Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Latin

Latin Literary Topics

• Beatus Ille: Praises country life over city life.
• Locus Amoenus: Presents the idealization of a paradise where man is in harmony with nature.
• Carpe Diem: Encourages seizing the moment. Widely used, especially in the Renaissance, it emphasizes enjoying every moment of life.
• Collige, Virgo, Rosas: Highlights unrecoverable youth and beauty; an invitation to enjoy love (symbolized by the rose) before time passes.
• Tempus Fugit: Time is intangible and cannot be stopped or retrieved. This phrase is a call to use time wisely.
• Ubi Sunt?: A lament; a rhetorical question about moments, places, or people lost to time, leaving only memories.

Lope de Vega

Biography

Félix Lope de Vega Carpio (1562-1635) explored nearly all literary genres of... Continue reading "Lope de Vega: Life, Works, and Literary Influence" »

The Enlightenment in 18th Century Spain

The Illustration, also known as the Enlightenment, was a philosophical and political movement characteristic of the 18th century. The enlightened thinkers believed that knowledge should be based on reason and that progress should challenge European traditions, customs, etc. Rationalism promoted scientific development, and numerous discoveries were made, such as the steam engine, electricity, lightning rods, and vaccines. Progress and reforms were aimed at utility for all. Religion was sidelined, and there was a belief that progress would improve living conditions. The principles of the Enlightenment were reflected in social life through the elimination of slavery and the extension of education.

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism... Continue reading "18th Century Spain: Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and Literary Reform" »

Joan Roís de Corella (1435? - 1497)

Joan Roís de Corella, probably born in Gandia, belonged to a noble family that maintained close relations with the poet Ausiàs March. He was intended for military studies, but ultimately pursued religious ones. Despite his religious vocation, he had several relationships and a son and a daughter, Isabel Martínez Vera.

Works

Given the thematic diversity of his prose, it is classified into four groups:

• Love-themed
• Religious-themed
• Mythological-themed
• Works of circumstance

Style

Corella's prose is rhetorical, a new Latinizing style that was called *Valencian prose*. He was an aristocrat, a writer, and a teacher of theology, with extensive and varied literary works that include both prose and poetry.

Poetry

As a poet,... Continue reading "Joan Roís de Corella and Jaume Roig: Valencian Literature" »

The Generation of 1927

The Generation of '27 was an innovative group of Spanish poets who combined tradition and avant-garde styles, bursting onto the literary scene in the 1920s. The year 1927 marked the third anniversary of the death of Góngora.

Key Authors

This generation included Federico García Lorca, Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Luis Cernuda, and Vicente Aleixandre. Miguel Hernández and Dámaso Alonso are often added to this list.

Stages in the Generation of '27

• 1922-1928: Dominated by pure poetry and admiration for Juan Ramón Jiménez. This period sought the suppression of sentiment and the purification of language.
• 1928-1936: A fracturing of the group's unity occurred. While Guillén and Salinas remained

17th Century Poetry and Prose

1. Conceptismo and Culteranismo

Conceptismo and Culteranismo are underlied by a deep vital skepticism that causes a flight in two different directions. Both strands break the balance of the Renaissance and attend to Baroque literary artifice and difficulty.

• Culteranismo: Represented by Luis de Góngora, it seeks to create a literate poetic language itself. It tends to formal beauty, brilliance of color, and sensory experience. It achieves this through the careful development of language and the abundance of resources (bold metaphors, hyperbaton, etc.).
• Conceptismo: Represented by Francisco de Quevedo, it tends to be concise and expressively dense, and to find wit and ingenuity. It uses ellipsis, paradoxes, word games,

Galdós's Exploration of Consciousness and Morality

At this stage, the cult of consciousness is a consistent feature of Galdós's novels. Consciousness serves as a source of knowledge, revealing imperfections and deviations. This awareness radiates righteousness, as embodied in the figures of the sounds, a sign of Benin.

Mercy

• Benina is asked to help his wife, who is concerned with social appearances. Benina has some strengths and hides what she does, helping his wife discreetly. This novel has a moral content, ridiculing many customs (plantemientos of the church), but conveying a Christian message (focusing on morality rather than Christianity). It also provides a historical portrait of Madrid.
• Initially, it was well-received, but today it is

Catalan Literature: A Historical Overview

Medieval Period

Ramon Llull (1235-1315)

Ramon Llull, a nobleman dedicated to troubadour poetry, experienced a life-altering event after marrying and having two children. He saw visions of Jesus, which led him to dedicate his life to religious service. Llull is considered the creator of Catalan literary prose. He explored themes of periphrasis, including duty, probability, imminence, possibility, and duration.

Tirant lo Blanc

This chivalric novel, often attributed to Joanot Martorell, is characterized by its human portrayal of characters, realistic events, and exploration of relationships.

Ausiàs March (1397-1459)

Ausiàs March is a major figure in classical Catalan poetry. He is credited with creating the... Continue reading "Catalan Literature: From Medieval to Modern" »

Spanish Poetry of the 1940s and 1950s

Miguel Hernández (1910-1942)

From Perito en lunas and El rayo que no cesa, the poet began to address his core subjects: life, love, and death. He wrote Viento del pueblo, featuring a popular style with patriotic and martial themes. Cancionero y romancero de ausencias is a collection of simple poems about prison, anxiety over the fate of his wife and son, the pain of his deceased child, and death in war-torn Spain.

Poetry of the 1940s: Rooted vs. Uprooted

Two main groups emerged:

Rooted Poetry (Poesía Arraigada)

Poets from the group calling themselves "Juventud Creadora" gathered around the magazines Garcilaso and Escorial. Its features include:

• Heroic or imperialist subjects alongside love and religious themes.

Pere Quart: Paid Holidays

Metric Series

Paid Holidays is a metric series of up to eight stanzas with a variety of metrics and verses without regular rhyme.

Structure

A structure can be established based on the increasingly pathetic gradation, which presents the poetic "I".

• Part One (verses 1-4): It begins with a blunt pair of verses with the term "amén," meaning "so be it," because of the many disappointments that the poet accepts resignedly.
• Part Two (verses 5-7): It temporalizes the enthusiasms and disappointments of belief in the fatherland and the people who left. He identifies with Job (one of the biblical characters who suffered the most misfortune) in the most miserable stage of rejection and marginalization. So then he says with irony that

Modernism

Modernism began in the late nineteenth century, originating in Latin America. It was created and disseminated by José Martí and Rubén Darío. The publication of Azul (Rubén Darío) in 1888 is considered the starting point of modernism.

Features

Modernist literature is characterized by its aestheticism, meaning it seeks beauty above all else. At that time, authors escaped reality in their works, speaking of the past, luxurious and refined or exotic civilizations. The themes expressed feelings like boredom and melancholy. They also used symbols, such as the swan or the owl, which became symbols of modernist aesthetics.

The Generation of 98

This was a group of authors born in the late nineteenth century who covered topics such as the... Continue reading "Modernism in Literature: Key Authors, Themes, and Evolution" »