The Poetics of Otherness in Antonio Machado's 'proverbios Y Cantares'

“This handsome, hardback tome, with its most appropriate and sumptuous front cover depicting Rubens' Cain Slaying Abel sets matters right [on Machado's 'Proverbios y cantares'] . . . This splendid book . . . shows that the finite inquiry into the works of Antonio Machado is far from being exhausted. This text is a serious and welcome contribution to that process.”
(Philip G. Johnston, University College Dublin)

“Fernández-Medina's thorough and well-researched study places the spotlight on a largely unexplored facet and corpus of Antonio Machado's poetic production, namely his shorter, more proverbial texts . . . [The Poetics of Otherness] will surely be an excellent resource for students and scholars of Spanish literature as well as those interested in gaining a thorough understanding of the philosophical, intellectual and social climate in which Machado wrote his poetry.”
(Paul H. Cahill, Pomona College)

“En la copiosísima bibliografía sobre la obra de Antonio Machado, ‘Proverbios y cantares’ es, con diferencia, la parte menos estudiada. De ahí que el presente estudio sea una contribución que se suma a los escasos trabajos, algunos recientes. . . con el propósito de corregir esta laguna. . . Acierta [Fernández-Medina] en aproximarse a los 'Proverbios y cantares' interesándose por el problema del otro.”
(Reyes Vila-Belda, Indiana University)

“In this essential and illuminating book on Antonio Machado’s “Proverbios y cantares,” Nicolás Fernández-Medina provides us with an in-depth and systematic study of what has been, with a few notable exceptions, a poorly understood corpus of the poet's creative and meditative work . . . Fernández-Medina provides a deeper understanding of important recurring themes in the poet’s work: solipsism, how to know the self and the ‘real’ Other, the problematic search for God, skepticism in the face of absolutes. This densely rich study is contextualized as well with reference to Machado’s formative years . . . all leading to the transition from an early symbolist and modernista sensibility. Of particular interest, at the end of this splendid contribution to Machado studies, is to learn the degree to which Machado’s exploration of the experience of otherness anticipated some of the major philosophical discoveries of the twentieth century.”
(Michael Predmore, Stanford University)

“El combinar la precisión del objeto con la amplitud del marco es uno de los principales méritos de este trabajo, y hace recomendable su lectura para quienquiera que se interese no solamente por Machado, su poesía y su poética, sino también por el problemático ajuste de la cultura española a la Modernidad occidental . . . [Q]uien tenga un interés general por la poética de Machado y por las relaciones entre la poesía, el pensamiento, y la historia contemporánea, encontrará en The Poetics of Otherness de Fernández-Medina una valiosa introducción plena de orientaciones y estímulos.”
(Luis Galván, Universidad de Navarra)