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

The Generation of '27

The Generation of '27 is a group of Spanish poets who gathered in 1927 to pay homage to Luis de Góngora on the tercentenary of his death.

Features:

• Re-addition of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, whom these poets, along with Juan Ramón Jiménez, would recognize as a precursor to their "naked poetry."
• These poets recovered the Spanish folk tradition while also embracing the avant-garde.
• They felt the influence of early avant-garde movements like Ultraism and Creationism.
• Regarding metrics, they used traditional stanzas such as romances, ballads, sonnets, and silvas, and they can be considered initiators of free verse.
• There is also the classic footprint of Bécquer and Góngora.
• Their poetry is transcendent, human, and passionate.
• Their

Hispanic Literature: Authors, Movements and Narrative Eras

American Literature: Fiction: Tales by excellent storytellers. The narrators explore the implications of indigenous cultures, their form and their own perspective, shaping how the narrators understand the world. In Hispanic literature, its symbolism, language and magic are not inferior to short stories comparable to European culture.

Borges is the master of the short story ("The Aleph", "The Congress of the World").

Three Chronological Periods

1st period: The tendency was predominantly toward the realistic novel up to the 1940s. From the 1940s to the 1960s came a period of renewal, and after the 1960s the Hispanic narrative consolidated the personality it still proposes today.

Nature, with... Continue reading "Spanish and Latin American Literature: Key Authors, Movements and Narrative Eras" »

Humanism and the Royal Chancery

Humanism: James I created the Royal Chancery, an office where laws were drafted and translated into Latin, Aragonese, and Catalan. Under Peter, King of Aragon, this institution established a concept of state intertwined with religion. By the sixteenth century, a model of written Catalan emerged—the second major standard after Ramon Llull—referred to as a Koine or standard language. This educated form was used to avoid confusion, ensuring that everyone serving the Chancery across different territories used the same linguistic power.

The Rise of Humanist Writers

In the early 15th century, the first great writers appeared, such as Bernat Metge (referred to as the "Doctor"). He served as the first chancellor and... Continue reading "Catalan Humanism and the Great Medieval Chronicles" »

Poetic Forms and Baroque Literary Devices

• Seventeenth-Century Metrics:
  • Italian hendecasyllables
  • Castilian octosyllables
  • Romances (with Baroque preferences)
• Literary Devices:
  • Metaphors
  • Paradoxes
  • Cultisms
  • Puns
  • Hyperbole

Culteranismo: The Góngora Style

A literary style characterized by:

• Extensive use of cultisms (words derived from Latin and Greek)
• Complex Latinate syntax (hyperbaton)
• Elaborate metaphors and hyperbole
• Frequent alliteration

Conceptismo: Wit and Intellectual Depth

A style focused on the ingenious association of ideas, featuring:

• Emphasis on ideas over words
• Rationalist lexicon
• Creation of unexpected compositions and word derivations
• Sharp metaphors, antithesis, and oxymoron

Luis de Góngora: Master of Culteranismo

Góngora's work is known for its:

• Pictorial

Galdós — Leading Spanish Realist Novelist

Galdós: One of the best storytellers of the Castilian language and the most representative author of the realistic novel. His Episodios Nacionales are inspired by nineteenth-century Spanish history, and his novels that come from the observation of his own era are aimed at improving the life of the country. These novels are divided into three groups.

Thesis Novels

Thesis: Moved by their progressive spirit. Through symbolic characters, the reader notes the clash between liberal ideology and conservatism. Doña Perfecta.

Contemporáneas

Contemporáneas: From his position as omniscient narrator, he provides information about the problems that Spanish society had not yet resolved. Fortunata and Jacinta.

Spiritual

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is the historical period of Western civilization between the 5th and 15th centuries. Its onset is conventionally located in 476 with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and its end in 1492 with the discovery of America, or in 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine Empire.

Late Antiquity Transition

Historians now prefer to qualify this break period between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Thus, between the 3rd and 8th centuries, there is usually talk of Late Antiquity, which was a major transition in all spheres:

• Economic: The replacement of the slave mode of production by the feudal mode of production.
• Socially: The disappearance of the concept of Roman citizenship and the definition of the medieval estates.
• Politically:

Rubén Darío: The Voice of Modernism

Darío's poetic production begins with Epístolas and poems encouraging progress, Central American unity, and democracy. His work also reflects his doubts, fears, and eroticism, a recurring theme in his poetry.

Azul (1888)

This collection includes short stories and poems that create a world of fairies, princesses, centaurs, swans, and fountains. The use of exotic objects and aristocratic exquisiteness—the "art for art's sake" philosophy—implies a rejection of bourgeois reality. Key symbols include the color blue and the swan.

Prosas Profanas (1896)

Dazzled by both metric and verbal innovations, this work signaled the fascination and repulsion of modern poetry toward traditional religion. Darío reinforced... Continue reading "Rubén Darío and Antonio Machado: Key Works and Themes" »

19th Century Spanish History

The Absolutist Period (Early 19th Century)

At the beginning of the century, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his army invaded Spain. The Spanish reacted, and Spain became the scene of the War of Independence, which ended with the expulsion of the French. During the war, the Constitution of 1812 was drafted in Cadiz. This caused confrontations between liberals and absolutists led by Ferdinand VII.

The Liberal Period

After the death of Ferdinand VII, liberals sided with his daughter Isabella, confronting those who supported King Ferdinand VII's brother Carlos, who favored absolutism. These clashes were called the Carlist Wars. The Liberals won, implementing reforms such as land redistribution and economic improvements.... Continue reading "19th Century Spain: History, Politics, and Romanticism" »

Social Control and Internal Political Repression

Spanish society in the 1940s was marked by what is considered a strong repression of both Republicans and Communists. This led to the existence of concentration camps where Republican prisoners were interned. Some of these prisoners went to prison (in 1940, there were approximately 300,000), and in all cases, there was physical and psychological torture.

The Machinery of Post-War Persecution

Normal trials or military tribunals did not exist; instead, cases were handled under military laws, which often implied the death penalty. In Catalonia, 1,077 people were tried in military courts and sentenced to death based on anonymous allegations. A simple investigation was enough to imprison someone.

A special... Continue reading "Francoist Repression and Social Control in Post-War Spain" »

Poetry Movements in Post-War Spain

The 1940s: Rooted and Uprooted Poetry

Rooted Poetry (Poesía Arraigada)

This movement presents an optimistic vision of reality, though an intimate line often reveals the chaos and pain produced by the war.

Key Themes:

• The country and the glorious past
• Religious fervor and the beauty of the landscape
• Familiar life and traditional metrics

Language and Metric:

Worshipful language and the use of classical forms (e.g., the sonnet).

Uprooted Poetry (Poesía Desarraigada)

Expresses the despair and anguish of man regarding existence and the meaning of life.

Key Themes:

• The meaning of life and suffering in this world
• God's lack of response to pain

Language and Metric:

Uses a lexicon reflecting violent despair and anguish. Utilizes... Continue reading "Spanish Literature 1940s-1950s: Movements, Themes, and Authors" »