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

Medieval Spanish and Provençal Poetic Traditions

Characteristics of Learned Poetry (Poesía Culta)

Learned poetry is an individual work of known authorship. Its source of inspiration is knowledge and writing. It can be sung and has two modes: lyrical and narrative.

Provençal Lyric: The Troubadours

The Provençal Lyric was the first current of cultivated poetry to develop in Western Europe, exerting a decisive influence on subsequent literary manifestations. It was collected in over a hundred songbooks where musical notations are preserved.

• Language: Romance language.
• Period: 12th and 13th centuries.
• Authors: Known poets called troubadours.
• Main Theme: Courtly love.
• Context: Flourished within feudal society, originating in the court.

Cancionero Poetry

Juan Ramón Jiménez: A Poetic Journey

Juan Ramón Jiménez was a pivotal figure whose characteristics served as a liaison between the previous generation (Symbolist and Modernist) and the Generation of '27.

His personality was egocentric, tender, melancholy, and prone to breakdowns. These traits led him to seek solitude, reflection, and a quiet life, yet he simultaneously developed intense social and cultural activities.

He always knew his destiny was linked to the pursuit of beauty and knowledge through his work, which he dedicated exclusively to this endeavor. His body of work, a collection of poetry, he called "My Work."

Jiménez was aware that poetry, by using language heavy with dense conceptual and hermetic elements, was addressed to a select...

Lírica from 1939 to 1970

1. Generation of 1936

Poets emerged during the Spanish Civil War, which divided writers into two camps:

• Magazine Escorial and Garcilaso: Mostly right-wing Falangist poets. They aimed for a "human" poem, though some leaned toward neoclassicism. Notable figures include Ridruejo, Rosales, and José García Nieto.
• Magazine Proel, Espadaña, and Cántico: Proclaimed a social poem. Notable existentialist figures include Eugenio de Nora, Vittorio Ocampo, and José Luis Hidalgo.

2. Social Poetry

This movement focused on poetry written with urgency to raise awareness of social problems, injustice, and rebellion against oppression. The most outstanding representatives are Blas de Otero and Gabriel Celaya.

3. Aesthetic and Marginal

Narrative Texts

Narrative is the telling of real or imagined events that happen to characters in a specific place and time. In every narrative, there is a story (the series of events that have occurred in reality or in the fiction we imagine) and a discourse (which is the expression of those facts, with order and structure).

Elements of Narrative

• Author: The real person who writes the story.
• Narrator:
  • Third-person: Tells what happens to others.
    • Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything, even the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
    • Absent Narrator: Only accounts for the most visible or external aspects.
  • First-person: Can tell what happened to them as the protagonist of an autobiography (e.g., Lazarillo de Tormes).
  • Witness Narrator: Tells what they

Themes in Renaissance Poetry

The treatment of subjects focuses on love and the Platonic woman, where idealized beauty is showcased to its maximum potential.

Nature serves as the ideal framework, acting as a haven of peace and quietness where love is developed.

Ancient mythology is frequently utilized, drawing upon mythological stories as examples to transmit profound experiences.

Literary Expressions and Concepts

• Carpe diem: Living in the moment.
• Locus amoenus: A pleasant place; a landscape suitable for love and serenity.
• Beatus ille: The happiness of those who appreciate a quiet life.
• Golden mean: Finding pleasure and satisfaction in the simple, everyday things we possess.
• Descriptio puellae: A structured description of the beloved.

Style and Metrics

Renaissance...

Lazarillo de Tormes inaugurates a new literary subgenre: the picaresque novel. It takes the form of a pseudo-autobiographical story. The protagonist, of miserable origins, abandons his family environment and serves several masters. The main character has a picaresque character (astute, prudent, suspicious) and a strong desire to prosper. The story aims to explain a final state of dishonor.

Date and Authorship

The first editions kept are dated 1554, and all manuscripts are missing. No author is listed.

Literary Sources

• The Golden Ass, where the work of Apuleius influences the nature of the main character.
• Boy with Many Masters, a fourth book about the brave knight Rinaldo de Montalban, influences the autobiographical narrative process.
• Carat Loves

Literary Terms Defined

Poem

Poem: the textual unit.

Verse

Verse: the unit of measure, rhythm, and rhyme.

Measure

Measure: takes into account the number of syllables.

Rhyme

Rhyme: the final sound matching two or more verses from the last vowel.

Rhythm

Rhythm: the right combination of stressed and unstressed syllables within the verse, which imparts musicality.

Stanza

Stanza: the unit formed by the combination of verses with no predetermined measure and a particular rhyme. Often lyrical.

Eglogue

Eglogue: contains the expression of the feeling of love put into the mouth of shepherds in the middle of idealized nature.

Elegy

Elegy: expresses the pain of death.

Ode

Ode: expresses feelings like love or sadness in many different shades.

Satire

Satire: censorship or critique,...

Spanish Theater Before 1939

Introduction: Theater in Spain before 1939 was largely aimed at commercial purposes, primarily guided by the tastes of entrepreneurs, the aristocracy, and the bourgeoisie. This mainstream theater often showed strong resistance to innovation. Two main trends can be distinguished during this period:

Mainstream Commercial Theater

This was the dominant theatrical form, often following conventions established in the second half of the 19th century. Key aspects included:

• Bourgeois Comedy: Its subject matter typically focused on the societal norms, customs, and vices of the middle and upper classes.
• Historical-Poetic Theater in Verse: This genre often praised noble ideas, patriotism, and significant figures or events from Spanish

Isabel II of Spain: Reign and Personal Life (1830–1904)

During the early years of her reign, while Isabel was a girl, the regency was assumed by her mother, María Cristina, until Isabel was declared of age in 1843. In 1846, when she was 16 years old, the government arranged a marriage with her cousin, the Infante Don Francisco de Borbón, Duke of Cádiz.

Isabel II reportedly disliked her husband. She was associated with various relationships, which some authors attribute to her bisexuality. In the course of their marriage, the Queen gave birth to several children, including:

• Fernando de Borbón y Borbón
• Isabel de Borbón y Borbón (La Chata)
• María Cristina
• Alfonso (later Alfonso XII)
• María Pilar
• María de la Paz
• Francisco
• María Eulalia

Isabel II...

Roman Entertainment Structures

Amphitheaters

Battles between gladiators and animals were held, as were naumachiae (simulated naval battles). They had an elliptical plan. In the center stood the arena, covered in sand, where the pit was located. The amphitheater in Pompeii is the most ancient. Other examples include those in Tarragona, Mérida, and Italica in Spain, and those in Arles and Nîmes in France. In Rome, the Flavian Amphitheater, known as the "Colosseum," is the most famous.

Circuses

Buildings for chariot races. They had a long and narrow plan, with the spina (central barrier) in the middle. The cavea (seating area) was theater-like, surrounding the arena. The most important was the Circus Maximus in Rome, built during the time of Caesar....