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

Spanish Golden Age Literature

Culteranismo focused on formal beauty, using cultured language and creating an artificial style. The concept is based on wit, irony, paradox, and double meaning.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, creator of the modern novel, dedicated his life to various genres, most notably the novel. He wrote pastoral novels such as Galatea and Byzantine works like Persiles and Sigismunda.

His Novelas Ejemplares (Exemplary Novels), a collection of twelve short stories, were written because Cervantes believed that learning would benefit readers. His most famous work is Don Quixote. The meaning of the work was to destroy the authority of the novels of chivalry, employing various literary forms and... Continue reading "Spanish Golden Age Literature: Cervantes, Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Calderón" »

Lope de Vega set aside classical rules for theater and introduced his own innovations. The most prominent of these was breaking the rule of the three unities. These unities dictated that:

• Time: Classical theater works could not be developed within more than a day. Lope wanted to break this rule and have works last several years.
• Place: The work was developed in one place. Baroque theater puts it in different places.
• Action: The work was to have a single action so the audience's attention did not deviate from the main subject. This was generally respected in Baroque theater.

Drama is a tragedy because it is mixed with the comic, reflecting real life where the tragic and comic always mix. Baroque theater is divided into three acts instead of the... Continue reading "Baroque Theater: Innovations, Structure, and Characters" »

Narrative in the Second Half of the 20th Century

Introduction to Spanish Narrative Periods

Before the outbreak of the Civil War, the narrative developing in Spain fell into three large blocks of novels:

1. Traditional Realist Novels
2. Novels of Noventaychismo (Generation of '98)
3. Novecentismo Literature

Following the end of the Civil War, and focusing on authors who remained in Spain (outside of exile), Spanish narrative is typically divided into four distinct stages.

Stages of Post-Civil War Spanish Narrative

A) The Novel of the 1940s

The Civil War marked a discontinuity in the history of Spanish literature due to political reasons. Authors faced very strong political censorship during the first 15 years of the dictatorship, which prevented them from continuing... Continue reading "Spanish and Latin American Narrative: 20th Century Literary Evolution" »

Old English Period (Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066)

Key themes: Fate (destino), religion vs. paganism, Christianity vs. Germanic traditions, heroic warriors, morality.

Authors: Bede, Exeter Book. Emphasis on oral tradition and poetry.

Anglo-Saxon Literature:

• Poetry: Loyalty to one's lord or king. Beowulf.
• Christian poetry: Saints' lives. The Dream of the Rood. Authors: Caedmon, Cynewulf.
• Prose: Translations of texts from Latin into English. Literature illuminates reality and destiny. Two traditions: English and German.

Middle English Period (1066-1485)

Key aspects: Plays (moral and religious instructions), chivalric code of honor, religious devotion.

Books: Domesday Book, Le Morte d'Arthur.

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer.

The Renaissance (1485-1660)

Key themes:... Continue reading "English Literature Periods: From Anglo-Saxon to Contemporary" »

Latin Language: A Historical Overview

Indo-European languages derive from a primitive language spoken by European peoples five thousand years ago. This mother tongue branched into several groups, including Greek and Italic. The tribe who spoke Latin settled in Latium, central Italy, where Rome later emerged. Latin is the ancestor of Spanish and other Romance languages. It is known for its clarity, precision, and elegance, serving as a literary model for many languages of culture. It experienced a resurgence during the Renaissance, becoming the language of science, the church, and various socio-cultural aspects.

Periods of Latin

• Archaic Latin: From its origins to the third century BC, exemplified by the comedies of Plautus and Terence.
• Classical

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

Miguel Hernández's Poetry

Miguel Hernández belongs to the generation of poets following Garcilaso. His production is linked to the Generation of '27, as he cultivated some of the group's important trends: Gongorine baroque, surrealism, and neopopularism.

Poetic Evolution

First Stage (Early Works)

• The production begins with Perito en lunas (1933). This collection, inspired by Gongorine and avant-garde styles, is characterized by its complexity and baroque nature.
• He later wrote texts on mystical religious themes, published in the journal El Gallo en la Crisis.
• In 1936, El rayo que no cesa (The Unceasing Lightning) appeared, a book of love poetry containing reworkings of earlier poems.

Second Stage (Committed Poetry)

This stage is marked by committed... Continue reading "Miguel Hernández: Life, Themes, and Poetic Evolution" »

Classical Precepts of Renaissance Drama

The rules of the Renaissance classical precepts, appealing to the authority of Aristotle and Horace, defended a series of strict guidelines for dramatic composition:

1. Clear Distinction Between Tragedy and Comedy

   A clear distinction must be maintained between tragedy and comedy. These genres were characterized by specific elements:

   • Tragedy: Characterized by action moving from a happy onset to a sad ending, the sublimity of the characters (gods, kings, and high nobility), and a high degree of reality. The subject matter had to be historic, and the tragedy had to be written in heroic verse.
   • Comedy: The action of the play moved from conflict to ultimate happiness. The social status of the characters had to be medium

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