Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Latin for Baccalaureate

Narcís Oller (Barcelona, 1846–1930)

He is considered the creator of the modern Catalan novel. He began writing in Spanish, but his commitment to realism and contemporary social relations led him to adopt Catalan. Oller was the author who put naturalist techniques into practice.

Major Novels by Narcís Oller

The public and critical success encouraged him to continue developing realism and naturalism. The best of his six novels are:

• La Papallona (The Butterfly): Tonet, a poor orphan girl, is seduced and abandoned by a "butterfly" of a higher social class, but they finally get married. The plot is romantic, but the thorough descriptions place it between realism and naturalism.
• L'Escanyapobres (The Miser): The protagonist's passion for money brings

Latin American Novels: The Second Half of the 20th Century

Stage 1 (1940–1945): The Survival of Realism

The Latin American novel from 1940 to 1945 is characterized by an aesthetic that is fundamentally realistic, occasionally romantic, or modern. There is a significant thematic renewal, featuring:

• The Jungle Novel: Describing untamed nature.
• The Political Novel: Including the novel of the Mexican Revolution and the "dictator novel."
• The Social Novel.

Key works from this period include Doña Bárbara by Rómulo Gallegos and The Vortex (La Vorágine) by J.E. Rivera.

Stage 2 (1945–1960): Bridging Realism to Magical Realism

Formal attempts at renovation began due to fatigue with traditional realism. Reality and wonder became intimately linked through...

Miguel de Unamuno

Miguel de Unamuno was born in Bilbao in 1864.

Work

Unamuno's work spans culture, poetry, plays, novels, and essays. His writings maintain continuity through the repetition of certain themes and a personal style.

Topics

• Early works reveal a juvenile stage dominated by concerns about regeneration and evolution.
• Later works transition toward existential and religious themes, reflecting maturity.

Style

His style is characterized by expressiveness, passion, vividness, and directness, often incorporating exclamations.

Theater

Unamuno's philosophical theater recalls classical tragedy. It directly addresses the existential issues that obsessed him.

Lyric Poetry

Two broad themes dominate his poetry:

• His reaction to scenery
• His existential and religious

20th Century Latin American Novels

Modernism in Latin American novels of the twentieth century evolved from the beginning of the century, with various currents that approached the American experience. Notable works include Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo Güiraldes and Doña Bárbara by Rómulo Gallegos.

The Social Novel

The social novel depicts social conflict within Latin American countries, particularly highlighting the Mexican Revolution.

The Indianist Social Novel

The Indianist social novel focuses on the problems of indigenous peoples and mestizos, who constituted the majority of the population in some areas and suffered oppression and exploitation. An example is Huasipungo by Jorge Icaza, characterized by its realistic and naturalistic style....

Authorship and Editions of La Celestina

Text and Authorship: The work, often referred to simply as La Celestina, appeared in two main editions:

• Comedy of Calisto and Melibea (Toledo, 1500). The author of the first act remains anonymous, but the subsequent 15 acts were written by Fernando Rojas (identified via acrostics).
• Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea (Zaragoza, 1507). This edition includes the Treaty of Centurio and expands the work.

Genre and Literary Context

The genre is Dramatic, conveyed entirely through dialogue. It was inspired by the Italian humanistic comedy of the 14th and 15th centuries.

Humanistic Traits in La Celestina

• Focus on reality: large and mobile representation of life.
• Simple, everyday plot development.
• Interest primarily in

Spanish Poetry: Early 20th Century (Until 1939)

Spanish poetry in the first half of the twentieth century emerged from the Modernist movement and the Generation of '98. The century saw the rise of distinct literary trends: Novecentismo, the Avant-Garde movements, and the Generation of '27.

Modernism

Modernist poets rejected the bourgeois and materialistic world, championing art for art's sake, the worship of beauty, and a preciously refined language. Their favored subjects included:

• Escapes to exotic worlds or past eras
• Cosmopolitanism
• Indigenismo (Indigenous affairs)
• The aristocratic and refined world
• Sensuality and its intimate expression, often through a languid sadness

Their style was refined, renewing poetic language to impress all the senses....

Introduction

Spanish literature production during the Civil War was scarce and tended to serve the interests of each side. These works were often urgent and of poor quality. The conflict caused a deep cut with the earlier tradition. After the war, Spanish intellectuals like Pérez de Ayala, Jarnés, and Francisco Ayala Sender, who supported the Republic, were forced into exile or faced death.

Young novelists at the beginning of the 1940s found themselves in a depleted atmosphere. Censorship was imposed not only on young artists but also on any work, past or present, that opposed the regime's ideals.

This period also includes the production of exiled writers after the war, with their reflections on Spain, the Civil War, and its aftermath.

Some notable...

Vicent Andrés Estellés: Voice of Valencia

Vicent Andrés Estellés, a progressive nationalist and self-taught literary figure, worked as a journalist in the provinces. He ignited renewed Valencian poetry and, despite a lack of modern tradition, produced a very extensive body of work.

He is considered the poet who best represents the Valencian country in recent years, as he writes about all elements that define Valencian identity. His poetry speaks of everyday reality with great sincerity, conveying feelings such as love, fear, hunger, and death.

His works particularly address the misery of war, political oppression, and the moral anxiety stemming from the monotony of human existence. Estellés is the voice of the people, bearing witness to all...

Antonio Machado (1875-1939)

Machado belonged to a liberal family. At eight years old, he traveled to Madrid to study at the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. In 1899, he traveled to France where he met Rubén Darío. In 1907, he became a French professor in Soria. He married Leonor in 1910 and they traveled to France. Leonor died in 1912, making Machado's poetry more pessimistic. He spoke of Castile as a reflection of Leonor. His family advised him to return to Spain, but he soon returned to Segovia and later to Madrid. During the Civil War, he was persecuted and decided to take a boat to France, where he died in 1939. Some authors describe him as a modernist poet, while others place him in the Generation of '98 due to shared themes and attitudes....

Galician Theater: Late 20th and Early 21st Century

The death of Franco in 1975 and the arrival of democracy brought a series of legislative changes, establishing administrative structures, rights, and fundamental freedoms, also affecting the language. Three basic texts were key: the Constitution (1978), the Statute of Autonomy (1981), and the Law of Linguistic Normalization (1983).

This period also saw significant social transformations due to integration with the EU, including improved food and health, leading to an aging population and economic development. This decreased the impact of emigration and led to immigration as a social factor. Language was normalized through institutional campaigns, the influence of RTVG, and a major boost in publishing,...