"Life is but a detail here": The rural world, nature and peasantry in Miguel Hernández's poetry

Abstract

The rural, the peasantry, the agricultural work in constant proximity to a nature that is loved, feared and respected are key in Miguel Hernández’s poetry. His work has been widely studied, from a biographical perspective, regarding his rural and humble origins; however, it has not been approached from a proper consideration of the historical and material reality of the rural world. From the approaches of rural sociology, agroecology and the radical historicity of literature, this article attempts to shed light on some unsolved aspects of the poetic work of Hernández, considering that his conception of nature, work, desire and revolution are imbricated in the conceptions of a peasantry inscribed in the longue durée, the Romantic split of the subject with nature and the need to overcome the contradictions of modern society. On this basis, we see the importance of the peasantry in Hernández's ideological configuration and in his poetological and political approaches. Hernández can be considered as a genuine peasant voice as well as a modern one. This is not only a matter of thematic importance but also of the productive logic of his poetry. The writer approaches the poetic task as the peasant: making an effort of production which is not the abstract labour of capital but the constant productive and reproductive task of the human body in symbiotic relationship with the natural and social world. From this perspective, this paper aims to show the potential interest of an ecocritical approach to his poetry.