Jaime Gil de Biedma
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Jaime Gil de Biedma y Alba (13 November 1929 – 8 January 1990) was a
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
post-
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
poet. He was born in
Nava de la Asunción Nava de la Asunción is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research ce ...
on 13 November 1929. He stopped writing poetry some ten years before his death. He insisted that the character he had invented, the ''poet'' Jaime Gil de Biedma, as opposed to the respectable bourgeois businessman of the same name, had nothing left to say and he refused to go on playing the role of a poet in
literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...
. He died on 8 January 1990 of complications due to AIDS.''Jaime Gil de Biedma, veinte años después''
from ''www.diariodejerez.es'' 15 January 2010


English influence

Among his readers, he is considered one of the most consummate
Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...
s in the field of contemporary
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literature. This Anglophilia was initiated when he first read T. S. Eliot's ''
Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a f ...
'' (translated in 1952). He was also a considerable
Francophile A Francophile, also known as Gallophile, is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, French history, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, language, cuisin ...
as befitted a young Spaniard of his elevated social class, bearing in mind that Spanish society had always been notoriously 'afrancesada' until well into the 20th century. This state of affairs begin to change under the influence of poets like Gil de Biedma and
Luis Cernuda Luis Cernuda Bidón (September 21, 1902 – November 5, 1963) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. During the Spanish Civil War, in early 1938, he went to the UK to deliver some lectures and this became the start of an exile t ...
. His lifelong adherence to and assimilation of Anglo-American culture was consolidated by his studies in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1953 where he read T. S. Eliot for the first time in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
(along with
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
and
Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...
), thus beginning a lifelong fascination with the work of the
Anglo-America Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact."Anglo-America", vol. 1, Micro ...
n poet. Moreover, the long periods spent in the largely
Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
circles of
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would also contribute to his Anglophile literary sensibility and on numerous occasions he would declare
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to be his 'segunda patria', his second country, and would also say that he was 'in great measure, a product of the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition. Even though, also shows conscious relations with Spanish and French tradition.


Generation of '50

Poetically, Gil de Biedma belongs to the group of poets known as the "Generation of '50", a loose term referring to poets who come from the cultivated social realism in the wake of the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. While earlier post-war poets focus strongly on social issues and lack attention to the poem itself, poets from Generation of '50 as Gil de Biedma, Ángel González, José Ángel Valente or Francisco Brines, while still concerned with
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...
or class struggle, are aware about the literary character of their work. They all introduced in Spain, partly because of the late Cernuda's influence, what Langbaum called poetry of experience', the main poetic trend in Spain from the 1980s. In their writings from 1950 to 1970, at least, they all tried to rearrange intellectually immediate experience, by the means of a fictional-self.


Common topics

In his early poems, he displays a strong criticism of Spanish dictatorship, titling his first important publication ''Compañeros de viaje'', after a Trotskyist expression for Communist sympathizers. Gil de Biedma was known for his hard-partying ways and his unrepentant social life, and addressed the schism between public and private personae in several famous poems, arguably the most well-known being 'Contra Jaime Gil de Biedma' ('Against Jaime Gil de Biedma') or 'Después de la muerte de Jaime Gil de Biedma' ('After the death of Jaime Gil de Biedma'). Along with Francisco Brines, he helped to reinvigorate homoerotic topics on poetry, probably inspired by the exiled
Luis Cernuda Luis Cernuda Bidón (September 21, 1902 – November 5, 1963) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. During the Spanish Civil War, in early 1938, he went to the UK to deliver some lectures and this became the start of an exile t ...
.


Homosexuality

As a homosexual in a strongly conservative environment, Jaime Gil de Biedma was forced to lead a double life for most of his life, and he suffered discrimination and even blackmail at different times. He was rejected for membership of the then-illegal
Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...
, allegedly because
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
's dictatorship could use his sexuality to threaten him if he were discovered to be a communist. Living in Franco's Spain, being part of a conservative family and holding an important position in the
Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas The , S.A. (''General Tobacco Company of the Philippines'', abbreviated CdF), also known as the , was a Spanish multinational joint-stock company, one of the world's most important enterprises in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the P ...
, Gil de Biedma smartly played a two-faced game: in the eyes of his family and the general public, he was a discreet and respectable executive, while, in the company of close friends and peers, he was openly gay, quick-witted and with a sharp tongue. In many ways, his poetry was a reflection of this duality, for while it very directly address themes of love, sex and the routine of romance, the gender of the loved one is never disclosed. Referring to Gil de Biedma's poetry as "gay poetry" is a gross misconception. Even at the end of his life, he was adamant about keeping it neutral: in the late 80s, a journalist contacted Gil de Biedma to let him know he was doing an analysis of his poetry from the point of view of gay literature. Learning this, Gil de Biedma was terribly distressed and went to great lengths to make sure the journalist didn't go through with his plans.


Personal life

Gil de Biedma's niece is the liberal conservative politician Esperanza Aguirre Gil de Biedma, former president of the
Autonomous Community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
of
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
and one of the main policy-makers in the Partido Popular, Spain's most important liberal-conservative party.


Bibliography

* Versos a Carlos Barral (1952) * Segun sentencia del tiempo (1953) * Compañeros de viaje (1959) * Moralidades (1966) * Poemas póstumos (1969) * Las personas del verbo (Complete Poetry -1982) * Longing: Selected Poems (1993)


Critical studies of Biedma

* Andreas Dorschel, 'Ich bin das Gedicht. Eine Entdeckung: Der Lyriker Jaime Gil de Biedma', in: '' Süddeutsche Zeitung'' Nr. 158 (12 July 2001), p. 16 (in German) * Carole Viñals, ''Jaime Gil de Biedma: une poésie violemment vivante'', Paris: L'Harmattan 2009. (in French)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gil de Biedma, Jaime 1929 births 1990 deaths 20th-century English poets Poets from Catalonia Spanish LGBT poets Spanish gay writers 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century English male writers English male poets AIDS-related deaths in Spain University of Salamanca alumni University of Barcelona alumni LGBT history in Spain 20th-century LGBT people