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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

Secció A: Volcans, Meteorologia i Hidrologia

1.1 Composició Volcànica

1. CO₂, vapor d’aigua, H₂S, ... (del volcà o en fumaroles)
2. Les colades de lava estan formades d’una fracció líquida important.
3. Cendres, bombes, lapil·li (gredes, pedra pòmez...), etc.

2.2 Condicions Meteorològiques i Pressió

Com que els vents vénen del Nord (nord – nord-est, si es vol ser més precís), les temperatures seran fresques o fredes, depenent de l’època de l’any. La pressió atmosfèrica a Catalunya, segons el mapa, és de 1000-1004 hPa (mb).

3.2 Càlcul del Cabal del Riu

Segons el tall de la gràfica, la casa es veu afectada quan l’aigua del riu arriba als 4 metres. Tenint en compte que la llera és de forma triangular, la secció que té el riu... Continue reading "Anàlisi Geològica, Meteorològica i Hidrològica a Catalunya" »

The Renaissance and Baroque Periods

Peter Seraph (1505-1567)

Peter Seraph (1505/1510-1567) was influenced by Ausiàs March during the Renaissance. His Catalan works include two books and 170 poems.

John Smith (Died c. 1603)

John Smith (died c. 1603) fully embraced the traditionally conservative attitude of Ausiàs March. His work is a counter-accord with a movement that sought to restore the Church's moral authority, characteristic of the Baroque period.

Francesc Vicent Garcia (1579-1623)

Francesc Vicent Garcia (1579/1582-1623) is considered the greatest representative of his time, known as the Rector of Vallfogona. His work, influenced by Castilian literature, is humorous and eschatological (referring to excrement). He generated "vallfogonisme,"... Continue reading "Catalan Literary Evolution: Renaissance to Modernism" »

Petrarchism and 16th Century Humanism

Italian poet **Petrarch** in the 14th century embodies like no other the characters and ideals of humanism. **Petrarchism** is a style or way of writing poetry.

Poetry in 16th Century Spain

There are two main trends in poetry: traditional Spanish and Italianate poetry.

Traditional Spanish Poetry

In the fifteenth century, there existed learned poetry and popular poetry. Popular poetry manifested itself, for example, in the romances. In the sixteenth century, both types of poetry continued, and poetry was widely cultivated. The popular lyric tradition continued throughout the century.

Italianate Poetry

Italianate poetry is another type of educated and innovative poetry that came to dominate in the sixteenth century.... Continue reading "16th Century Spanish Literature: Petrarchism, Poetry, Novel" »

Key Early 20th Century Spanish Novelists

This period saw a flourishing of diverse styles, from humor to modernism and the avant-garde.

Writers Focused on Humor

Fernandez Flores: His main interest was the creation of the modern humorous novel in Spain. For him, humor was an attitude towards life, increasingly critical and intellectual (Volvoreta, The Living Forest...).

Ramón Gómez de la Serna: He wrote novels, short stories, and avant-garde theater. However, his most interesting works are the greguerías (humorous lyrical images establishing witty, unusual relationships between two objects or concepts), which he defined as: humor + metaphor.

Modernist Novelists

Gabriel Miró: He presents a special care in his prose. Formed in modernism (Cherries