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

Spanish Poetry of the Francoist Exile

The Spanish Civil War led to the exile of many intellectuals from the Francoist regime. In the productions of these exiled poets, certain thematic constants emerge: the memory of a beloved homeland, the fight against injustice, and the inexorable passage of time. The poets went into exile, either voluntarily or because they knew that staying in Spain could mean prison or death.

Poetry of the 1940s

Rooted Poetry (Poesía Arraigada)

In the immediate post-war years, a propagandistic poetry of the victors was imposed. With the approval of the regime, two magazines were prominent:

• Escorial: A purely Falangist publication.
• Garcilaso: A somewhat more open magazine, founded by José García Nieto, which evolved the formal

Vicent Andrés Estellés: Voice of Valencia

Vicent Andrés Estellés, a progressive nationalist and self-taught literary figure, worked as a journalist in the provinces. He ignited renewed Valencian poetry and, despite a lack of modern tradition, produced a very extensive body of work.

He is considered the poet who best represents the Valencian country in recent years, as he writes about all elements that define Valencian identity. His poetry speaks of everyday reality with great sincerity, conveying feelings such as love, fear, hunger, and death.

His works particularly address the misery of war, political oppression, and the moral anxiety stemming from the monotony of human existence. Estellés is the voice of the people, bearing witness to all... Continue reading "Contemporary Catalan and Valencian Literary Figures" »

Hispano-American Literature in the 20th Century

The first decades of the twentieth century saw political stability and economic growth, largely thanks to the United States. A significant middle class developed, alongside the rise of the workers' movement. The financial crisis of 1929 broke this stability, but during World War II, exports dramatically increased. This period highlighted social and political shortcomings. U.S. control grew, fostering nationalist sentiment and populism.

The sixties brought new political and social instability with the triumph of revolutionary movements in Cuba, the reforms of Salvador Allende in Chile, and the Nicaraguan revolution. Dictatorships emerged, suppressing the most elementary human rights and originating... Continue reading "Major Movements in 20th Century Hispano-American Literature" »

Medieval Romance Origins

Medieval romance novels have their origins in Greco-Latin works that were translated into prose. These stories are often based on legends, such as those of Chrétien de Troyes about King Arthur. Works like Lancelot focus on the quest for the Holy Grail and the wars fought to reclaim the cup used at the Last Supper. These conflicts were known as the Crusades, missions to recapture holy sites from the Moors. The Crusades led to the creation of military orders in Europe, like the Templars and other knightly orders, to protect travelers on the road to Jerusalem from bandits.

Chivalric Romances

Chivalric romances emerged as an evolution of the epic. They use prose to narrate the exploits of knights, blending reality with fantasy.... Continue reading "Medieval Romance Novels: Origins and Key Features" »

The Power of Women in Curial e Güelfa

Women: The Engine of the Action. Curial e Güelfa is a novel where Curial is the hero, and the play moves along socially and psychologically. However, Curial would not have existed without the intervention of women. Although Güelfa is a character who is not evolving, she allows Curial to begin his chivalric life by providing him with all the money he needs and offering him her love. Güelfa knows what she wants; she is an intelligent, beautiful, and cultured woman. Without Güelfa, Curial would have been a nobody.

Another woman who pushes the protagonist is Lachesis. She is the best-described woman in the novel, known for her great beauty that captivates Curial and provokes jealousy, anger, and contempt... Continue reading "The Power of Women in Curial e Güelfa: A Literary Analysis" »

Contextualizing Machado's Poetic Work

The poem The embers of a purple twilight belongs to the collection De la Vía, later included in Solitudes, Galerías y Otros Poemas. These poems were first published in August 1902 in Electra and the literary journal Revista Ibérica. Antonio Machado reorganized the poetry collection from its 1903 edition in 1907.

The poems are grouped into five sections:

• Solitudes
• De la Vía
• Songs and Ballads
• Humor, Fantasy, Notes
• Galerías
• Various

In total, although 13 poems were removed from the first edition, the book ultimately comprised 96 poems.

Themes and Poetic Structure

The poem describes a fountain near a cemetery. It presents a clear dominance of the **theme of death**, closely linked to the **existential angst** of being... Continue reading "Antonio Machado's 'Purple Twilight': Poetic Depth & Symbolism" »

When Miguel de Cervantes penned his works, a central challenge for the novel was to reconcile the opposition between fantasy and reality as literary categories. The novels written at the time (e.g., books of chivalry, pastoral romances) were often based on the recreation of the fantastic and improbable. Cervantes's great contribution was to break this rigid opposition between reality and fantasy, achieving full autonomy for the fictional world. The fantastic and the real became categories that did not rely on pure objective reality, but rather on the internal consistency created within the new "novelistic reality."

The dichotomy Cervantes established was not merely between fiction and reality, but between life and its literary portrayals. His... Continue reading "Cervantes's Entremeses: Bridging Reality and Fiction in Golden Age Theatre" »

Key Figures in Hispanic American Literature

Major Poets of Hispanic America

Pablo Neruda (Chile)

He served as consul in Madrid, where he met the poets of the Generation of '27, and later as ambassador to Paris. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.

Key Works:

• Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair: A foundational book focusing on themes of young love.
• Canto General: A vibrant and combative epic that sings to the lands and peoples of America.

Mario Benedetti (Uruguay)

Benedetti writes poetry easily, often employing a conversational tone. His main themes are social commitment and love. He is perhaps the most widely read poet among Spanish and Hispanic youth. He also wrote stories and novels, the most important of which is The Truce.

Defining

Baroque Literature Characteristics

Baroque writers prioritized originality, aiming for surprising effects, resulting in art dominated by contrast. They employed a complex style rich in literary devices.

A pessimistic view of reality is evident in key Baroque themes:

• Concern for moral standards.
• The transience of life.
• The universal presence of death.
• Disappointment.
• Existence as a subject for contemplation.

Different literary approaches among authors led to two main currents:

Culteranismo

Sought formal beauty through learned words and an artificial language, often using anastrophe. Its main representative was Luis de Góngora.

Conceptismo

Developed a complex literary discourse based on wit, irony, paradox, double meaning, or caricature. The most important... Continue reading "Spanish Baroque Literature: Authors and Styles" »

The Generation of 50 Poets

The Generation of 50 refers to a group of Spanish poets who began publishing in the 1950s. Some younger poets, while not strictly part of the group, shared their critical vision of reality, common ethical attitudes, and a similar focus on community problems. For example, their concerns included the individual's relationship with their environment, social dissent, and denunciation.

A key feature of these poets was their humanist attitude, demonstrating a deep concern for human problems—social, moral, existential, and historical. This concern often manifested as an open political or social statement, though always rooted in their personal perspective. Most exhibited a conscious stylistic will and a diligent care for... Continue reading "Spanish Poetry: The Generation of 50 and Novísimos" »