Francisco Fernández del Riego, Álvaro Cunqueiro and Ricardo Carballo Calero as a network

Abstract

The analysis of several letters through which Del Riego kept in touch with several Galician friends during the period following the Spanish Civil War (including, but not limited to, Cunqueiro and Carballo Calero) reveals some unique characteristics of the collaborative networks of cultural Galicianism. Intergenerational in nature, supported by friendly bonds and built on the basis of the principles of discipline and loyalty, the aforementioned networks highlight the members’ assumption of the roles that each one was assigned in the group; in the case of Del Riego, the correspondence confirms his versatility and also how he undertook the executive leadership of the Galaxia project. Finally, an aspect of no lesser interest in these corpuses lies in the perspective they provide for us on the construction of emotional bonds and the masculine expression of emotions and feelings at the time.

This work therefore highlights the usefulness of collected letters as operational documentary collections far beyond private and two-way dynamics. In addition, in the cases analysed here, the structural functionality of such correspondence is demonstrated in the construction of a rhizomatic network of relationships that enabled the development of a vibrant and diverse Galician culture in the period following the Spanish Civil War, in which Del Riego played a crucial role.