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

Literature and Thought in the 17th Century

The ideal Renaissance artistic and literary transformation, beginning around the mid-16th century, manifested in a progressive separation from the criterion of classical imitation for the artist. The personal style was accentuated, reflected in Mannerism, an artistic movement that tended towards artificiality. Mannerism is considered a precursor to the Baroque, whose aesthetic concerns were accepted in the arts and literature of the 17th century. The Baroque flourished most in Italy, with significant impact in France, Germany, and Great Britain.

Characteristics of the Baroque

The Baroque is characterized by the artist's subjectivism in interpreting the world and by a reflective, serious, and pessimistic... Continue reading "Baroque Literature and Thought in the 17th Century" »

Broken Mirror: A Family's Three-Generation Story

Broken Mirror tells the story of a family across three generations, from the perspectives of Teresa, Sofia, and Maria, set in Beachwood. Teresa Godoy has a relationship with a married man, Jesus Masdeu, and has a son. She leaves the child and later marries Nicholas, a wealthy man. After Nicholas dies, she attains a higher social status.

She meets Salvador Valldaura and becomes Teresa Valldaura, further ascending the social ladder. Salvador buys a house where they live. They have a daughter, Sophia, who marries Eladi and lives in the tower. Ramon and Maria have two sons. Eladi has an affair and has a daughter named Maria, who lives with them, much to Sofia's knowledge. Ramon and Maria drown their... Continue reading "Broken Mirror: A Multi-Generational Family Saga" »

Understanding Common Words

This document provides definitions and examples of common words to enhance vocabulary and understanding.

• Archetype: (Sustantivo) A typical example of a person or thing. In this case, it serves as a pattern. She is an archetype of the modern woman.
• Atavism: (Sustantivo) A tendency to imitate or maintain customs or lifestyles of other eras. The red tone of her hair is an example of atavism.
• Ordered: (Verbo) To threaten a person with punishment if they do not do what one orders. Synonyms: threaten, intimidate. He warned that his brother was not with him.
• Convulsive: (Adjetivo) Applies to something excited by irritation or anger. Lexical family: convulsive, convulsion, convulse. Their convulsive love.
• Dantesque: (Adjetivo)

Realism

Characteristics

• Scrutiny and faithful reproduction of life.
• Custom-paint and environments: characters and settings in rural or urban areas.
• Authors: refined or popular (Galdós, Balzac, Dickens).
• Painting of characters: description of the nature of the characters, resulting in the psychological novel, which delves into characters' temperaments (e.g., Flaubert).
• The novelist as a historian: telling a story and giving an account of incidents.
• Importance of alerts, precise vocabulary, detailed descriptions, and language elements.
• Sobriety in style: adapting language to the characters.

Naturalism

Features

• Themes, environments, character types: sick characters who obey their genetic tendencies and base passions; their feedback on the environment.
• Observation

20th Century Literary Movements

The 20th century saw a departure from the realism of the previous century, with movements like:

• Parnassianism: Seeking perfection and escape from reality (Charles Baudelaire).
• Symbolism: Using symbols and images to represent reality through language (Arthur Rimbaud).
• Decadence: Exploring new forms with coarse and vulgar language.

Modernism

Modernism evolved from aesthetics to social and existential concerns, incorporating principles of Parnassianism and Symbolism.

Characteristics of Parnassianism:

• Unreal, exotic, and distant settings to escape reality.
• Metric forms and traditional lines like Alexandrine verses (14 syllables).
• Mixing senses and creating synesthesia.
• Use of alliteration, internal rhymes, and parallels for

The Renaissance in Spain

The Renaissance was a period of rebirth of classical Greek and Latin culture. It occurred in Spain in two stages:

• Reign of Carlos I: A time of political, economic, and cultural splendor. Relations with Italy facilitated the assimilation of Humanism and anthropocentrism.
• Reign of Philip II: Spain became a defender of Catholicism against Protestantism. This era of the Counter-Reformation saw an increase in religiosity, valuing Old Christians, honor, and purity of blood.

Renaissance Culture and Humanism

Female Humanism placed Renaissance culture at the center of the world: Anthropocentrism. Humanists were concerned with all forms of knowledge.

There was a strong admiration for classical Greco-Roman culture, including:

• Love of

Conservative Spanish Theater

Comedy by Benavente

José Benavente, a great innovator and member of the Royal Academy, won the Nobel Prize. His work addresses the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, where vested interests and economic concerns overshadow genuine love.

Theater in Verse

This very traditionalist ideology (medieval deeds, high moments of the rule) is represented by two authors: Francisco Villaespesa and Eduardo Marquina. The Machado brothers also contributed works, though their quality is debated.

Comic Theater

Usual Fare

The Álvarez Quintero brothers reflected the Andalusian aristocratic bourgeoisie, focusing on sentimental problems.

Sainete

Carlos Arniches created Madrid Sainetes, imitating the speech of the people and mixing grotesque tragedy... Continue reading "Spanish Theater: From Conservatism to Avant-Garde" »

Mester de Juglaría

Poetry widely popular in the Middle Ages, spread by minstrels.

Mester de Clerecía

Medieval literature composed by the clergy (men who were not necessarily priests). They wrote on religious themes.

Milagros de Nuestra Señora

Principal work of Gonzalo de Berceo, a clergyman of the Monastery of San Millán. A compilation of exempla recounting 25 miracles of the Virgin Mary, written in cuaderna vía.

Don Juan Manuel (El Conde Lucanor)

Divided into 5 parts:

• Part 1: 50 exempla (stories) told by Patronio to Count Lucanor.
• Parts 2, 3, and 4: Various sections formed by a set of proverbs with progressively deeper meaning.
• Part 5: A doctrinal treatise on religious themes.

Poema de Mio Cid: Themes & Features

• Characters: Differs from French

Roman Elegy: Features and Key Poets

Originally, the elegy was a funeral lament sung to the accompaniment of a flute. It also possesses a melancholic character, often found in elegies of amorous lament. Latin elegy adopted its sorrowful and lamenting character from Greek elegy. Formally, the typical meter of this genre is the elegiac couplet, composed of a hexameter and a pentameter. Unlike Greek elegy, Roman elegy has a predominantly subjective, erotic character, emphasizing the personal element and amorous passion.

Development, Authors, and Works: The precursors of elegiac poetry in Rome were the Neoterics. Subsequently, three great poets cultivated this genre: Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid. All these poets developed their work in the second... Continue reading "Roman Elegy: Love, Lament, and Major Poets" »

Characteristics of the Spanish Renaissance

The Renaissance in Spain appears with peculiar characteristics. Two factors contribute to its unique personality:

Contributing Factors

• Reign of Charles I of Spain: Symbol of brilliance, fullness, and economic prosperity.
• Reign of Philip II: Spirit of the Counter-Reformation and exercise of censorship with the Inquisition.

Stages of the Spanish Renaissance

Two main stages:

1. First Renaissance: Appearance of Neoplatonism and Erasmism. Representative: Garcilaso de la Vega.
2. Second Renaissance: Emphasis on the national and religious. Representative: Fray Luis de León.

Formal Aspects and Verse Forms

Key elements include the hendecasyllable verse, the triumphs of Garcilaso, and the creation of new stanzas:

• Terceto: 3