Rosalia de Castro and Galician Migrants: The Construction of a Diaspora Myth

The poetic and narrative works of Rosalia de Castro became the most influential literary mirrors for shaping the collective image of Galicia in the late nineteenth century. Galician mass migration was one of the topics extensively treated by this author. Here, we narrow our focus to the dynamic interaction between Rosalia de Castro and Galician migrants in the Americas, the reception and influence of her writings among them, and the nature of this exchange. From the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Galician migrant communities elaborated what may be labelled the 'Rosalian myth', which became a good example of transnational circulation of a shared symbol that, moreover, sustained an emerging diasporic community.