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In 1936, the Spanish Civil War erupted, profoundly impacting poetic groups and dividing society. This division was starkly reflected in the poetry of the era, with poetic culture often serving as a propaganda weapon.

Poetry in Exile After the Spanish Civil War

Many poets were forced into exile. Key figures and groups include:

• Poets of the Generation of '14: Notably Juan Ramón Jiménez.
• Poets of the Generation of '27: Including figures like Federico García Lorca (though his fate was tragic within Spain, many others from this generation went into exile).
• Poets whose work had barely begun:
  • Juan Gil-Albert: He managed to reconcile an initial serene and reflective poetry with moral-civic engagement.
  • Arturo Serrano Plaja: His work cries out against human

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: A Study of Honor and Revenge

The Presumed Guilt of Santiago Nasar

The novel's first paragraph introduces the presumed guilt of Santiago Nasar. Despite indications of his innocence, the narrative initially presents him as disgraced. Angela Vicario's statement, though protecting another, fuels this perception. Her declaration, "It was him," seemingly resolves the matter, yet leaves lingering doubt. This section also introduces the conservative moral conventions of women like Flora Miguel (Nasar's girlfriend) and contrasts them with the "stormy" Maria Alejandra Cervantes, a prostitute. Good women, like Angela and her mother, are raised to be subservient wives, accepting suffering to maintain order.

Angela's Recalled

Rafael Alberti: A Life in Poetry

Rafael Alberti (born in Puerto de Santa María, Spain, 1902) was a prominent Spanish poet. He studied at the Jesuit school in his hometown but was expelled for insubordination. In 1917, he moved with his family to Madrid, where he initially pursued painting while also developing an interest in Spanish Romantic and Modernist poets. However, his literary vocation soon took precedence. In 1925, he published Marinero en tierra, a collection of poems that earned him the National Prize for Literature, shared with Gerardo Diego. He followed this with other works inspired by Andalusian folklore and the poetry of *cancioneros* (songbooks).

The commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Góngora's death, a significant event... Continue reading "Rafael Alberti and Vicente Aleixandre: Spanish Poets" »

The Generation of '27: A Spanish Literary Movement

The Generation of '27 was a constellation of writers who emerged in the Spanish cultural scene around 1927, which marks the tercentenary of the death of the baroque poet Luis de Góngora. Building on this date, Culteranismo poets asserted the author's honor, tarnished by 19th-century criticism. They celebrated Góngora at the Ateneo de Sevilla.

His aesthetic attempted to find common elements between classical and popular literary tradition and the aesthetic avant-garde, both Spanish and European. It evolved from pure poetry, the avant-garde dehumanized (Futurism, Cubism, Ultraism, Creationism), and the frigid metaphor of Góngora, to human engagement involving the disclosure of surrealism and... Continue reading "Generation of '27: Spanish Literary Movement & Poets" »

Prominent Spanish Poets of the 20th Century

Manuel Machado: A Modernist Voice

Perhaps overshadowed by the fame of his brother, Manuel Machado's verses also reach high poetic altitudes. His poetry is full of encouragement and modernist Andalusian inspiration. He writes and sings deeply from the soul. His favorite themes include:

• Gallant and sensual love (almost frivolous)
• History and evocative imagery of places
• Art and religious concerns

His poetry, characterized by great plasticity and a cheerful tone, is always full of suggestion.

Miguel de Unamuno: Philosophical Verse

Miguel de Unamuno cultivated the poetic genre across several books. Though his poetry was relegated for a time, it is now recognized for its great lyrical quality. In his verse, he... Continue reading "Literary Giants: Manuel, Miguel, and Antonio Machado's Poetic Legacy" »

Celtic-Iberians and the Iberian Peninsula

Iberians

Iberians was the name the Greeks gave to the people of the Iberian Peninsula. Unlike its diverse origins, one of the main cultural developments is their language. Numerous excavated texts have been found, but mostly in Iberian languages. Not being related to another known language, it has not been able to be deciphered yet.

Iberian art highlights ceramics. Among all the Iberians who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, historical sources mention the Tartessians, Turduli, and Turdetani as the most cultured among them.

Effectively, the Tartessos civilization was the first known civilization in Western Europe. This civilization was later known as Turdetania, named after the people who inhabited the region... Continue reading "Celtic-Iberians & Roman Influence in Ancient Spain" »

The Poetic Style of Miguel Hernández

Metaphors, Images, and Symbols

A) Metaphors and Images

Miguel Hernández emphasizes the use of rhetorical devices throughout his poetry. The main ones include:

• In The Ray That Does Not Stop, plant metaphors, country, and metal images are used. Bleeding, sharks, bulls, islands, plows, knives, and daggers express dissatisfaction and internal imbalance.
• Wind and town evoke monsters, beasts, hyenas, hares, and hounds, representing man in general. The land is an image of nature and labor.

B) Symbols

• 1st Stage: Beginnings. Moon: Language of Nature. Gardens, roses, fig trees, lilies, and oranges symbolize the erotic. Bare fields, hawthorn, olive, wheat, and almonds signify purity.
• 2nd Stage: The Ray That Does Not Stop:

Spanish Theater Evolution

In the late nineteenth century, the most prominent works were the so-called high comedy, while melodramas focused on the emotions of the viewer. Evolution of the drama: In the Restoration period, bourgeois comedy and farce evolved into tragedy, with a grotesque and modernist spirit, as well as symbolic poetic theater. The most serious attempts at renovation came from the Generation of '98 (Unamuno, Azorín, Valle-Inclán, initially) and the Generation of '27, including García Lorca.

A-Commercial Theater:
1. The comedy, also known as Bourgeois comedy, was highlighted by the author Benavente.
- Benavente broke with the style of Echegaray's tragedies, offering a theater with a greater focus on dialogue.
- The themes and... Continue reading "Spanish Theater Evolution: From High Comedy to Lorca's Vanguard" »

Traditional Lyric

Traditional lyrics were sung and danced to. They were anonymous and their main theme was parallelism. They were simple.

• Alba: Songs at dawn, about the beloved woman.
• Songs of Mowing: Songs sung by workers during their workday.
• Serranillas: Lyrical and narrative compositions in verse, singing of the meeting with a loving *serrana* (mountain woman).
• Villancicos: Songs with rhyme that began to be sung in churches and were associated with Christmas.

Cult Lyric

Elaborate poetry, they were borne by minstrels.

• Jarcha: Written in Mozarabic. Loving theme, from a female perspective.
• Cantigas: Written in the prestigious Galician language.

Alfonso X: Cantigas to the Virgin Mary

420 compositions that tell of the Virgin Mary's miracles. They are divided... Continue reading "Medieval Spanish Literature: Lyric, Narrative, Prose" »

Social Poetry: A Stage of Transformation

2nd Stage (Social Poetry): Gabriel Celaya's "Songs of Iberia" marks the first book of this stage. The author delves into his troubles and metaphysical concerns, finding solidarity with the suffering rather than religion. In his own words, the task is "to demonstrate the tragedy of living brotherhood and then as soon as possible through it." Blas de Otero, influenced by Marxist ideology, conceives poetry as a tool for social change. He addresses the "vast majority," contrasting with Juan Ramón Jiménez's slogan. Like Jiménez, he seeks simplicity of language, though sometimes only apparent, with a desire for accessibility to help transform the world.

The work begins with a quote from Don Quixote, "will