CONCEPCIÓN MÉNDEZ COST: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Concepción Méndez Cuesta (1898-1986), better known as Concha Méndez, was a Spanish writer and poet, a member of the renowned Generación del 27, on the list of Las Sinsombrero artists. In addition to poetry, the author also developed plays.

The work of Méndez in a first stage was characterized by being neopopular, while the second was more related to his personal experiences. The main themes of his early works were linked to the modern, the sea, cinema and sports.

As for her theatrical work, Concha's work was aimed at children, in order to make values ​​known, and preserve them. Some of the most representative pieces were: The certain angel, The deceived fish, A star has run and The railings of heaven.

Biography

Birth and education

Concha was born on July 27, 1898, in Madrid, into a wealthy and cultured family. Her parents went out of their way to give her a good primary education, so she was trained in a French school. It is worth noting the passion of the poet for sports, excelling in the practice of gymnastics and swimming.

Although the writer proved to be talented in many areas, including letters, her parents did not allow her to continue training. They wanted her to train to be a devoted housewife, as was the tradition during the early 20th century.

First love and friction with the literary world

Méndez Cuesta's family used to vacation in the town of San Sebastián. It was there, in 1919, that he met the film director Luís Buñuel.

The friendship between Buñuel and Méndez Cuesta turned into a loving relationship that lasted for years. During that time the poet met artists such as Maruja Mallo and García Lorca, who connected her with the Generation of 27.

Concha's concern for letters began to be quenched in the 1920s, when in 1926 she published her first poetic work: Inquietudes. Two years later Surtidor came out. These works, together with Songs of the Sea and Land, became a neopopular trilogy.

The filmmaker Luis Buñuel, Concha Méndez's first love. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

A different exile

Concha's way of being did not fit within her family nucleus, in addition, on many occasions she felt limited by her parents as she could not dedicate herself fully to letters and the arts. Because of the repression, the poet decided to leave her home, and that was what she called her "first exile", because she separated herself from everything that would not let her be.

In the mid-1920s, Méndez Cuesta began to live life differently, without being criticized or singled out, as well as to develop freely in literature. Her good friend, the painter Maruja Mallo, was her main support and accomplice.

Concha's Second Exile: Travel to England and Argentina

In her desire to continue developing her artistic and intellectual life, Concha Méndez undertook a trip between 1929 and 1931 to England and Argentina. This is how she began her "second exile", also to get away from the conservative Spanish society that did not admit it.

In Buenos Aires he began to publish poems in the newspaper La Nación, thanks to the Spanish poet and essayist Guillermo de Torre. He also met the Spanish journalist and writer Consuelo Berges, who opened the way for him in the field of Argentine literature. In 1930 Songs of the Sea and Land was born.

Intense return to Spain

Although Concepción Méndez had been physically absent from her homeland, she was also active in the intellectual and cultural life of Madrid during her trip. In 1931 she returned to Spain, and changes came to her life. At that time she met the poet and filmmaker Manuel Altolaguirre.

After a year of relationship, in 1932, Concha and Manuel got married. The couple started the La Verónica printing press, where they edited the magazine Héroe, which published some writings by intellectuals such as: Miguel de Unamuno, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Jorge Guillén and Pedro Salinas.

Between poetry and theater

Concha and her husband went to live in London between 1933 and 1935. It was during this period that the writer felt an interest in theater and cinema, and came to write, among other children's theater pieces, The deceived fish. At that time she suffered the loss of a first pregnancy, an event that inspired her to write Child and Shadows.

Federico García Lorca, who opened the doors of the Generation of 27 to Concha Méndez. Source: Federico García Lorca, via Wikimedia Commons

During those years in London, Méndez Cuesta and Altolaguirre were dedicated to editing the works of some members of the Generation of 27, as well as magazines such as Caballo verde para la poesía. In 1935 the poet had the good fortune to give birth to her daughter Paloma.

The Civil War and exile

In 1935 Concha and her family returned to their homeland, in the midst of a difficult political and social climate prior to the Spanish Civil War of 1936. When the conflict broke out, the couple joined the side of the Second Republic, which brought complications to their lives..

As a result of the tense situation, Méndez Cuesta decided to go into political exile with her daughter, and her husband stayed in Spain. After living in some European countries, she was reunited with her husband in Barcelona and together they went first to Paris, and then to Cuba, until 1943.

Last years and death

In Havana-Cuba, Concha dedicated herself to the edition and publication of books, after the creation of a printing press that was called the same as that of Spain, La Verónica. The writer went with her family to Mexico in 1944, however, she had a bitter taste when her husband left her for another woman.

She remained active as a writer by publishing for the cultural magazine Hora de España and works such as Sombras y Sueños. Later she stopped writing for thirty-five years, until, in 1979, she published Vida o río. The poet died in Mexico on December 7, 1986 due to causes associated with old age.

Style

Concha Méndez's work presented some style changes in the three stages in which it was divided. Her initial work, between 1926 and 1930, was influenced by neop<2MASCULINE>ism, a literary form used by Rafael Alberti through a simple and precise language, on topics related to the modern.

As of 1932 his works adopted a more experiential character, sometimes his poetry was happy, and other times more serious and sad. The language used by Concha in that second stage remained simple, but loaded with more emotions and feelings, and with a longer metric.

Finally, the style of his final writing, as in the case of Christmas Carols, returned to the popular and traditional, with a simple and lively language, and the use of minor art verses. While Between dreaming and living, nostalgia, loneliness and longing were the main theme.

Theater

Regarding the literary style of Méndez Cuesta's plays, the language used was simple, precise and pedagogical, as it was aimed at a child audience. His primary objective was to teach values ​​to the little ones, hence he developed a short theater.

Concepción also tried to make the children understand about diversity in people, and the importance of tolerance in order to live together. So, to carry the message, in addition to the simplicity of the language, the good sense of humor, the joy, the colors, the sound and the description were present.

Plays

Poetry

First stage: 1926-1930

Excerpt from «Come, sadness!»

"Come, sadness, my sister, you come from myself

spawned from centuries, or perhaps millennia, come to shelter my hours, do not feel naked.

Come sculpt the essence of my dreams in bronze! ”.

Theater

- The Postman Angel (1929). It was structured in a single act, and took place at the Lyceum Club in Madrid.

- The foreboding character (1931).

- The deluded fish (1933). It was a comedy developed in one act.

- A star has run (1934).

- The coal and the rose (1935).

- Prologue to El Solitario. The Birth (1938).

- The lonely man. Love (1941). The lonely man. Loneliness (1945).

References

1. Concha Mendez. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Concepción Méndez Cuesta. (Sf). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
3. Bados, C. (2009). Intellectuals of the Silver Age (14). Concha Méndez and children's theater. Spain: Rinconete. Cervantes Virtual Center. Recovered from: cvc.cervantes.es.
4. Concha Mendez. (2018). (N / a): Literature Women. Recovered from: mujeresliteratas.wordpress.com.
5. Concha Mendez. (Sf). Spain: Cervantes Virtual. Recovered from: cervantesvirtual.com.