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

The Lyrical Cult and Courtly Love

The lyrical cult developed alongside the popular lyric, influenced by troubadour poetry. Its artful style encompassed conventional topics, often exploring the themes of courtly love.

Coplas por la Muerte de su Padre: An Elegy

In Coplas por la Muerte de su Padre (Verses on the Death of his Father), Manrique mourns the loss of his father. The elegy explores two fundamental themes of medieval thought: a meditation on death and the transient nature of life. The poem emphasizes the Christian perspective that true life begins after death.

Structure of the Poem

The poem is divided into three parts, progressing from universal to personal reflection.

Three Lives and Three Deaths

Manrique examines three distinct lives:

• Life

Characteristics of Modern Poetry

Absence of Didacticism

The first characteristic is that modern poetry lacks a didactic spirit. That is, poetry collections like The Flowers of Evil or Trilce do not have as one of their main objectives to teach values and attitudes to the reader.

Critical Engagement with Language

A second characteristic is that the modern poet always operates within language and, therefore, expresses a critical attitude. When handling language, the poet reveals a critical consciousness regarding the literary tradition.

Specialization of the Creator

A third characteristic is the specialization in the creator's work, particularly within modernism. There are, no doubt, important antecedents; Góngora, for instance, was a specialist and... Continue reading "Literary Movements: Modern Poetry, Romanticism, and Modernism" »

Baroque Poetry in 17th Century Spain

The 17th century witnessed a huge development in Spanish literature, where not only lyric and epic poetry grew, but drama also gained exceptional importance. As for the themes, although culteranismo poets often preferred classical mythology, Baroque poetry was very diverse, and any subject could be a matter for poetry. The three leading Baroque poets were Góngora, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo.

Luis de Góngora: Master of Culteranismo

His poetic production consists of three major types of works:

Góngora's Minor Works: Letrillas and Romances

• The letrillas and other minor art poems by Góngora were already widely known in his time. They sometimes adopted a serious tone, dealing with profound issues.
• Góngora's romances

Between the life and work of the poet, there is a very close relationship. Miguel Hernández's (MH) work is like a life with its initial stammering, its moments of youthful drive, assertiveness, and his boasts of convictions that have no choice but to accept reality as a penalty, as a succession of injuries. Death, a fundamental problem in life and poetry, takes a dominant role in most of these early-stage poems. They reflect a vital and upbeat attitude, his desire to devote himself to poetry, his admiration for certain poets, and so on.

Early Poetic Stages: Vitality and Literary Allusion

Until Moons Expert in, the subject of death is primarily a literary allusion, an appeal from a poet who is guided by nature as a source of expertise and presents... Continue reading "Miguel Hernández: Life, Death, and Poetic Evolution" »

Generation of '98: Reforming Spain

The Generation of '98 comprises writers and intellectuals who shared concerns about reforming Spain and a desire for aesthetic transformation. They recognized the political, social, and cultural crises during the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. Key features include:

• Concern for Spain's Problems: They critically reflected on the country's issues from reformist perspectives, delving into the topic of Spain subjectively.
• Existential Issues: They addressed profound human issues from individual perspectives, influenced by contemporary European philosophical currents.
• Sobriety: They contributed to the century's aesthetic renewal by deliberately pursuing anti-rhetorical language, elaborate in its simplicity

Juan Ramón Jiménez: Poetics

Influence and Innovation

Juan Ramón Jiménez is widely regarded as a major innovator of 20th-century Spanish poetry. His work paved the way for the avant-garde movement and the Generation of '27, introducing Spain to the works of innovative foreign poets.

Stages of his Poetry

Jiménez's poetic journey is traditionally divided into three stages:

1. Sensitive Stage

   This early stage, influenced by Neoromanticism and Bécquer, explores themes of loneliness and melancholy, expressed through symbolism. Key works include Arias Tristes and Jardines Lejanos. Later in this stage, Modernist influences emerge, evident in the use of vibrant colors, vivid adjectives, and Alexandrine verses, as seen in Soledad Sonora and Platero y yo.

The Spanish Generation of '27: Poets and Their Styles

The Generation of '27 was a group of influential Spanish poets who emerged in the 1920s. Here's a look at some of its key figures and their defining characteristics:

• Pedro Salinas

  Salinas's work primarily explores the theme of love, seeking the essence of life through formal beauty and intellect. His style incorporates paradoxes, metaphors, simple language, short lines with assonance, and a limited use of adjectives. "The Voice Due You."

• Jorge Guillén

  A follower of Juan Ramón Jiménez, Guillén is considered a pure poet and intellectual. His style is characterized by elaborate expression, concise wording, simple sentence structures, abundant exclamations, and classic short stanzas like the

Origins of the Narrative

Fernando III establishes Latin and Castilian as languages of rule. During the 13th century, collections of stories or enxiemplos emerged, intended to provide religious material.

Kalila and Dimna

A collection of tales of Indian origin, emphasizing morality based on sagacity, cunning, and emotional mastery.

Sendebar

A collection of Indian fables focusing on love, women, and greed.

Alfonso X, son of Ferdinand III, promoted Castilian as a unifying language between Christians, Jews, and Arabs. He aimed to document everything of political, social, economic, and scientific importance.

Themes

His work covers a wide variety of themes:

Rights

He endowed the people with clear and reasonable rules of law based on Roman law and contemporary... Continue reading "Medieval Spanish Narrative: Origins, Themes, and Styles" »

The Generation of '27

The birth of these poets on nearby dates, their companionship and professed friendship, and the influence and cultural exchanges among them, particularly influenced by Damaso Alonso, led to the expression of the Generation of '27. The date refers to the commemoration of the third anniversary of the death of Góngora and a ceremony in Seville. Important journals published significant books. Among the leading poets of the group are Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, García Lorca, Alberti, and Cernuda.

1.1. Vanguardism

Between the two world wars in Europe, avant-garde movements emerged. The most important current was Surrealism. Surrealism delves beyond reality and logic, aiming to release repressed impulses and express the depths... Continue reading "The Spanish Generation of '27: Key Poets and Themes" »

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Context and Analysis

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, written by Gabriel García Márquez in 1928 in Aracataca, Colombia, is a key work of the Latin American "boom" of the 1960s. Key characteristics include the power of the subconscious and magical realism, exemplified by Santiago Nasar's prophetic dreams. The inevitability of death is a central theme, foreshadowed in the title.

Literary Genre Characteristics

Narrator

The narrative offers a multidimensional perspective. An omniscient narrator initially recounts the events. Later, a character (referred to as CHARACTER X) narrates from their viewpoint. The narrator eventually abandons omniscience, becoming a character within the story, using first-person pronouns.

Time

The... Continue reading "Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Analysis and Literary Elements" »