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

Ancient Greece: A Civilization of Beauty and Harmony

Location: Greece is situated at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula.

Territory: The territory includes mainland Greece and the Peloponnese. Although technically a peninsula, the Isthmus of Corinth, which connects the Peloponnese to the mainland, is so narrow that it almost feels like an island. Greece also encompasses Crete, the Aegean Islands, and the coasts of Asia Minor.

Timeline: Greek civilization flourished from approximately 600 BC to 30 AD.

Key Characteristics: The most outstanding qualities of Greek art and architecture are the perfection of forms, balance, harmony, and proportion.

Greek Painting

Unfortunately, no original Greek paintings have survived. However, based on literary... Continue reading "Ancient Greece and Rome: Art, Architecture, and History" »

Luis de Góngora

Luis de Góngora is the poet of the senses. He was not interested in delving into thought or emotional impact, or recreating the contents of an argument. Instead, he looked for a different aesthetic pleasure.

Characteristics of Góngora's Poetry

• Pictorial Consciousness: A sensory, descriptive poetry that speaks of the taste for a contemplative attitude and the creation of images.
• Landscape: Nature stands as the centerpiece of his work, describing landscapes, objects, animals, etc.
• Blend of High Culture and Popular: Góngora combined elements of high culture and popular culture.
• Satire and Panegyric: He cultivated two types of contradictory poems: satire, which outputs his most critical views, and praise of noble heroes.

Themes

Góngora... Continue reading "Luis de Góngora: Master of Sensory Poetry" »

More recently, it is important to establish the Galician Drama Center as a stable public theatrical company alongside independent companies. At this stage, we can identify three generations:

First Generation: Post-War Era

The first consists of the post-war generation of shows from the Ribadavia Theater and the generation of the Drama Center. Galician authors who lived with playwrights before '36 represent continuity with the renewal of the drama that was being made in previous years to raise military authors, such as Blanco Amor or Cunqueiro Xenaro. Cunqueiro will be another representative of the renewal process of the theater with their Galician drama, The Uncertain Sines Don Hamlet of Denmark. The last of the successors is Xenaro, author of... Continue reading "Galician Theater: Generations, Authors, and the Drama Center" »

Miguel Hernandez, who absorbed in his teens the classic poems of the Generation of '27, his elders, faced a unique position. The poets of the '27 Generation considered him provincial and did not see him as one of their own. What unites M. Hernandez and the Generation of '27 is the blend of tradition and avant-garde.

Literary Influences on Hernandez

This blend or fusion can be seen in his connection to literary tradition, the masters of the preceding generation, and the literary avant-garde movements.

Tradition and Golden Age Classics

• Golden Age classics: San Juan de la Cruz, Garcilaso, Fray Luis (for his sonnets and pastorals)
• Baroque poets: Lope de Vega, Quevedo
• Becquer's poetry, for its Romanticism
• Neopopularism, a cultured version of popular forms

Test Item 2 and 3: Medieval Spanish Literature

Jorge Manrique (Middle Ages)

• Metrical Foot: Used the *pie quebrado* (broken-foot) couplet stanza of six lines (8a, 8b, 4c, 8a, 8b, 4c), grouped in pairs.
• Topics and Content: The transience of worldly things, the instability of fortune, and the power of death.

The Diacritical Tilde

Some words use a tilde (´) to differentiate them from other words that are spelled the same but have different grammatical uses and functions.

Lexical Families and Semantic Fields

• Lexical Family: The set of all words formed from the same lexeme or root.
• Semantic Field: A set of words that share some common significant features but have others that differ.

Determinants

Determinants are words that accompany the noun, preceding and... Continue reading "Spanish Literature: Middle Ages, Key Authors & Forms" »

Medieval Literary Genres in Spain

Lyric Poetry

Two trends characterized lyric poetry in medieval Spain:

• Traditional Lyric: Short poems focused on love affairs.
• Cultured Lyric: Encompassed three forms: cancionero, love poetry, and moral and satirical reflections on life and politics.

Narrative Poetry: Two Schools

• Mester de Juglaría (Minstrelsy): Featured epic poems and heroic narratives in versos de arte mayor.
• Mester de Clerecía (Clergy): Explored religious themes and the lives of saints in measured and rhymed verses, exemplified by works like the Book of Good Love and the Miracles of Our Lady.

Theater

• Religious Theater: Depicted scenes from Christ's life, such as his birth or crucifixion.
• Profane Theater: Included pastoral and romantic representations.

Novocentismo and the Avant-Garde in Spain

Vanguardia (avant-garde) desired Novocentismo, renovation, and modernization, focusing on two movements: Novocentismo and the avant-garde.

Novocentismo

Authors belonging to this movement had a strong intellectual background. They were worried about the situation in Spain but discussed it differently than the Generation of '98 authors.

Authors

• The sharp José Ortega y Gasset disseminated new ideas through essays such as The Dehumanization of Art.
• Ramón Pérez de Ayala and Gabriel Miró.

The Avant-Garde

The avant-garde comprised artistic movements characterized by their eagerness to renovate art and culture.

Movements

• Futurism: Characterized by extolling the mechanical and technical civilization.
• Cubism: First

Spanish Poetry in the Second Half of the 20th Century: Trends, Authors, and Representative Works

1950s: Social Poetry

Poets felt the need to provide critical testimony of reality and adopt an attitude of commitment to the situation in Spain. Key works include Cantos Íberos and Pido la paz y la palabra (I Ask for Peace and the Word) by Gabriel Celaya, and Que trata de España by Blas de Otero, published in 1955.

Key themes:

• The issue of Spain
• Social injustice
• Alienation
• Longing for freedom

The language is clear, sometimes mundane, and the tone is colloquial, but it uses many rhetorical resources.

1960s: Poetry of Knowledge

By the end of the 1950s, a group of poets emerged who sought further elaboration of poetic language and a shift from the collective... Continue reading "Spanish Poetry & Theater: Mid-20th Century to 1970s" »

Baroque Literature

Baroque (17th Century Spain)

Characteristics

A cultural movement responding to the decline of Spain in the 17th century.

• Politics & Economy: Crisis and decline.
• Society: Increased power and wealth for the nobility, greater poverty for the masses.
• Ideology: Pessimism and disillusionment.
• Culture & Literature: Artistic splendor, complexity, and contrast.

Baroque Theater

Characteristics

• Three acts.
• Two intertwined plots.
• Mix of tragic and comic elements.
• Emphasis on action.
• Themes of love and honor.

Character Types

• Gallant/Lady
• Father/Brother
• Clown
• Powerful figure (e.g., King)

Key Authors

• Lope de Vega (Fuenteovejuna)
• Calderón de la Barca (Life is a Dream)

Baroque Poetry

Characteristics

• Blend of seriousness and humor.
• Renaissance themes with

The Debate

An argumentative text where participants, guided by a moderator, exchange opinions. It's an oral, spoken text with distinct parts: presentation, discussion, and closure.

Modernism

A literary movement from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reflecting the era's crisis. Characteristics:

• Profound spiritual and aesthetic renewal
• Emphasis on sensory and idealistic aspects
• Incorporation of sensation
• Recovery of classical and free verse

Rubén Darío

A key figure in Modernism, known for formal novelty and rupture. His first book, Azul, combined verse and prose, showcasing metric and verbal innovations. Dominant themes: social issues, eroticism.

End of the Century: Generation of '98

Writers like Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado, and Pío Baroja... Continue reading "Spanish Literary Movements: Modernism and Generation of '98" »