoric either. In other words, his political the aesthetic power of the collection because commitment did not completely subsume his of its fight against traditional forms. poetics. In Benjamín Prado’s essay on De un With reference to the collection’s aes- momento a otro, he writes that Alberti “deser- thetic power, many of the global analyses of ta de sus orígenes burgueses e intenta con- Alberti’s entire life’s work claim that in reality vencer a los oprimidos trabajadores de que Alberti’s poetry had always simply been “art él es ahora uno de ellos, nunca más otro de for its own sake.” For example, José Ramón sus explotadores” (299). By focusing solely on López’s “Exilio, metapoesía y compromiso en Alberti’s politically-driven poetry written for Rafael Alberti” points out that “Alberti, leída the trabajadores during the Second Spanish su producción globalmente, es un perseguidor Republic (when he published De un momento de paraísos y con ello de una idea de armonía a otro), a reader may lose sight of the deeper final plena que es negada por las circunstan- connection in Alberti’s poetry: his complete cias de la existencia” (12, my italics). López dedication to that Party did not overshadow then defines Alberti’s work as a poetics that his poetics after the fall of the Republic in had a ten year hiccup in the 1930s. By focus- 1939. Undoubtedly, as we will see in Coplas de ing solely on the ideal, utopian bourgeois Juan Panadero, Alberti also strived for Lenin’s idea of poetics, many of Alberti’s political in- maxim that literature should be party litera- terventions may appear to have no contribu- ture (Lenin 44-49), yet the claim in this paper tion to his overall poetic goal that includes his is to emphasize that his politics worked with politics. Lopez’s assertion does not reflect the his poetics to create a synthesis long after the poet’s political poetics in Coplas. Republic had fallen. Also, the fusion between In a similar fashion, other critics have his politics and his poetics goes beyond ex- tried to value the political aspect in Alberti’s planations that the poet’s double-speak ability poetry. Antonio Jiménez Millán’s article, “El or his geographical location allowed him to compromiso en la poesía de Alberti (Repúbli- only partially commit to the Communist Par- ca, guerra, exilio),” practically cancels out Al- ty;12 so maybe he could somehow stay aloof berti’s political commitment by claiming that: of the Party. Yet he remained a committed, card-carrying Communist even after Stalin A pesar de que se haya querido de- made his notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop pact valuar la poesía comprometida de with Hitler in 1939.13 Alberti’s political pro- Alberti con el término despectivo de gram through his poetry cannot be forgotten ‘propaganda,’ lo cierto es que la litera- despite its supposed reduced space through- tura ‘de consignas’ ocupa un espacio muy reducido en el conjunto de su out his work or the fact that he did not live in obra. El compromiso albertiano es lu- the Soviet Union. In fact, it begs the question. cidez y, al mismo tiempo, entusiasmo The poet did maintain his allegiance to the por la poesía. (161) party despite his distance from it, and that is a factor in his political poetic fusion after that However, Millán’s focus excuses Alberti’s famed pact in 1939 and even beyond the end political commitment, as if his only com- of the Second World War in 1945. mitment in reality were his commitment to The critic Salvador Jiménez Fajardo poetry. Millán’s theory is useful because he does not deny that a focus on both politics points out the duality in Alberti’s poetry; his and aesthetics is necessary for a complete Grant D. Moss 25 study of Alberti’s collections. He writes that vida, con su acción incesante: amor, from the time that Alberti published El poeta amistad, viajes, nostalgia, y esperanza en la calle (1934) until the time he published impregnan su poesía. (9) De un momento a otro (1937) Alberti “[...] The fact that both his focus on aesthetics and finds again his personal idiom, and abstrac- his politics shape his poetry, Zardoya’s collec- tions give way to immediate contact with the tion contains less than half of the poems from real [...]”, but later in the 1940s “[...] Alberti the original Coplas de Juan Panadero.14 I will returns to lyrical resources” (159). Jiménez now explore that possible equilibrium in Co- also concludes that in the poet’s Entre el clavel plas de Juan Panadero. y la espada (published in 1940) “[...] the dou- In the first poems ofCoplas (written ble symbol of its title already hints at the uni- between 1949 and 1953), Juan Panadero cries tary mainspring of all his work” (160, my ital- out against various enemies of Communism ics). The carnation/sword double symbol of ten years after the fall of the Republic: his poetic/political synthesis defines his later work. It is important to note that in the first […] puntapiés para el inglés prologue of Entre el clavel y la espada, Alberti y los norteamericanos […] states the following: ¡Mueran los imperialistas! […] ¡Franco, fuego! ¡Franco, muerte! […] Después de este desorden impuesto, de esta prisa, Ayer con Hitler, y ahora, de esta urgente gramática necesaria en que vivo, con los que se están llevando vuelva a mí toda virgen la palabra precisa, hasta la luz de la aurora. (870-871)15 virgen el verbo exacto con el justo adjetivo. (Poesías completas, 445) His politics appear clearly in these lines, but his poetics appears as well: If he had returned to entirely “lyrical resour- ces” after 1940, his revolutionary bent would […] ‘Prefiero la rima pobre’, have disappeared completely before he had esa que casi no suena […] published the first edition ofCoplas in 1949. Canto, si quiero cantar, Furthermore, he would have no reason to sencillamente, y si quiero combine the “urgent grammar in which he li- lloro sin dificultad […] ves” (a reference to his politics) with “precise Mi canto, si se propone, puede hacer del agua clara words” and “perfect adjectives” (a reference un mar de complicaciones. (872-873)16 to his poetics). More specifically, in reference to Coplas de Juan Panadero, Alberti’s political Therefore, this collection demonstrates a poetry after the war and his exile in Argenti- search for aesthetic beauty and communist na, far from “queda[n]do al otro lado del mar, rhetoric simultaneously and this combina- amordazada” as Concha Zardoya writes (166), tion does not end with the end of the Civil continued to work for an equilibrium between War in Spain. political and poetic elements. In her introduc- Now, the ideal political and aesthetic tion to her own 1987 anthology Poética de bond in Coplas de Juan Panadero appears at Juan Panadero Concha Zardoya writes: first to heavily favor a propagandistic, Com- munist view. The first section of the collection Su vida y su poesía se ‘comprometen’ (“Autorretrato de Juan Panadero”) gives a self- con el transcurrir histórico español: portrait of the speaker; his focus appears to éste—casi siempre—es el trasfondo de sus poemas. La Guerra Civil, el be that of his politics. For example, in the first éxodo de la «España peregrina», el poem he claims that “[e]l pan que amaso es destierro, el retorno a la patria en de- de harina / que nadie puede comprar” (869). mocracia, se entretejen con su propia The line shows an obvious, open reference to a 26 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013 communal existence where mankind should reproduces an anti-capitalistic worldview, it not buy bread but should share it equally. Al- even attacks the old Spanish nemesis: “Re- though the previous quote may appear to be pito esas tres señales: ¡Franco, fuego! ¡Franco, a simple reference to a communal existence muerte! / ¡Franco, muerte, fuego y sangre!” without the troubles of capitalism, another (871). Similar to Alberti’s collections from interpretation reflects how the poet cannot the 1930s, Coplas begins with direct and open be bought out; his poetry (bread) is shaped political criticisms, yet they are not limited by ideas and ideals that reflect artistic free- to Spain; Juan, the speaker in these poems, dom and not a bestseller attitude (the first finds ways to tie the Franco regime with yan- publication of Coplas was in 1949). Yet the quis and Germans. In fact, when Juan offers a communistic ideals found in the first portion specific reference to the Yankees and the Ger- of the collection abound and give the impres- mans and that he will not give them bread, we sion that politics outweighs poetics in the col- see that the political project from the begin- lection. For example, in the fourth poem the ning of the collection denotes Franco’s Spain, speaker evokes an anti-capitalistic sentiment: the North American Yankees, the Germans, “Lo que mi molino muele, / lo dice Juan and even the British as the enemy with com- Panadero, / se reparte y no se vende” (869). mon traits. This Communist rhetoric which Alberti realizes that some of his readers might strives to demonize any opposition is clear in consider the lyrical declarations as simple an- the first section ofCoplas . ti-Franco rhetoric, so after Juan talks of spe- Juan Panadero explicitly denounces cific Spanish geographical references such as the Franco regime in the third section of Puerto, Jerez, and Cádiz, he carefully reminds the compilation “Juan Panadero en la guerra the reader that “Juan Panadero es del viento / española;” he refers to himself as a soldier que muele por todas partes” (870) Therefore, who fought ideologically through words and we can see that the speaker desires that po- physically with the rifle against the spread of litical representations in the collection not be ultraconservative values during the Spanish seen as solely references to the dilemmas in Civil War. The speaker aligns himself with Spain but to a more universal political cause. the people of Spain; the intellectuals that sup- The reference to viento implies the winds of ported the Spanish Republic during the Span- change, but also the fact that Juan is a poet ish Civil War used the same rhetoric to side and a molinero at the same time who can with the people and build their claim to be share his poetry and his political plight with one of masses.17 Throughout the poems in the those from all over the world implies explic- section on la guerra civil española, the reader itly the unification of the masses from Lenin’s will note the various references to key battles rhetoric. or areas from the war: Guadarrama, Alto del That universal political cause then delin- León, Peguerinos, El Escorial, and Madrid. eates Juan Panadero’s enemies. Earlier this pa- The poet brings to life the war in Spain in the per referred to poem ten of the first section; it 1930s through the words that define his ideo- gives examples of those who have tried to over- logical background, that is, words and phras- throw Juan politically: “Tengo dientes, tengo es that evoke the greatness of leftist rhetoric manos, / y en la punta de los pies, / puntapiés lace the poems in this section: pueblo, mili- para el inglés / y los norteamericanos” (870). ciano, fusil en la mano, balas, cartuchera, and His foes are the capitalist forces that strive batallón. The revolutionary language of the to buy him out: the British and the North poems abounds and provides an ample vi- Americans. But the denouncement does not sion of the speaker’s ideology through Com- end there: “¡Mueran los imperialistas!” (870). munist vocabulary. Yet, in this section, the The poem identifies capitalistic and imperi- speaker not only juxtaposes muerte and luz, alistic opposition as its aim. Yet, as the poem but he alludes to death as the dawn of man, a Grant D. Moss 27 rhetoric that suggested that the Spanish Civil global view and shows his allegiance with the War had imparted light and life on the future workers, the mariners, and the farmhands of because of its fall: “¡Primeros muertos de Es- both Europe and the Americas. paña, / no de la que lleva sombra / sino luz After the obvious political references I en las entrañas!” (875). Therefore, the death have noted so far, the second section of the of the Republic created an illuminating politi- collection titled, “Poética de Juan Panadero,” cal presence that the enemy could not extin- turns openly to aesthetics; in fact, this is guish. But the hint of the new man or the new where Juan refers specifically to the idea that communistic world alludes to ties with the “‘[p]refier[e] la rima pobre’, / esa que casi no Party and to deny such would take away from suena” (872). The satirical nature of the po- the politics of the collection. For example, I ems supplies ample evidence for the aesthetic would agree to a certain extent with Concha possibilities of the speaker and his humble, Zardoya when she writes that yet self-declared, imprecise voice. Although the orator’s self-proclamation of humility [e]s indudable el carácter ‘popular’ could undermine the aesthetic quality of the de estas Coplas [...] se insertan en esa work, I would argue that the finality of the corriente popularista que fluye en la poetry ascribes to an aesthetics which chal- poesía española desde la más antigua Edad Media y sin la cual no sería hoy lenges the traditional couplet and enhances lo que representa. (19-20) the definition of such. Indeed, Alberti looks to reconcile intellectual knowledge and savvy However, her focus solely on the poetic side with simple imperfect form that reproduces of the Coplas turns lo popular from lo comu- the voz del pueblo. His beliefs, reflected in nista and undermines the explicit mentions Coplas, stemmed from more than two de- of Communistic ideals in the poems, and that cades before when he strove for reconcilia- focus only gives the reader half of the story. tion between aesthetic intellectualism and The focus on the politics of the poem social reform; he provided accessibility for through the political exile that Juan Panade- the masses without any sacrifice of scholarly ro suffers (an allusion to Alberti’s own exile stimulation.19 As mentioned above, Alberti from Spain in 1939) both personalizes and confronted the copla tradition in Spain. The politicizes the text further. The Spanish Re- forms of Alberti’s coplas (his rima pobre) do public’s demise in 1939 and the speaker’s ex- not share the similar traditional four lines ile to the Americas are played out in the sec- (paired couplets) that Manrique and oth- tion “Juan Panadero in América;” this part ers followed from the fifteenth century. The epitomizes the politics held by the speaker couplets in Spain have a long and arduous and also personalizes the difficulties and tradition, anchored in sets of couplets by au- promise of political exile. First, the various thors from Jorge Manrique to Federico Gar- moments when Juan Panadero describes cía Lorca; in Alberti’s collection the reader himself in the Americas illustrate the ideals immediately can notice that the author has of his politics. He is campesino, marinero, knowledge of the forms and also differs from molinero, trabajador; each represents some- them. Yet, his familiarity with and control of thing that he took with him from Spain.18 the poetic forms is what causes such awe in Although the politics of the working class are students of his work because of (or in spite universal, Juan Panadero insists that when he of) his allegiance to a specific political stance. arrived in the Americas he became chacarero To support the justification of a mar- which refers to his experience in exile and riage between simple forms and deep aesthet- also his assimilation into the blue collar ranks ic connections with the reader, in 1949 Juan in Argentina. A universalized political stance Panadero declares: “no digo como los tontos: through exile exemplifies Juan Panadero’s ‘que hay que hablar en tonto al pueblo’” (872). 28 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013

The speaker complains that one of the chal- Panadero” for those who contend that his lenges for the poet is the fact that he must rep- poetry only focuses on obscure political is- resent current issues aesthetically through his sues in Spain. He is quick to remind us of the verse and not simplify it for the people. In fact, contrary: “Pero que nadie se engañe. / Aunque to exemplify the dynamics of his own aesthet- andaluz, yo soy copla, / soy viento de cualquier ics, Alberti reflected on his role as poet and his parte” (882, my italics). Because the speaker commitment to the people in his acceptance defines himself as a couplet, his declaration speech after he won the Lenin International could suggest that he is the only couplet (or Peace Prize in 1965: “[...] los poetas hemos de couplet-maker) of any worth and therefore es- ser, como quería Antonio Machado, poetas del tablishes himself as the authority in the field. tiempo. Ese es nuestro compromiso: ser, estar, The statement refers to the fact that hiscopla existir, dar universalidad a un momento [...]” de rima pobre gives life and meaning to his (Alberti in Concha Zardoya 19). Neverthe- worldview; he is not a molinero but a univer- less, although Juan Panadero understands that sal poet that speaks for the masses. In the end, his commitment reflects his moment in time, Juan Panadero insisted that he was not only in the section “Poética de Juan Panadero” he the speaker but the verse itself. The simple states that his verses are sencillos but at the statement, yo soy copla, encompasses the po- same time they produce a profound effect in etic vision of the Coplas de Juan Panadero in the reader. As mentioned earlier, he points out that Alberti had redefined couplets and politi- that “[m]i canto, si se propone, / puede hacer cal poetry: simplicity that ties aesthetic inspi- del agua clara / un mar de complicaciones” ration to political commitment. (873); in other words, the simplicity of the cou- Up to this point this paper has looked plets should not lull the reader into thinking at the Coplas’ characteristics as both a po- that the simple manner of the poems does not litical statement and an aesthetically pleasing mean that they cannot contain aesthetic com- document; the differentiation between the two plexities. Moreover, a reader must note that stances are barely possible since the synthesis Juan Panadero’s straightforward (in many cas- of politics and poetics in this work acts as a cul- es political) manner does not demean the intri- mination of the poet’s life work and worldview. cacies of his aesthetic project. For example, in Although both tendencies run throughout the the next poem (poem 7), Juan writes: “Yo soy Coplas, one might argue that this collection como la saeta, / que antes de haberlo pensado / simply reflects a modernist point of view found ya está clavada en la meta” (873). Juan explains in the Generación del 27, a view that Andrew his view in a clear, concise manner as Alberti Debicki claims Alberti had shared with his fel- had done in the second prologue of Entre el cla- low poets during his younger years (22). It is vel y la espada almost a decade earlier: clear from the explicit Communist commen- tary in the collection that this could be the case [...] si mi nombre no fuera un com- because the Coplas, like Alberti’s earlier works, promiso, una palabra dada, un cuello in fact “[...] uses the balance between popular constante, tú, libro que ahora vas a and learned traditions in Spain to defend the abrirte, lo harías solamente bajo un signo de flor, lejos de él la fija espada universality of Spanish poetry” (Debicki 22). If que lo alerta. (Poesías completas, 445) popular refers to “the people” then a bourgeois- trained poet could find equilibrium between Therefore, Alberti proved that his political academic and common principles, as many and aesthetic thought had given life to his ac- have argued of Alberti’s pre-1930 poetry. This cessible, uncomplicated poetry. Juan Panade- view does not give the complete picture of the ro expanded that notion. poet, and with reference to Alberti’s poetry of In fact, later on in Coplas, Juan Panade- the 1940s and 1950s, actually denies his blatant ro writes the fifth section, “Coplas de Juan political jabs in the Coplas. Grant D. Moss 29

One of the key allusions to Juan in the world: “Poetas: en todo está / lo bello. Panadero’s political poetics appears in “Poé- Pero lo bello, / si no se ve, no se da” (884, my tica de Juan Panadero.” Despite his marginal- italics). Therefore, his thesis remains that po- ized view, either rejected as bourgeois by the etry is in everything (in politics, too) and the Party or as biased and opinionated rubbish by purpose of the poet is to make everything into searchers of purity, Juan sees both sides of his poetry. Moreover, his thesis appears to imply duality as unavoidable and necessary compo- that those who find a synthesis between po- nents of his writings: etry and politics are true poets. In the very next poem he says “Soy pueblo” (884). Juan 9 Panadero has declared up to this point two Si no hubiera tantos males parts of his being that complement one an- yo de mis coplas haría other: yo soy copla and yo soy pueblo. The syn- torres de pavos reales. thesis of both the couplet and the people de- 10 Pero a aquél lo están matando, fine the poetic endeavor that Alberti proposes a éste lo están consumiendo in his work: political poets value both visions y a otro lo están enterrando. (873) and therefore set the bar at a high level for the aspirations of all poets. Juan carefully claims that if there were not so Later, in another section of coplas called much evil he would focus solely on aesthetic “Juan Panadero insiste sobre su poética,” the pleasure, but if he were to do so he would poet focuses on what his poetics has become deny his call to be poeta del tiempo. The above in order to look to the future. In these cou- lines denounce injustices found in the world plets, there is not one reference to the past; in the 1950s. But at the same time, there is a there is not one verb in past tense. At the dreamlike post-surrealist view (“torres de pa- same time, the speaker points out that his po- vos reales”) that thrives in these verses. The etics is not simple, despite the simple set up strength of the collection stems from how the of couplets. The lines of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th speaker crafts what is real and personal with coplas show this perspective: what is intangible and universal. Therefore, Coplas acts as Communist political commen- [3] Nadie de Juan Panadero tary (the real) and inspirational aesthetically piense que es simple. Si soy pleasing poetry (universal). simple es porque así lo quiero. Political poetics is the focus of a later [4] Sencillo, porque disparo contra lo oscuro, sabiendo section in the collection called “Otras coplas que el aire ha de ser muy claro. sobre la poética de Juan Panadero.” First we [5] Para oscuro, un calabozo, see that “Mas la sola condición / es que la es- y para claro, la luna trella y el barro / dejen de ser lo que son” (883). llena en el fondo de un pozo. (916) Juan upholds the argument that only through him, a political being, can things become po- Although sencillos, these poems are far etic. That is, anything can have an aesthetic from simples. Coplas de Juan Panadero is side, if the speaker wills it, politics included. overlooked by criticism because of its sup- Later Juan clarifies his thoughts: “Elbarro, si posed simplicity and its political references. es puro barro / tan solo, no es poesía [...] Y Although it may appear that Alberti sim- le sucede a la estrella, / si es pura estrella, ser ply created a ping-pong effect between Juan fuego / que todavía no sueña” (883). Here a Panadero’s politics and his poetics, the col- simple metaphor shows how a focus on poli- lection also reflects once again, that Alberti tics without the help of a poet is in fact not analyzed the legitimacy of his political-poetic aesthetic. Juan continues to justify his politi- synthesis through nostalgia, hence the reason cal poetics tie as he calls out to all of the poets for “Poética de Juan Panadero,” “Otras coplas 30 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013 sobre la poética de Juan Panadero,” and “Juan challenged the norm of years of tradition that Panadero insiste sobre su poética.” claimed that poetic forms had to be regi- The longest section (and most relevant mented in order to have aesthetic value and for this study) is “Coplas de Juan Panadero at the same time he simultaneously captured a Pablo Neruda (Serie I)”. I maintain that by the voice of the people. Yet, upon examining mentioning the name of Pablo Neruda, the these three-verse poems, I hoped to have ar- Chilean National Poet, Juan Panadero iden- gued that they display similar nostalgic and tifies the ideal political poet of all time and self-analyzing elements that reflect Rafael Al- idolizes him. He also reminisces of a time berti’s political poetics through a simple poet when the Spanish Republic was a place of of the people, who says much without saying progressive politics and aggressive poetics. much at all. Juan refers to Neruda as “una luz en la tem- pestad” on both fronts (888). Neruda acted as a light both in politics and poetry; Juan talks Notes 1 of the time that they shared in Spain, of their Some of these authors include: Ricardo Gullón, C. B. Morris, and Solita Salinas de Marichal. common friends (Miguel Hernández, Federi- 2Some of these authors include: Felipe B. Pe- co García Lorca, and Raúl González Tuñón draza Jiménez, Milagros Rodríguez Cáceres, José for example), and of their mutual political Ramón López, and Concha Zardoya. Robert G. stance. He versifies: “Y empiezo al fin mi can- Havard’s article “Rafael Alberti’s De un momento a ción / por quien tú, Chile, hoy ya tienes / a otro: The Matter of Poetry, Politics and War” pro- España en el corazón” (889). Because politics vides an excellent synthesis of both sides of the de- and poetry became intertwined during the bate during the 1930s and focuses primarily on De Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936), Juan un momento a otro as the title indicates. 3 Panadero refers to that time period and also La Fundación Rafael Alberti does not list any work of criticism that focuses directly on Coplas. to Neruda’s collection España en el corazón.20 4Retornos de lo vivo lejano (1948-1956), Poemas Because the reference to España en el corazón de Punta del este (1945-1956), Signos del día (1945- has political and poetic references with ties 1955), A la pintura (1945-1952), Baladas y cancio- to another political poet, Juan Panadero can nes del Paraná (1953-1954), Ora marítima (1953). prove that his political poetry combination is 5Although debatable, the observation that aes- both valid and valuable. thetics and committed politics can coexist in po- The question is not necessarily why etry is not new; critics of poetry in the Spanish lan- criticism has avoided Rafael Alberti’s collec- guage could look for evidence in other nineteenth tion, Coplas de Juan Panadero, which seems and twentieth century canonized poets such as: Vicente Aleixandre, Manuel Altolaguirre, Ernesto clear considering the political implications of Cardenal, Rubén Darío, Rosario Ferré, Federico the text and the political context of the 1950s García Lorca, Nicolás Guillén, Miguel Hernández, Cold War. Through these simple tercets (ir- Vicente Huidobro, Antonio Machado, José Martí, regular coplas), the poet slyly presents his Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, powerful support and commitment to both Emilio Prados, and César Vallejo, to name a few. his politics and his aesthetics approximately 6Alberti published Coplas de Juan Panadero ten years after Franco’s victory in the Civil in 1949. After he obtained his official Commu- War. He achieves that goal by using a simple nist Party card in 1930, he supported the Republic method, one that some readers may find too where he fought a war of words against the Franco regime from 1936-1939. In 1940 he fled to Argen- simple and archaic to be real poetry, hence the tina as a political refugee. limited research on this collection. In its ma- 7See Gullón’s Alegrías y sombras de Rafael Al- jority, his method is to write tercets, where the berti and Morris’s Rafael Alberti’s ‘Sobre los Ánge- first and the third verses rhyme:rima pobre. les’: Four Major Themes. By trying to show the feigned simplicity of 8Examples of these studies are: Judith Nantell’s, his make-believe poet, Juan Panadero, Alberti Rafael Alberti’s Poetry of the Thirties: The Poet’s Grant D. Moss 31

Public Voice, Antonio Jiménez Millán’s, La poesía 12Millán writes for example that “Alberti no se de Rafael Alberti (1930-39), Salvador Jiménez Fa- encuentra, como ocurría con los escritores sovié- jardo’s Multiple Spaces: The Poetry of Rafael Alberti, ticos, con una serie de líneas ya marcadas de ante- and Peter Wesseling’s Revolution and Tradition: mano, con un programa más o menos elaborado The Poetry of Rafael Alberti. [...]” (97). 9The titles of the nineteen sections are: “Au- 13The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, named for torretrato de Juan Panadero,” “Poética de Juan the two men who negotiated on behalf of Stalin Panadero,” “Juan Panadero en la guerra española and Hitler respectively, stated that Hitler would (serie I),” “Juan Panadero en América,” “Coplas not attack the Soviet Union and vice-versa. Both de Juan Panadero,” “Otras Coplas sobre la poética planned to break the pact but it was eventually de Juan Panadero,” “Coplas de Juan Panadero por Hitler who made the first move and suffered great- los que mueren desterrados,” “Revelaciones de ly for it. Many card-carrying communists who had Juan Panadero,” “Coplas de Juan Panadero a Pablo fought against the fascists and Nazis left the party Neruda (serie I),” “Visión de Juan Panadero,” “Juan because they did not agree with Stalin; they con- Panadero Orienta a los turistas,” “Coplas varias de sidered an agreement with the Nazis to go against Juan Panadero sobre el terror,” “Mensaje de Juan their political beliefs. Panadero al Congreso Mundial por la Paz (París, 14Concha Zardoya’s edition includes the sec- abril de 1949),” “Juan Panadero envía su saludo tions “Poética de Juan Panadero”, “Otras coplas a Pasionaria,” “Juan Panadero pide ayuda para el sobre la poética de Juan Panadero”, “Juan Panadero pueblo español,” “Juan Panadero ensalza en la me- insiste sobre su poética” y “Juan Panadero se aclara”. moria de José Gómez Gayoso y Antonio Seoane a In Zardoya’s anthology, Juan Panadero appears to los héroes caídos en la resistencia española,” “Juan lose his political side, since the author focuses on Panadero insiste sobre su poética,” “Juan Panadero the aesthetic poetry from the collection. Zardoya’s pide por la libertad de López Raimundo y el pueb- idea has merit; it appears that she also realized that lo español,” and “Juan Panadero contra los vend- if a reader could somehow overcome some of the edores y compradores de España.” Communist rhetoric then they could see that Al- 10Alberti referred to this technique as rima berti’s poetry represented much more than com- pobre in the prologue of the third edition of Co- mitted political commentary. However, some might plas published in 1984; he quotes one of Antonio argue that her anthology could deny the communist Machado’s heteronyms, Juan de Mairena. Mairena side of the poetry which suggests a possible apolo- claimed that he preferred the rima pobre (“Pre- getic ideal that Coplas does not contain. fiero la rima pobre”). See Machado’sJuan de Mai- 15The references appear in Alberti’sPoesías rena: sentencias, donaires y apuntes de un profesor completas (1961). All of the quoted material in this apócrifo (first published in 1936). paper from Coplas de Juan Panadero comes from 11Alberti’s dual commitment reflects Walter that collection. Benjamin’s views in his article “Left-Wing Melan- 16Alberti cites Antonio Machado’s profesor choly” and Benjamin would have accused the ex- apócrifo, Juan de Mairena when he uses the phrase iled Spanish poet of such spinelessness in his poet- “Prefiero la rima pobre.” See note 10. ry despite his active political agenda in life. Wendy 17Manuel Aznar Soler’s three volume study, II Brown in her article “Resisting Left Melancholy” Congreso Internacional de Escritores para la De- only solidifies Alberti’s dilemma: fensa de la Cultura, and Federico Suárez’s book, Left melancholy, in short, is Benjamin’s Intelectuales antifascistas, shed light on how the name for a mournful, conservative, Communist apparatus worked to attract intel- backward-looking attachment to a feel- lectuals to their cause so that the authors would ing, analysis, or relationship that has use their talents for the defense and promotion of been rendered thing-like and frozen Communistic principles. Some maintained their in the heart of the putative leftist. If adhesion to the party after World War II, such as Freud is helpful here, then this con- the Chilean National Poet, Pablo Neruda, the Cu- dition presumably issues from some ban National Poet, Nicolás Guillén, and the Span- unaccountable loss, some unavowably ish poet in exile, Rafael Alberti. [sic] crushed ideal, contemporarily 18See Alberti’s memoirs La arboleda perdida signified by the terms left, socialism, for a detailed look at how Alberti uses these defi- Marx, or movement. (Brown 20-21) nitions to create his own nostalgic, ideal view of 32 Letras Hispanas Volume 9.1, Spring 2013 himself. Hermann’s study analyzes the memoirs “Bibliografía sobre la obra de Rafael Alberti.” Ra- and his self-perceptions in her chapter “Exile and fael Alberti. Fundación Rafael Alberti, n. d. Left Melancholia” (128-165). Web. 31 Aug. 2012. 19In Víctor García de la Concha’s Antología co- Brown, Wendy. “Resisting Left Melancholy.” mentada de la Generación del 27 the dynamic and Boundary 2. Vol. 26, No. 3 (Autumn 1999): diverse aspects of the supposedly unified literary 19-27. Web. 7 Sept. 2012. “generation” appear as five varying trends where Debicki, Andrew P. Spanish Poetry of the Twentieth some of the poets wrote poetry in one or more of Century: Modernity and Beyond. Lexington: them. The five trends among the poets according to UP of Kentucky, 1994. Print. García de la Concha were: La poesía vanguardista, García de la Concha, Víctor. Antología comen- la poesía pura, el neopopularismo, el surrealismo, el tada de la generación del 27. Madrid: España neorromanticismo, and la poesía social. The author Calpe, 1998. Print. places Alberti in three of the five areas: el neopopu- Gullón, Ricardo. Alegrías y sombras de Rafael larismo, el surrealismo, and la poesía social. Alberti. San Juan, Puerto Rico: n.p., 1965. 20In his memoirs, Confieso que he vivido, Pablo Ner- Print. uda writes this of his collection, España en el corazón: Havard, Robert G. “Rafael Alberti’s De un momen- Manuel Altolaguirre seguía con sus to a otro: The Matter of Poetry, Politics, and imprentas. Instaló una en pleno fren- War.” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 73 (1) (Jan te del Este, cerca de Gerona, en un 1996): 81-103. Print. viejo monasterio. Allí se imprimió de Hermann, Gina. Written in Red: The Communist manera singular mi libro España en el Memoir in Spain. Champaign, Illinois: The U corazón [...] Pero entonces faltó el pa- of Illinois P, 2009. Print. pel. Encontraron un viejo molino y allí Eagleton, Terry. After Theory. New York: Basic decidieron fabricarlo [...] De todo le Books, 2003. Print. echaban al molino, desde una bande- Jiménez Fajardo, Salvador. Multiple Spaces: The ra del enemigo hasta la túnica ensan- Poetry of Rafael Alberti. London: Tamesis grentada de un soldado moro. A pesar Books, 1985. Print. de los insólitos materiales, y de la to- Jiménez Millán, Antonio. “El compromiso en la tal inexperiencia de los fabricantes, el poesía de Alberti.” Cuadernos Hispaoame- papel quedó muy hermoso. Los pocos ricanos 485-486 (Nov-Dec. 1990): 145-61. ejemplares que de ese libro se conser- Print. van, asombran por la tipografía y por —. La poesía de Rafael Alberti (1930-1939). los pliegos de misteriosa manufactura. Cádiz: Diputación Provincial de Cádiz, Años después vi un ejemplar de esta 1984. Print. edición en Washington, en la bibliote- López, José Ramón. “Exilio, metapoesía y compro- ca del Congreso, colocado en una vi- miso en Rafael Alberti.” Ojáncano: revista de trina como uno de los libros más raros literatura española 13 (Octubre 1997): 9-22. de nuestro tiempo (Neruda 144-145). Print. Lenin, Vladimir. “Party Organization and Party Literature.” V. I Lenin: Collected Works. Vol. Works Cited 10, November 1905-June 1906. Moscow: Alberti Rafael. La arboleda perdida. Barcelona: Progress Publishers, 1965. 44-49. Print. Seix Barral, 1959. Print. Machado, Antonio. Juan de Mairena: sentencias, —. Poesías completas. Buenos Aires: Editorial donaires y apuntes de un profesor apócrifo. Losada, 1961. Print. Madrid: Castalia, 1971. Print. —. Poética de Juan Panadero. Introducción de Morris, C. B. Rafael Alberti’s ‘Sobre los Ángeles’: Concha Zardoya. Ferrol: Sociedad de cultura Four Major Themes. Hull: University of Hull, Valle-Inclán Esquio, 1987. Print. 1966. Print. Benjamin, Walter. “Left-Wing Melancholy.” Walter Neruda, Pablo. Confieso que he vivido. Barcelona: Benjamin: Selected Writings. Vol. 2, Part 2, Editorial Seix Barral, 2003. Print. 1931-1934. Eds. Michael W. Jennings, How- Pedraza Jiménez, Felipe B. and Milagros Rodrí- ard Eiland, and Gary Smith. Translated by guez Cáceres. Manual de literatura española. Rodney Livingstone. Cambridge: Harvard XI. Novecentismo y vanguardia: Líricos. Pam- UP, 2005. 423-426. Print. plona: Cénit Ediciones, 1993. Print. Grant D. Moss 33

Prado, Benjamín. “De un momento a otro.” Cua- Wesseling, Peter. Revolution and Tradition: The dernos hispanoamericanos: Revista men- Poetry of Rafael Alberti. Valencia and Chapel sual de cultura hispánica 485-486 (Nov-Dec Hill: Albatros, 1981. Print. 1990), Madrid: 299-300. Print. Zardoya, Concha. “Poesía y exilio de Alberti.” Salinas de Marichal, Solita. El mundo poético Cuadernos hispanoamericanos: Revista men- de Rafael Alberti. Madrid: Gredos, 1975. sual de cultura hispánica 485-486 (Nov-Dec Print. 1990): 163-77. Print.