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

Romanticism and the Rise of Liberal Society

The late 18th century saw the rise of liberalism. The ancien régime was replaced by liberal society, and the aristocracy gradually ceded power to the bourgeoisie, a process accelerated by the fall of Napoleon. The Industrial Revolution further fueled these changes. Revolutionary waves occurred in 1820, 1830, and 1848, each time reinforcing liberal ideals. In Spain, after the death of Ferdinand VII, industrialization and urbanization were still in their early stages within a predominantly rural society.

Nationalism's Influence on Romanticism

Nationalism, the right of peoples to constitute themselves as nations, had two main aspects: an inspiration drawn from liberal and democratic ideals, and a conservative,... Continue reading "Romanticism in Spain: Literature, Society, and Key Authors" »

Tarraco: Rome's Strategic Hub in Hispania

The Punic Wars and Roman Arrival

In 218 BC, Hannibal conquered Saguntum, a town allied to Rome, violating the Ebro Treaty. This act ignited the Second Punic War. While Hannibal marched towards Italy, Rome surprisingly dispatched an army under Publius Cornelius Scipio to Hispania, aiming to disrupt Carthaginian supply lines. The Roman army landed in Empúries and advanced against the Carthaginian base. Subsequently, Rome established a winter camp at what would become Tarraco.

The Punic War on Hispanic soil lasted 12 years, during which Tarraco, serving as a vital military camp, experienced continuous activity. For Rome, Tarraco became the primary headquarters on the Iberian Peninsula. In 217 BC, a second... Continue reading "Tarraco: Roman Power and Legacy in Ancient Hispania" »

Medieval Spanish Literature

Castilian Prose

Alfonso X the Wise played a crucial role in the development of Castilian prose, elevating it to the status of a language of culture. His contributions included standardizing spelling, enhancing syntactic flexibility, and enriching vocabulary. Various writers contributed historical, legal, and scientific treatises.

Medieval Poetry

Two main types of poetry existed:

• Traditional Folk Poetry:

  Characterized by its traditional, collective, and evolving nature, it could be oral or written.

• Learned Poetry:

  Attributed to individual, known authors, and primarily written.

Lyrical Folk-Traditional Poetry

This oral tradition includes:

• Jarchas (mid-11th to first half of the 14th century, written in Mozarabic)
• Cantigas de

Baroque Metrics and Poetic Style

The predominant verse is the endecasílabo (eleven-syllable line). Both assonance and consonance rhyme are used. Common stanzas include the quartet, the tercet, the quatrain, and the cultured décima.

The primary cultured poetic form is the sonnet, of Italian origin, introduced into Spain by Juan Boscán. Since then, the sonnet has been cultivated by all the great writers of Spanish literature.

The popular metric form is the romance, a strophic poem with octosyllabic verses and assonance rhyme, originating in Spanish literature during the Middle Ages as a development from the chanson de geste (16 syllables = 8+8).

Regarding style, difficulty is perhaps the concept that best defines the aesthetic ideal of Baroque... Continue reading "Spanish Baroque Literature: Poetic Styles and Key Authors" »

Prereality in Spanish Literature

Prereality began in 1849 with the publication of La Gaviota by Fernán Caballero (1796-1877), pseudonym of Cecilia Böhl de Faber.

Prereality novels have a costumbrista tone and a moralizing purpose, as shown in La Gaviota, which recounts the eventful love life of a young woman. She symbolizes the protagonist's transformation within the society of the time and vindicates traditional values. Prereality authors did not delve deeply into psychological analysis or social criticism; instead, they preferred colorful and picturesque detail and the defense of traditional values.

The chief representative of the Prereality current is Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1833-1891), author of short stories and novels. In his most famous... Continue reading "Spanish Literature: Prereality and Realism" »

Modernism in Poetry: A Literary Movement

Modernism was a poetic movement that emerged in the Castilian tongue during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Key Themes of Modernism

• The legacy of Romanticism (existential malaise, tendency to escape reality).
• Modernism's own themes: love and eroticism, cosmopolitanism, refined, aristocratic, and exquisite aesthetics.
• The Latin American world.

Modernist Metrics

Modernism brought a metric revolution, with a tendency to lengthen the poetic line. The Alexandrine verse (14 syllables) became the most common, accepting the concept of tonic and unstressed syllables combined to create rhythm and musicality.

Among Peninsular modernists, the taste for popular verses remained, including:

• Verse
• Streak
• Soleá
• Romance

Duration

Spanish Literature in the Early 20th Century

Key Authors and Movements

José Martínez Ruiz (Azorín)

Works: Towns, Route of Don Quixote, Castilla, Clásicos. Apart from these, he shows his personal style, characterized by simplicity and precision, along with the employment of short sentences and a wealth of lexicon. His three fundamental issues are time and meditations on the transience of things, the landscape of Spain (described with great lyricism and emotion), and literature.

Pío Baroja

A constant critic of cruelty, stupidity, and the evil of society. His memoirs include: Youth, Ego Trip, and Since the Last Round of the Road.

Antonio Machado

Excels as an essayist with his work Juan de Mairena, where he outlines his religious, philosophical,... Continue reading "Spanish Literature in the Early 20th Century: Key Authors and Movements" »

The eighteenth century marked a significant period in Spanish literature, as it became a powerful medium for disseminating new ideas and reflecting the intellectual currents of the Enlightenment.

Prose

Prose predominated, often serving didactic purposes. Some authors incorporated narrative into their works, though their primary aim was not necessarily to write novels. Works like the Vida (Life) of Diego de Torres Villarroel exemplify this trend.

The essay genre was particularly well-suited for this period, as it facilitated the diffusion of new ideas. Notable essayists included:

• Benito Jerónimo Feijoo: His critical work aimed to eliminate errors and superstitions. His writings often adopted a conversational tone, developing a style that would

Spanish Literature Overview

Poetry

Garcilaso de la Vega (1st Half of 16th Century)

Works: Sonnets, Eclogues (pastoral poems)
Themes: Love (lady's indifference, lover's pain), Nature (stylized setting for love complaints)
Style: Clear, simple, elegant, harmonious. Predominantly hendecasyllable verse, alliteration, musical hyperbaton.

Fray Luis de León (1st Half of 16th Century)

Prose:
Translations: Song of Songs
Original Works: The Perfect Wife
Poetry:
Translations: Passages from the Book of Job
Original Poems: Less than 40, mostly lyrical compositions with varied themes and structures.
Themes: Nature, longing for country life, night's music (influenced by Beatus Ille)
Style: Lira verse, hyperbole, alliteration, hyperbaton, metaphor, personification. Frequent... Continue reading "Spanish Literature: Golden Age and Medieval Classics" »

The Baroque Period (1598-1621)

The Baroque period (approximately 1598-1621) is a time of sinking pessimism. The utopia of man as the center of the universe fades. The concern over time is the Baroque subject par excellence. Antithesis and contrast are enhanced; these elements are also characteristic. The period seeks to surprise.

Trends in Baroque Lyric Poetry

In Baroque lyric poetry, we distinguish three trends:

• The most pure Baroque style is Conceptismo, which finds its greatest exponents in Quevedo and Baltasar Gracián. In Conceptismo, the classical balance between expression and content is broken in favor of the latter. It uses paradoxes, neologisms, antithesis, and resources to achieve humor.
• Second, the Culteranismo style is peculiar to Góngora.