Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Latin

FGL: Fuentevaqueros in 1898

Studied law, philosophy, and music. In 1919, he moved to Madrid, establishing relationships with prominent writers, poets, and artists of his generation. He was a NY Fellow in 1929-30.

In 1932, he founded La Barraca, a university theater company that brought classic and contemporary plays to the pueblos. He was assassinated in 1936.

Double-edged personality: Overwhelming charisma and vitality juxtaposed with intimate discomfort and the pain of living.

Poetics

• His attitude is very strict.
• Poetry where passion and perfection, the human and the aesthetic, coexist in a rare purity.
• Popular and cultured elements are intertwined.

Literary Works

First Book: Book of Poems (1921)

• Influenced by Bécquer and Machado, modernism.
• Themes:

Germanic Origins of the Spanish Language

In the 5th century, Germanic peoples arrived in the Iberian Peninsula from lands north of the Roman Empire. Although their presence hardly altered the existing linguistic situation, groups like the Suevos, Vandals, and Alans preceded the Visigoths. The Visigoths, a strongly Romanized people, came to dominate Hispania. They brought their taste for epic poems (Hazañas de Héroes) to our country.

Germanisms are words of Germanic origin introduced into our language by the Visigoths. Examples include:

• Burgo (borough)
• Falda (skirt)
• Ganso (goose)

Arabic Influence on the Spanish Language

In 711, the first Arabs arrived in Spain, and shortly after, they dominated a large part of the peninsula. In the 10th century,... Continue reading "History of Spanish Language: Germanic, Arabic, Italian Influences" »

Modernism (1892-1906)

What period does Modernism encompass? From 1892 until 1906.

What characterizes this movement? The introduction of different aesthetic tendencies considered modern.

What stylistic trends contribute to renewed Modernist poetry?

• Regeneracionisme → Vitalism: Joan Maragall → Espontaneisme.
• Aestheticism → Symbolism: Rusiñol → Decadentisme.
• Pre-Raphaelitism: Alexandre de Riquer and Jeroni Zanné.
• Parnassianism (School of Mallorca): Miquel Costa i Llobera, Joan Alcover, Gabriel Alomar.

What kind of novels thrive during Modernism?

• The Naturalistic Novel: Raimon Casellas, The Fiery Assistant; Víctor Catala, Solitude; Adaptations: The Life and Death of George Fraginal.
• The Decadent Novel: Prudenci Bertrana, Josafat; Miquel de Palol,

The Realistic Narrative

The progressive governments were devoted Democrats and pushed reforms, creating great discontent. Realism was influenced ideologically by philosophical and scientific currents.

Realism: Origins and Characteristics

Realism originated in France between 1830 and 1840. Key authors include Honoré de Balzac and Stendhal. In England, authors like Charles Dickens are highlighted, and in Russia, Leo Tolstoy. Realism aims for detailed descriptions, characterized by a simple, sober, and moving style that engages with the characters. It often incorporates the use of popular dialects.

Spanish Realism

Spanish Realism has two key dates: the publication of La Gaviota by Fernán Caballero in 1849 and the publication of La Regenta by Leopoldo... Continue reading "Realism in Spanish Literature: Key Authors and Movements" »

Prose Fiction in Spanish Literature

Books of Chivalry

Books of chivalry were a prominent literary genre of the late 16th century. They first appeared in the Middle Ages and reached their peak between 1510 and 1560. Key characteristics of chivalric fiction include:

• Exaggerated and fantastic elements
• Presence of wizards and wonderful creatures
• Constant battles where the knight demonstrates courage and strives to be worthy of his lady's love

The narrator recounts the exploits in the third person, often acting as a chronicler of the deeds of a great knight. The most important work was Amadís de Gaula by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.

Pastoral Novel

The first pastoral novel published in Spain was Los siete libros de Diana (The Seven Books of Diana) by Jorge... Continue reading "Spanish Prose Fiction: Genres and Literary Evolution" »

Luis de Góngora: Culteranismo

Culteranismo, or Gongorism, was a poetic style that best captured the Renaissance heritage and idealized beauty. It transformed its subjects and exaggerated its rhetorical resources. Cultured poets used lyric poetry with strong formal contrasts, based on sensory perceptions and rhetorical devices. They endowed verse with beautiful and harmonic expression, offering a vision of the world and thus beautifying reality, escaping it, and trying to create perfect, artificial worlds.

Characteristics of Culteranismo

• The use of perfect lines and stanzas achieves great musicality.
• A masterful treatment of metaphor.
• Cultisms (poetic transformation of rhythmic sound).
• Heightening of mythological themes.
• Significant syntactic complication

Castilian: A Romance Language

Castilian is a Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and enriched with contributions from other dialects and languages. Since its inception, it tended to innovate, distinguishing it from other Iberian languages. Castilian emerged in the north of the peninsula and spread during the Reconquista. Alfonso X greatly contributed to Castilian through linguistic leveling, fixing spelling, and the development of Castilian prose. The invention of printing, the publication of Nebrija's Grammar of the Spanish Language, and the discovery of America expanded Castilian's reach.

Royal Spanish Academy

A growing interest in linguistics and language purity is reflected in the foundation of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) in 1714.... Continue reading "Castilian Language: History, Dialects, and Modern Usage" »

Theater of the Baroque: Styles and Venues

Religious Theater: Autos Sacramentales

Religious theater is manifested through the Autos Sacramentales (mystery plays), short pieces in one act, which presented abstract figures in religious allegory. These plays primarily treated the theme of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, and featured a conflict between good and evil, usually personified by the Devil. The conflict was resolved with the triumph of the former.

The plays were represented around the feast of Corpus Christi, outdoors in front of the church. The stages, often built on decorated carts (carros), featured elaborate decoration and special effects. This type of theater was closely related to the Counter-Reformation, as it was the most suitable... Continue reading "Spanish Baroque Drama: Venues, Spectacle, and Lope de Vega's New Comedy" »

Mythological Origins of the Trojan War

The Trojan War, from a mythological viewpoint, began with the abduction of Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Her abductor, Paris, son of the King of Troy, was madly in love with Helen. She had been promised to the Trojan prince by Aphrodite, after he proclaimed her the most beautiful of the immortal goddesses.

Menelaus, the outraged husband, summoned his allies and attacked Troy. Other Greek leaders and Achaeans, who had been suitors of Helen, had pledged an oath to defend Menelaus's honor if it were ever offended.

Historical Context of the Trojan War

From a historical viewpoint, the conflict's primary source was commercial and economic. Greece (specifically Argolis) was located in a region characterized... Continue reading "Unraveling the Trojan War: Causes, Heroes, and Mythology" »

Dramatic Subgenres and Discourse Types

Tragicomedy

Mixing elements of tragedy and comedy. Its characters belong to the nobility and common people, and the action does not result in catastrophe. Its style is varied.

Other Dramatic Subgenres

• Auto Sacramental: A short piece related to the sacrament of the Eucharist. Linked to liturgical feasts, it develops scriptures and lives of saints.
• Loa: A pamphlet, generally humorous, featuring popular characters. It represented the beginning or middle of a long piece, whose argument was not always connected with it. The most famous examples are those of Miguel de Cervantes.
• Farce: Short comic pieces found on the fringes of festivities and religious representations.
• Sainete: Known by this name since the eighteenth