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

Novel in Exile and its Aftermath

The memory of Spain and its consequences, the causes and effects of the war, and references to the places and countries where living conditions are frequent issues for all authors who experienced exile. Among the exiled writers, whose books were long banned by censors, are some of the most important novelists of the postwar period.

• Ramón J. Sender: Chronicles of Dawn
• Rosa Chacel: District of Wonder
• Max Aub: The Magic Labyrinth
• Francisco Ayala: (not set)

1940s: Existentialism and Sentimentalism

The existential novel emerged, with published novels that, although triumphant, included the war from the perspective of the victors. There were also sentimental novels, very far from the prevailing desolation, anguish, and...

Joan Alcover: Classicism and Serenity

Key characteristics:

• Return to classicism and formal rigor.
• Exaltation of the local landscape (Mallorca).
• Search for the roots of the Greco-Latin national tradition.
• Perfection of cultured and refined language.
• Projection of a tranquil, tension-free rural life.
• Subjectivism and intimacy.
• Dispensing with false poetic exercises.
• A desire to achieve serenity and harmony in the expression of imbalance.

Miquel Costa i Llobera: Six Poetic Stages

Costa i Llobera (Cill) experienced six distinct poetic stages:

1. Romanticism (Early): Writing away from known models. First contact with M. Aguiló (1873). Adopts Catalan (1875). Moves to Madrid, begins long periods of depression. 1877: abandons studies and returns to Mallorca, influenced

Ausias Marc: Life and Legacy

Author's Biography

Born in Valencia (VLC), into an aristocratic family, Ausias Marc participated in naval campaigns under Alfonso the Magnanimous, who later made him his chief falconer.

He married Isabel Martorell (sister of Joanot Martorell), who died shortly after. He subsequently married Joana Escorna, who also died. He had no children from these marriages but recognized four illegitimate children in his testament.

Poetic Works

We preserve 128 poems written between 1425 and 1459, though some poems are of uncertain authorship. Among his work, the following are highlighted:

• Love Songs
• Spiritual Songs
• Songs of Death

The love songs are grouped into cycles, often using a senyal (signal) that conceals the name of the beloved....

Cervantes and the Evolution of Spanish Theater

In the era of Miguel de Cervantes, the rules of theater were strictly Aristotelian, requiring a single plot (trama argumental), a single scenario, and a single space of time. Cervantes wrote a group of works following these rules, but they did not achieve much success. Lope de Vega, however, broke these rules and created new works that gained immense popularity. Cervantes eventually accepted these new forms and produced new works, though he never reached the same level of success as Lope. During this time, entremeses (starters) emerged—shorter works featuring realistic characters and popular themes. Cervantes' most famous contribution to this genre was "El retablo de las maravillas" (The Show...

Ramon del Valle-Inclan: Biography

Born in Vilanova de Arousa, Pontevedra, in 1866 into a Galician family, Ramon del Valle-Inclan studied law before traveling to Madrid to seek his fortune. After his initial attempts failed, he moved to Mexico, where he observed singular aspects of life. His rebellious nature often led to disputes, one of which resulted in the loss of his left arm. A progressive thinker, he eventually joined the Carlist ranks, though he later opposed the party's favorable stance toward Germany during World War I. He was also a vocal opponent of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship. He died in Galicia in 1936.

His Literary Work

Valle-Inclan was a novelist, poet, essayist, playwright, and theorist, standing as one of the most notable...

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Masterpieces

Michelangelo's most famous work is the Sistine Chapel ceiling, created between 1508 and 1512. To optically raise the ceiling, he imagined an integrated architecture of grand pilasters; between them were false niches accommodating figures of sibyls and prophets. Along the perimeter, he painted the ancestors of the Savior, then partitioned the rectangular space into nine sections in the center, which tell the story of the Creation and the Fall of Man as given in Genesis.

The Last Judgment and Late Works

A quarter century later, the epilogue concluded with The Last Judgment. In the center, a young Christ in the attitude of a judge divides the composition into two halves. To the right, the elect rise...

Pedro Salinas

Poetry is a way to get to the essence of things and life experiences.

Topics

• Love: finding the central facts of existence.
• Desire for understanding and knowledge.

Style

• Contrast.
• Importance of the rhythm of dialogue and action.
• Short verse.

Stages

1. Influence of pure poetry, Creationism, and Futurism.
2. Covers the trilogy of love: La voz a ti debida, Razón de amor, and Largo lamento, which form a song of love.
3. Developed in exile.

Works

• Presagios
• Seguro azar
• La voz a ti debida
• Razón de amor
• Largo lamento

Jorge Guillén

His work is a rigorous poetic selection process which suppresses the accessory to communicate the essential idea or feeling. He grouped his poetry until 1968 under the title Aire nuestro, including Cántico, Clamor, and Homenaje.

Topics

• Joyous

The Spanish Enlightenment (Ilustración), 18th Century

The Enlightenment (Ilustración) was a cultural movement that arose in France and spread across Europe. It was based on the power of reason and knowledge, and it implied a critique of the Old Regime. Its main goal was to defend the Encyclopedists' use of reason against false beliefs.

Characteristics

• Adoption of the experimental method, which discards inherited ideas, following the model of Newton.
• Travel as a means to know other cultures.
• Utilitarianism: what is useful, which drove the liberals and the pursuit of the happiness of people.
• Pedagogy: the Enlightenment sought to educate citizens and to elevate the cultural level of the people, and it criticized the excesses of didactic genres.

1.

Spanish Vanguards: Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Ramón Gómez de la Serna founded "Ramónismo" due to his individualism. He is best known for his Greguerías: short texts focusing on everyday life, offering associations that do not respond to the logic of reality and cause surprise. These works offer a fragmented vision of reality through brushstrokes, ideas, judgments, and sensations.

Techniques and Styles

• Metaphors and sometimes hyperbolic comparisons.
• Ingenious associations, pseudo-etymologies, paronomasias, and dilogy.
• Automatization of clichés.

Ultraism and Creationism

These movements were characterized by the prevalence of lyric poetry and a rejection of art that mimics reality.

Ultraism

Born under the guidance of Rafael Cansinos Assens, Ultraism...

Spanish Ballads: Origins and Evolution

Ballads are brief epic-lyrical compositions, often accompanied by an instrument. Early romances date back to the fifteenth century. These compositions were anonymous and transmitted alongside the chanson de geste.

Metrical Structure of Ballads

They typically consist of a limited number of 8-syllable verses, rhyming in assonance in pairs. The odd-numbered lines are often unrhymed.

Categories of Spanish Ballads

• Historical Ballads:

  Addressing themes similar to epic poems. For example, the ballads of Bernardo del Carpio and The Seven Infantes of Lara.

• Border Ballads:

  Focusing on issues related to border warfare between Moors and Christians. Many depict forbidden love affairs between a Christian and a Moor.

• Lyric