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Modern Spanish Poetry: Key Poets

Considered a pioneer of modernism, Rubén Darío was responsible for its dissemination in Spain, alongside poets such as Salvador Rueda, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Eduardo Marquina, and Manuel Machado. Their poetry acquired an intimate tone.

Rubén Darío

Rubén Darío was the creator and promoter of Modernism. His first book, Azul (Blue), was a mixture of verse and prose. With Prosas Profanas (Profane Prose), he established the model for modernist poetry, intimidating his supporters. These books also addressed universal human problems: political poems, existential anxieties, and irony.

Antonio Machado

Antonio Machado's poetry is characterized by its depth in topics such as intimacy, memories, the Castilian... Continue reading "Modern Spanish Poetry: Key Poets and Vanguard Movements" »

Introduction

During the Civil War, theater served as a means of political propaganda, exemplified by the Theater of the Falange and guerrilla theater. The post-war situation was catastrophic: authors like Valle-Inclán, Lorca, Muñoz Seca, Antonio Machado, and Unamuno perished; others, including Alberti, Casona, and Max Aub, went into exile; and those who remained in Spain (J. Álvarez Quintero, Arniches, Benavente, Manuel Machado, and Eduardo Marquina) saw limited premieres or ceased writing. Notably, exiled author Max Aub published San Juan in 1942, depicting a ship carrying Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis, denied port entry. Alejandro Casona premiered "La dama del alba" in Buenos Aires (1944).

1. Theater of Consumption

1.1. The Fifties: "

Baroque in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Baroque is the period of Western culture that began in the 17th century. It was a very prolific period in all forms of artistic manifestation, in which there was always an attitude of disappointment.

Key Themes of the Baroque Period

• Transience of life
• The taste for the monstrous
• The passage of time
• Contrasts

Literary Devices in Baroque Literature

• Taste for ornamentation (hyperbole and hyperbaton)
• Confusion between reality and appearance (paradoxes, antitheses, and puns)

Literary Currents of the Baroque

• Conceptismo: Showcases sharpness of wit through the association of ideas and words.
• Culteranismo: Focuses on formal beauty, with a heavy and pompous style.

Prose in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Authors:

1. Pere

Nouveau Features

The creator, far from everyday reality, invents an aristocratic art, elegant and exotic. The environments evoke classical antiquity, with a medieval atmosphere in Paris. There is a cult of the beauty of form, collecting a wealth of themes ranging from classical to modern, symbolist attitudes, vision, and interpretation of reality. Poetic trends in modern poetry are an explosion where colors, sounds, and sensual aromas, etc., are an extreme idealization.

Generation of '98 - Features

A vision of Spain and Castile is absorbed, focusing on the authentically Spanish through landscape, history, and literature. Idealistic solutions are proposed to regenerate the country, a mixture of romantic and subjective attitudes with existentialism,... Continue reading "Spanish Literature: Key Movements, Authors, and Works" »

Impersonality in the Spanish Language

Syntactic Impersonality

• Natural phenomena and weather verbs
• Verbs do and have
• Have to + infinitive
• Attributive or pseudo-copulative verbs with "se" or reflexive

Semantic Impersonality

• Ignorance of the agent by the issuer
• Intention to hide the agent
• Agent indeterminacy
• Second passive (subject + be + past participle)
• Reflexive passive (be + verb + subject in agreement)
• Constructions in the 3rd person plural
• Constructions in the 2nd person plural
• Constructions in the 2nd person singular with one
• Use of the plurality of humility

Regional Variations in the Spanish Language

Northern Varieties

• Distinction of sounds "s" and "z"
• Unaspirated pronunciation of "s" at the end of a syllable
• Leísmo, laísmo, loísmo
• Asturias: Closure of

Spanish Social Realism and Experimental Theater

Post-War Theater of Social Engagement

The release of "Historia de una escalera" (Story of a Staircase) in 1949 marked the beginning of a prominent theatrical movement in 1950s Spain: realistic drama focused on political engagement and social commentary. Key figures in this movement were Antonio Buero Vallejo and Alfonso Sastre.

Sastre viewed theater as a tool for transforming the unjust world. He advocated for a "theater of emergency," prioritizing political messaging over artistic considerations. His most important work is "Escuadra hacia la muerte" (Squad to Death).

Buero Vallejo, while also critical of societal injustices, believed in working within the constraints of censorship to bring his works... Continue reading "Spanish Social Realism and Experimental Theater: A Mid-20th Century Overview" »

20th-Century Spanish Literature

Noucentisme (Early 20th Century)

From 1914, a shift from 19th-century literary traditions emerged with Noucentisme. Authors of this movement rejected sentimentalism, favoring serene and balanced perspectives. The aesthetic emphasized beauty and pure art, aiming for aesthetic pleasure. Writers meticulously crafted language, utilizing its poetic function. This resulted in literature appealing to a select minority; it was elitist.

Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958)

Born in Moguer (Huelva), Jiménez's life was marked by the loss of religious faith and his father's death, leading to depression. His literary journey can be divided into three stages:

• Sensitive Period (Modernist Poetry): Preoccupied with time and death,

Lyric Poetry: An Overview

Lyric poetry was originally sung to the accompaniment of the lyre. The term 'lyric' encompasses many different subjects and metric forms, but is characterized by a personal and subjective approach. Common forms include the ode or carmen. Early examples include anthem lyrics and the hymns of the Arval Brothers.

Catullus

The first lyric poets are found within the circle of Catullus, the 'new' or 'neoteric' poets. Their compositions are short, technically perfect, and formally and stylistically beautiful.

Catullus settled in Rome and became involved with Clodia, a beautiful woman who inspired a violent passion and bitter disappointment in Catullus. This relationship provided inspiration for his poetry, in which she appears... Continue reading "Lyric Poetry: Catullus, Horace, and Elegiac Poets" »

Neoclassical Poetry

Neoclassical poetry values neat verse and didacticism, avoiding excess or intimate deviation. Poems in this style often take the form of a fable, with a satirical intent, and a proper way to implement their ideal. Verses are correct and devoid of strong emotion.

Themes

Neoclassical poetry focuses on immediate reality and traditional themes, drawing inspiration from classic storytellers like Aesop, or modern ones.

Representative Authors

• Samaniego (Moral Fables): Addresses various issues and aspects of traditional morality (avarice, lies, etc.). His tone and language vary, but his poems are didactic, with an easy and smooth verse (e.g., *The Cicada and the Ant*, *The Flies*, *The Fox and the Bust*).
• Iriarte (Literary Fables): Pedagogical

Generation of '27: Key Figures and Their Impact

Understanding the Generation of '27

The Generation of '27 refers to a group of influential Spanish poets who rose to prominence in the 1920s. Although often referred to as a "generation," they are more accurately described as a group within a broader historical generation. They were connected through personal relationships, many of which were forged at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid.

Stylistic Characteristics

Stylistically, these poets balanced intellectualism and emotion, pure aesthetics and human authenticity, and the appeal to both niche and broad audiences. They were also deeply connected to the universal and the specifically Spanish. They were in tune with avant-garde movements, particularly... Continue reading "Spanish Poets of the Generation of '27: A Deep Dive" »