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

Romanesque and Freestanding Sculpture

Romanesque sculpture was intrinsically linked to architecture. Its primary purpose was not only decorative but also to indoctrinate a largely illiterate population. While religious themes predominated, sculptures also depicted fantastic animals, scenes of everyday life, and decorative floral, vegetal, and geometric motifs. This secular character was often found in the decoration of cloister capitals and interior spaces.

Architectural Integration and Key Examples

In Spain, the Cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos is particularly noteworthy. On cathedral portals, the tympanum typically features the Theophany or Christ in Majesty, accompanied by the Tetramorph. Surrounding this central space, the archivolts display... Continue reading "Romanesque and Freestanding Sculpture: Forms & Features" »

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" »

Mercè Rodoreda's Literary Psychology

Focus on Female Protagonists and Inner Worlds

Yes, Mercè Rodoreda's literary production indeed focuses intensely on the psychology of her characters. In her novels, she performs a thorough analysis of the thoughts and feelings of her female protagonists, primarily through the use of interior monologue.

Rodoreda often recreates the world of childhood, which symbolizes happiness, in stark contrast to the adult world of her protagonists, which frequently represents suffering. Her women are often marked by adverse circumstances, disappointment, pain, and loneliness.

Symbolism in Rodoreda's Novels

Her works are rich in symbolism, often linking stages of life to specific novels:

• Aloma: Represents youth, describing

Neoclassicism vs. Romanticism: A Comparison

Neoclassicism

• Defends the power of reason.
• Man participates in a collective project of progress.
• Generates vital optimism.
• Art seeks balance.
• Art and literature have a didactic function, promoting values.

Romanticism

• Defends feeling and subjectivity.
• Man reaffirms individuality and freedom.
• Contrast between ideal and reality creates pessimism and angst.
• Art seeks new forms of expression for human passions.
• Art has a subversive intent.

The Romantic Lyric

Key Themes

• Love: Idealized yet often tragic.
• Existence: Life is pure agony; the poet lives in a world that doesn't suit them, leading to sadness, loneliness, and suicide.
• Freedom: A fight against all rules and oppression, including the defense of patriotism as a territory

The Linguistic Sign

Signs are realities that we perceive through our senses and that signify something. They consist of:

• Signifier: The part of the sign that is perceptible to the senses and is associated in the mind with another reality (e.g., a red light).
• Signified: The concept or reality that the signifier evokes (e.g., the idea of 'do not cross').

Classes of Signs

• Signs created by humans to communicate. These signs are:
  • Conventional: They are the result of an agreement between users.
  • Encoded: They are used according to the rules of a code.
  • When signs bear a resemblance to the reality they represent, they are called icons. When they represent a social, religious, or cultural concept, they are called symbols.
• Symptoms or Indices: Signs that refer

Hermes with Infant Dionysus

Author: Praxiteles
Chronology: Fourth century BC (350–330 BC)
Style: Post-Classical Greek
Typology: Free-standing sculpture
Material: Original marble
Topic: Mythological
Location: The original location is unknown and the work is lost. There are several copies of human life. This one is a work in situ.

Laocoön and His Sons

Authors: Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus. (The sculpture was created by these three artists.)
Chronology: III–II century BC
Style: Hellenistic Greek (Second Classic, Post-Classical style)
Typology: Free-standing sculpture
Material: Original bronze (lost). Roman copy in marble.
Topic: Mythological
Location: Current: Vatican Museum. The original was found in Rome, in Nero's Domus Aurea.... Continue reading "Masterpieces of Classical Greek Sculpture: Canon and Contrapposto" »

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