This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Boyd, Jade Title: The Experience of Colour in the Theatre of Federico García Lorca General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. 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The Experience of Colour in the Theatre of Federico García Lorca Jade Leanne Jessie Boyd “A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies in the Faculty of Arts, School of Modern Languages, September 2019.” Word Count: 79,664 Abstract Colour in the theatre of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) is a powerful and equivocal force which is centred on his aesthetic concerns and on the audience experience. Lorca’s use of colour has long been a source of critical enquiry, yet the scholarly focus on traditional colour symbolism has largely occluded the material and affective nature of his colour-work. My aim in this thesis is to address that critical lacuna by demonstrating that Lorca’s colour practice is integral to his experiments with a ‘theatre of poetry’. This was his vision of a theatre which exposed the hidden suffering of his characters and sought to bring key themes and motifs from page to stage, creating an inclusive theatre of diverse influences which stimulated and challenged his audience. Within a framework of material, visual, literary, and cultural studies of colour, I analyse Lorca’s ten completed, full-length dramas, which were finished between 1920 and 1936. I demonstrate the importance of colour in our understanding of Lorca’s theatre of poetry and reveal how his colour practice and theatrical theory are interwoven throughout his theatre as a whole. I show how theories of affective and material colour offer a deeper understanding of Lorca’s colour practice; I provide a methodology for considering the work of other Spanish writers in ways which exceed traditional symbolic recuperations; and I open up the field through this interdisciplinary thesis which mutually benefits Modern Language Studies, Colour Studies, and Theatre Studies. Dedication and Acknowledgements This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Carrie Watt-Boyd and Steve Boyd, who made this dream possible with their emotional and financial support. This is also dedicated to my grandmother Patricia Watt, who graduated from the University of Bristol in 1976, paving the way for my own achievements here. Thank you to all my family and friends for your encouragement and support throughout this long academic journey. Special thanks go to my supervisors Professor Susan Harrow and Dr Sally-Ann Kitts for their expertise, commitment, and rigour. Thank you to the University of Bristol Alumni Association for their generous scholarship without which my studies would not have been possible. Thank you also to the Alumni Association, the School of Modern Languages, the Faculty of Arts, and the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland for their invaluable conference grants. Author’s Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University's Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate's own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. SIGNED: ............................................................. DATE: .......................... Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter One: Colour Foundations ........................................................................................... 55 Chapter Two: Colour and the Psyche ...................................................................................... 85 Chapter Three: Colour and Corporeality ............................................................................... 115 Chapter Four: Object Colour and Lorca’s ‘Theatre of Poetry’ .............................................. 158 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 200 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 212 Introduction THESIS AIM This thesis will argue that material colour is an underexplored and pervasive dimension of the stagecraft of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). My study aims to explore how an analysis of Lorca’s use of colour which exceeds symbolic readings offers a deeper understanding of what he called his ‘theatre of poetry’. This was Lorca’s vision of a holistic and multi-modal theatre which sought to create a visceral, active viewing experience.1 It also aimed to reach all levels of the public and to embody key linguistic images and themes in the material staging. Drawing on theoretical engagement with colour, in the visual arts, in material culture, in literary criticism and in cultural studies, and on queer theory, my thesis will explore the following core questions in relation to Lorca’s theatre of poetry: How does Lorca use colour to penetrate the surface of things and to communicate the complex emotional states of his characters? How do ideas surrounding colour capture the interplay between the visual and the verbal in Lorca’s plays and his vision of a holistic theatrical experience? What role does colour play in Lorca’s experimentation with abstract themes and ideas on the material stage? Through a close reading of Lorca’s ten completed, full-length dramas, written between 1920 and 1936, I will argue that these ideas surrounding colour can offer a deeper understanding of Lorca’s theatre of poetry, as they provide ways of addressing the emotional and material dimensions of his stagecraft.2 1 Throughout my thesis I will be working flexibly across the boundaries between the reader of the play text and the viewer of the performance. 2 Due to the interdisciplinary nature of my study and my aim of moving beyond Hispanism and reaching a wider audience including colour studies and theatre studies, I will provide translations throughout my thesis. 6 CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE FIELD Symbolism dominates many readings of Lorca’s colour-work. It forms the backbone of Gwynne Edwards’s treatment of colour in his fundamental 1980 study Lorca: The Theatre Beneath the Sand. Whilst the importance of Edwards’s reading of Lorca’s theatre should not be underestimated as a primary starting point for a comprehensive analysis of Lorca’s post- 1930 plays, it does rely on traditional readings of colour symbolism in Lorca’s work.3 For Edwards, black constitutes old age, death, melancholy, and the negative elements of life; white is death, the passing of time, pain, frustration, sterility, but also the positive aspects of life; blue signifies encroaching death; pink is optimism and beauty; and green is hope, freshness, and vitality. Edwards’s reading of blue light as evocative of a nightmare or as creating a dream-like effect is useful, but he concludes that ultimately blue light is the signifier of death, which narrows Lorca’s colour-work down to a fixed meaning. Edwards’s analysis of colour in La casa de Bernarda Alba (1936) [The House of Bernarda Alba] is far more fruitful, suggesting that the uniform nature of the white house and its thick walls is indicative of their imprisonment and the monotony of their daily lives, an atmosphere which is reflected by references to heat, by Lorca’s use of silence, and by the repetitive nature of the dialogue. The multiple and contrasting ‘meanings’ of colours discussed in Edwards’s study calls into question the usefulness of traditional colour symbolism as a route of critical enquiry, especially if it is considered in isolation from its other functions. Derek Harris’s 1985 study of green in Lorca’s work is marked by both his listing of colour frequencies and his focus on colour symbolism. Harris argues that Lorca’s use of 3 Edwards considers the earlier plays El maleficio, Mariana Pineda, La zapatera, and