About the Book
This is a collection of new and previously published writings of Robert Lima on the cultural heritage that binds Spain with Central, Caribbean and South America through mythological beliefs and literary expressions.
Featured in the first part are the cultural roots that define the belief in and influence of the nature of evil and myths as found in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and throughout the Mediterranean world from antiquity to the present. Following are chapters on Elche, where pagan and Christian mysteries meet; on the Caribbean, where Christian and African beliefs combine in Santería, Voudoun and Brazilian Candomblé; on the esoterica of Mexican painter-writer Leonora Carrington's work; on the origins of Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) and Los Reyes Magos (The Wise Men of the Epiphany); and on the mythic mix in the belief system of Galicia, the northwestern region of Spain, wherein Celtic, Suevian and Roman topoi converged. It is in its folklore, which has been preserved in the oral tradition of Galicia and in a few written accounts, that the Celtic spirit of the people survives in the form closest to its roots. It is their principal myths, legends and superstitions that are here collected and retold.
The second part features a comprehensive assessment of the writers of Spain's "Generación del 98," which included Valle-Inclán, Unamuno, Azorín, Pío Baroja, Benavente, Antonio Machado, a group which Azorín baptized VABUMB. Following are writings on important works by three major authors: Ramón del Valle-Inclán (Galicia, Spain, 1866-1936), Federico García Lorca (Granada, Spain, 1898-1936), and Jorge Luis Borges (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1899-1986).
Three (five for Borges) essays are devoted to each author and their approach often includes matters that are covered in the first part of the manuscript, thus showing a cohesion.
About the Author :
ROBERT LIMA, award-winning poet, critic, bibliographer, playwright and translator, is Professor Emeritus of Spanish and Comparative Literatures at The Pennsylvania State University, as well as Fellow Emeritus of the Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies. He is an Academician of the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española and a Corresponding Member of the Real Academia Española. He has been honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by Villanova University, inducted into the Enxebre Orden da Vieira in Spain, vested with the Encomienda de Número (Knight Commander) in the Orden de Isabel la Católica by His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, and Comendador Gran Placa in the Imperial Orden Hispánica de Carlos V by Don Enrique, Príncipe de Borbón. He has published well over one hundred fifty refereed articles in the fields of Spanish and Latin American literatures and culture, as well as in Comparative Literature. In 1974, he created "Surrealism--A Celebration," a multi-faceted event in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Surrealist Movement. Included were theatre productions, music concerts, films, displays of rare publications, paintings, sculpture, jewelry and other objects, presentations by leading art historians, artists, and literary critics. And a Surrealist banquet. Elements of these events appeared in a special 1975 issue of Journal of General Education, which he edited. Over five hundred of his poems have appeared throughout the U.S. and abroad in periodicals, anthologies, and in his poetry collections Fathoms (1981), The Olde Ground (1985), Mayaland (1992), Sardinia / Sardegna (2000), Tracking the Minotaur (2003), The Pointing Bone (2008), The Rites of Stone (2010), Self (2012), Por caminos errantes (2014), Celestials (2017), and Cancionería Cubana (2017). Poems of Exile and Alienation (with Teresinka Pereira, 1976) and Corporal Works (1985) are two of his chapbooks. He has been elected to membership in PEN International and the Poetry Society of America. From March through August 2004, Penn State University Libraries exhibited "The Poetic World of Robert Lima," a retrospective of his poetry career from 1955 to that year. The first poetry competition by Phi Kappa Phi was won by his poem "Astrals," which appears in the honor society's journal Forum. The Bellefonte Art Museum exhibited"Word and Image. The Poetry of Robert Lima" throughout April, 2017 in conjunction with National Poetry Month. He has lectured widely in the U.S. and abroad. His biography appears in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the East, World Who's of Authors, and other bio & creative writing directories in the U.S. and abroad.
