Blanco White and Cernuda, Exile and Anglophilia

Abstract

.

This article proposes a brief analysis of the convergences and divergences between the Anglophilia of two exiles from Seville: José María Blanco White (1775–1841) and Luis Cernuda (1902–1963). Blanco White embraced England and to some extent rejected Spain and his Spanishness. Cernuda was also a severe critic of his country, but this did not lead him to any idealization of a foreign culture from which he essentially took what he needed. Despite their diverse experiences of England, there are also some striking similarities in terms of the nature of their Anglophilia and their reasons for at least partially rejecting their own culture. According to Juan Goytisolo, the coincidence between Blanco White and Cernuda is ‘amazing’, and this study seeks to delve deeper and ascertain to what extent Goytisolo’s assertion is justified by what they wrote about England and English literature during their respective exiles.