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10 oct 2007

The correct way to list Lorca in an index is

García Lorca, Federico

NOT

Lorca, Federico García

or WORSE YET

Lorca, García



Thank you,

Signed,

Guy who looks up "García Lorca" and "Lorca" in the index of every imaginable book for current research project.

5 comentarios:

  1. Amen. Now if only bookstores could get that right. . . .

    And, by the way, right-on on Belitt. "Quiero llorar. . . " is just so beautiful, it's a shame what happens to it.

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  2. i know. this used to drive me freaking batty when i worked at the bookstores. i'd insist on putting him in the right place (along with other Spanish and Chinese authors, etc.) , and then nobody could find them, so we'd HAVE to put them back wrong. sigh. (not the case at b&n where i was not allowed to change them because then even the employees couldn't find anything.)

    i think even the reference book entries i did for "contemporary authors" (gale publishers) were edited to be wrong with the same reasoning! i'd have to check again to be sure. was about a dozen yrs ago.

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  3. But, Jonathan, I've often wondered why on this blog you refer to the man as "Lorca" rather than "Garcia Lorca" (e.g, "the correct way to list Lorca"). I didn't want to seem trivial so I never asked.

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  4. Lorca is known as "Lorca" in the Spanish speaking world. You can say "García Lorca" too. If you use the first name you have to put in the complete name

    Federico García Lorca

    not

    *Federico Lorca

    García is like "Smith." It is the most common surname in Spain--hence not too distinctive. Lorca is very uncommon. Thus the emphasis shifts to the maternal surname. The same thing happens with Pérez Galdós who is known as "Galdós" rather than "Pérez."

    So in these cases the actual accepted usage in the Hispanic world mirrors the "incorrect" treatment of the name by the English speaker. Very confusing.

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  5. Yes, very cofusing...bur very interesting. Thanks.

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