There is something hyper resonant about the Spanish landscape and lifestyle; it has a magical quality that produces an air of romance, of pain and passion that does not exist in the same form anywhere else in the world. There is something special in the spirit of the Spanish people themselves and of their realities. The word best suited to describing this ingredient is what is called “duende,” the Spanish word for a sense of magnetism, magic and power.
That is a terribly basic translation of a word with many meanings, but the best substitute may be "spirit." Traditionally, duende refers to the spirits living in one's house, which expanded to include all sorts of goblins and sprites of the mischievous sort. It maintains the root of "spirit" when used as a way to explain that mysterious aura Spain has cultivated and exudes — the Spanish way of life depends on the vivacious spirit of its people.
Where does this fascinating image of Spanish beauty and zeal stem from for those who have never had the fortune to visit Spain or otherwise experienced their culture first hand? It comes from a plethora of places, but most vivaciously through art.
Velázquez and Goya, Picasso and Dali — the Spanish tradition of forging the greatest painters has long held its own and astounded the world. Another art form less easily appreciated, but no less magnificent, is one of words.
Spanish writers have created some of the most important and stunning works of literature in the world. With limited space, I will focus on only one author in this article, but I highly recommend you search more out on your own.
Goethe said it best when he stated: "duende is something everyone can recognize, but no philosopher can explain."
In my humble opinion, English just can’t even begin to capture the way Romance languages can condense a universe of meaning into a single word, like duende that encompasses so many varieties of expression.
Enter, the man of the hour: esteemed Spanish poet and dramatist, Federico Garcia Lorca.
An incredibly diverse and profound writer, Lorca was foremost a poet; a love of placing beautiful words with precision led him to become a playwright and dramatist on themes of sex, love and death, often using striking imagery and symbolism in his work as well. Growing up in Spain's Andalusian country in the early 20th century, Lorca often used his home town, Fuente Vaqueros, as inspiration and vague setting for his work.
When Lorca came of age, Madrid became his base; likewise, his art and relationships, such as an alleged romance with Salvador Dali, expanded exponentially. He writes deeply gripping pictures of love (both heterosexual and homosexual in nature) and the impact of loss in his plays and poetry, with the backdrop of his flamboyant culture and country serving as a character in its own right. Lorca met a horrific end when he was executed by the Nationalist party at the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1938. Despite his tragic end at the young age of 38, Lorca's work continues to inspire and inform across the globe.
Lorca's duende
Regarding our popular concept of duende, the many-layered word, Lorca wrote much theory on what it meant to him. His usage of it revolves around the idea that within every human being there is something resembling, but not exactly, a psyche, subconscious, muse or whatever you might call it, inside, waiting to be unlocked.
He called this quality of thinking duende itself; he believed that when one could write or otherwise create from such a space they were really coming from a space of spirit - writing from their very soul.
I fervently agree with author Tracy Smith when she describes Lorca's duende thus:
"[…] We write poems in order to engage in the perilous yet necessary struggle to inhabit ourselves—our real selves, the ones we barely recognize—more completely."
Much of Lorca's inspiration for his duende theory came from studying the Gypsy tradition of "deep song," a predecessor to flamenco music. By trusting the daemon of creation within you, the madness and chaos that can come from creating spontaneously, according to Lorca, it will carry you much further than that of organization and ordered thought.
It also informs the idea that "talent can only take you so far," that natural ability can take you, as Smith elaborates: "up to the door, where the real reason for writing […] resides."
Such a thought is similar to what, as an undergraduate Theatre major, I have been taught to understand the process of acting. You put in the work, learn the lines, embody the blocking, but then at some point, you have to go the extra mile and put it all together. By hovering on the stoop of the subconscious mind, we open ourselves up to the most authentic acting possible. Or so Stanislavski agrees with our boy, Lorca.
Whether you believe in the power of the subconscious or prefer a mathematically sound approach to creating, the point is to explore all options. To read more on Lorca's theories, take a read of his essay: "Theory and Play of the Duende." He specifies that his sense of duende does not dwell in rules or the "flighty" muse, but is more a direct exploration of the self. In his own words: "[To seek] the duende, there is neither map nor discipline. We only know it burns the blood like powdered glass, that it exhausts, rejects all the sweet geometry we understand," and must be discovered for one's self.
So go out and find your duende if you can! It might just change your life.