Language and literature in traditional texts

 

Xaquín Lorenzo finds it surprising that the number of traditional poetic works that take these characteristic farming vehicles as a poetic object are so few. This Ourense-born scholar considers that the presence of carts as a subject in cántigas, sayings, proverbs, riddles and set phrases is not proportional to their importance in rural life, since those are the elements that convey the value system of a traditional society and its symbolic universe. However, maybe it was Xocas’ great passion for carts what made him feel that all the information he had thoroughly compiled in his life was insufficient

Following his publications, we have used a set of cántigas classified as we will see below, in which carts appear as a unifying element. We have also made use of some proverbs and phraseological expressions

This is not the time to discuss whether traditional songs should be considered as literature or not, or to give arguments for the dignification of traditional literary material transmitted orally. On previous occasions, we have already assumed the opinions that some other, more qualified, authors have expressed regarding this material.

Although it could be larger, the corpus we have used is basically the one gathered by Xaquín Lorenzo in his publications, especially in “O carro no folklore de Galicia” (2003), Sole Castro’s Galician version of the 1974 Spanish original, published by the Museo do Pobo Galego

The thematic classification made by Xaquín Lourenzo corresponds to an ethnographic or anthropological point of view, that is why he places the cántigas in the first place, and later the proverbs, riddles and set phrases, following an ideological order. Taking advantage of this system and also of the efficiency of his work, we have selected a group of songs classified according to his model. The aim of this section is to offer some reading, writing, reflection on grammar, vocabulary... activities based on those texts to upper secondary students, although they could also be used in lower levels.

The groups we have established are listed and described below:

The singing of the cart

Different activities based on fourteen pieces of writing that deal with the singing of the cart, that is, the sound that the axle makes when it revolves, due to its friction against the fixed pieces that support it: treitoiras and apeladoiras.

The axle is burning.

Some exercises about six cántigas and a cry that poeticize the fact that the friction causes the temperature of the pieces that are rubbed against each other to rise. Obviously what inspires these songs is the expression of the proportions in this equation:

friction/load = warming up/abundance, or, in other words, the bigger the load is, the higher the temperature of the axle -as it rises with friction-, which is equivalent to greater wealth or abundance.

Carts and wealth

We have included five cántigas about carts as a sign of wealth, not as much as an object in itself but as a means of transport needed for a more comfortable life.

Carts and love

Seven poems on this issue followed by some activities focussing on literary aspects.

Carts and the obscene

Three pieces of writing that try to provoke a comparison game with medieval satire of noble origin.

Carts spleen

A proposal around three cantigas about the idea of breaking up with reality, to a greater or lesser extent, in order to escape from everyday life

Carts as advisers

Based on six songs and some prose texts, we have introduced some points for reflection about the rural way of life in Galicia.

Carts and sayings

Our proposal here is to illustrate the proverbs we have chosen by means of some graphic design software. This work can be assigned to any level of secondary education