Alberto San Juan Revives Federico García Lorca’s Literature Critiquing Capitalism
Alberto San Juan brings the writings of Federico García Lorca’s book “Poet in New York” into the contemporary world. San Juan, the lead character of the performance, begins his verbal illustration with the very same words used by Lorca to describe capitalism. The phrase originates from a 1930 lecture that Lorca held at the Residencia de Señoritas in Madrid, where he called capitalism “a brutal economic system which soon would have its head severed”.
The narrative unfolds as San Juan recounts that this was the very platform where Lorca introduced his book “Poet in New York” and spoke about his “lyrical perceptions” after spending a year residing in the city. During this year, Lorca observed the aftermath of the 1929 Crash, one of the severest crises in capitalist-society globally, surpassed recently only by the financial collapse of 2008, an economic fallout we are still dealing with today.
This performance by Alberto San Juan, in collaboration with his band, entails reading the prose and poetry that Lorca shared with his audience nearly one hundred years ago. These insights are still entirely pertinent in present-day context, as they crucially address economic and societal issues.
