Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Arts and Humanities

The Avant-Garde Movements in Art and Literature

The word avant-garde refers to a set of artistic and literary movements that took place in Europe and America during the first third of the twentieth century. The common denominator of the avant-garde is a break not only with the prior art and literature but with all of the Western aesthetic tradition. The avant-garde emerged in a climate of dissatisfaction with the present at all levels (political, social, economic, artistic...), which became acute after the atrocities of the First World War.

Although the various avant-garde movements have specific traits, they share some characteristics:

• Antirealism. As a result of their disagreement with reality, the authors break with the idea of art and literature

Lope de Vega's Poetic and Theatrical Legacy

Lope de Vega wrote countless poems. He wrote popular-type compositions (ballads, carols) and engaged in nature worship (sonnets, especially). Vega's poetry is, in general, vital, spontaneous, and simple. The theater was the most innovative and successful genre in the seventeenth century. The tastes and demands of the public prompted Lope to renovate the Spanish theater of the time. In his "New Art of Making Comedies," he established the patterns of New Comedy:

• A mixture of the tragic and the comic in the same work: This mixture provided greater variety and animation to the work.
• Rupture of the rule of three unities: Humanists had decided that a play should be confined to a single action (unity of action)

Narrative Texts

Narrative texts use a transmitter to tell real or fictional events. They are usually accompanied by dialogue and description. The structure typically includes:

• Initial situation
• Conflict
• Resolution or denouement

In a narrative text, we must analyze:

• Prevalence of the referential function
• Use of past tense or present, according to the narrator's point of view
• Use of verbs introduced in the dialogues
• Use of simple, compound, and juxtaposed sentences
• Use of adverbs or adverbial phrases

Classification of Adverbs

• Of place: here, there, far, inside, outside, close, behind, ahead, around
• Of time: today, yesterday, tomorrow, now, last night, yet, soon, after, then, still
• Of manner: well, badly, good, better, fairly, fast, slowly, and those ending

Descartes: Innate Ideas and Certainty

Understanding Innate Ideas and Nativism

Innate ideas are concepts understood a priori, without requiring empirical demonstration. The mind possesses these ideas inherently. According to Descartes, all innate ideas are clear and distinct. The famous Cogito ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am) is considered an innate idea.

The existence of innate ideas is a fundamental assertion of Rationalism. One of its core tenets is that certain ideas and principles are innate to the understanding, possessed independently of any sensory experience. This concept is known as Nativism: the belief that there are innate ideas, inherent to the understanding, which are not derived from generalizations of sensory experience.

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Kinship and Family

Defining Family

Family: A group of people directly linked by kinship ties, where adult members take responsibility for childcare. Kinship ties are established through marriage or genealogical lines, connecting individuals within a family. Marriage: A socially recognized and approved union between two adults. Marriage creates kinship between individuals and their families.

Family Structures

Nuclear Family: Two adults in a relationship living together with their children (biological or adopted).

Monogamy/Polygyny: The practice of one person being married to one or multiple spouses.

Unilineal Descent: Kinship traced through one parent (father or mother).

Cognatic Affiliation: Kinship traced through both parents. Bilateral cognatic... Continue reading "Kinship and Family Structures: A Sociological and Anthropological Perspective" »

Poetic Dimension in The House of Bernarda Alba

Lorca defines theater as poetry that rises from the book and becomes human. This introduces the multi-layered nature of The House of Bernarda Alba. The work transcends realism; while the action is plausible, characters, space, and situations are viewed poetically. Metaphors enrich dialogues, and the interplay between realism and symbolism poeticizes reality. Lorca's poetic language is integral to the characters' interactions.

Colloquial expressions with poetic undertones and realistic details, prominent in the first act, gradually diminish. By Act Three, poetic elements like the starry night or the old woman with a lamb emerge. This contrasts with the realism of the first act, such as the maid eating... Continue reading "Symbolism and Social Conflict in The House of Bernarda Alba" »

Renaissance Art

Context and Origins

The Renaissance is characterized as a rebirth of classical antiquity, originating in Italy during the fifteenth century. Unlike other parts of Europe, Italy did not fully embrace medieval art; classicism was always present. The Renaissance is an Italian art movement that stretched across Europe.

While primarily Italian, the movement influenced other regions. For example, in Flanders during the fifteenth century, a distinct school arose, exemplified by artists like Van Eyck.

Key Characteristics

Linked to cultural Humanism, the Renaissance brought a new idea: anthropocentrism versus theocentrism. It recovered classical culture, shifting focus from purely church-centric thought.

Economic and Political Factors

Economically,... Continue reading "Renaissance, Romanesque, and Gothic Art Styles" »

Narrative Texts: Events in Time and Space

These texts recount events within a specific time and space.

Elements of Narrative

• Narrator: First-person (hero or witness) or third-person (omniscient narrator).
• Narration: The structure can be linear (presentation, middle, end), circular, in media res (starts without introduction), or parallel (presents multiple stories simultaneously).
• Characters: Marked by physical, psychological, and social features.
• Space and Time: Can be internal or external, real or fictional. Two types of time are distinguished:
  • Historical or External: Refers to the time or era in which the action unfolds.
  • Narrative or Internal: Refers to the duration of the story.

Language in Narrative

• Lexical Features: Prevalence of verbs, including

Narrative Genre

The narrative genre is a literary genre that represents real or fictional characters in a specific place and time.

Structure of a Narrative

• Exposition: Beginning of the story, presentation of the characters, and the time-space situation.
• Rising Action/Knot: The conflict unfolds.
• Climax: The most intense moment of the conflict.
• Falling Action/Dénouement: Resolution of the conflict.
• Resolution: End of the story.

Narrative Perspective

• First-person narrator: The narrator is one of the characters in the story, often the protagonist, and uses the first person ("I," "we").
• Third-person narrator:
  • Omniscient: The narrator knows everything about all the characters and events.
  • Limited: The narrator is a witness, telling what happens without revealing

Benito Pérez Galdós

Galdós' novelistic production is a reflection of the society of his time. Galdós' novels are notable for their characterizations and the integration of everyday life into the historical events of the time. The author combines various narrative techniques: the omniscient narrator, direct dialogue, and monologue. The language is consistent with the character.

National Episodes

They are demonstrations of 19th-century historical events treated from the standpoint of anonymous individuals. Examples include Trafalgar and The Battle of Arapiles.

Novels of the First Period

The first novels of Galdós, such as Doña Perfecta and Gloria, are called thesis novels because they are subject to the author's ideology: they contrast characters... Continue reading "Benito Pérez Galdós & Leopoldo Alas Clarín: Spanish Literary Masters" »