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

Roman Architecture

Religious Structures

Roman temples were often prostyle, featuring columns only on the front side. Many were pseudo-peripteral, with columns attached to the temple's perimeter. They typically had a single tier providing access to the pronaos, rising on a podium (base).

Civil Structures

• Basilicas: These were of great importance for the administration of justice and commerce. They typically featured three rectangular, lintel-covered naves.
• Baths (Thermae): Public baths were highly significant. They included meeting rooms, libraries, sports areas, and were often free. These complexes comprised various rooms.
• Theaters and Amphitheaters: Roman theaters gave less importance to the orchestra and chorus areas. They were semicircular, with

Gabriel García Márquez and the Latin American Boom

The novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, was written by Gabriel García Márquez, who was born in Colombia in 1928 and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. García Márquez belongs to a group of storytellers who drove the Latin American narrative in the 1960s (known as the Boom).

Key Characteristics of the Boom Narrative

The most significant features of this literary movement can be classified into:

• Magical realism
• The incorporation of the subconscious
• The presence of death
• The breakdown of linear time
• Illogicality
• Experimentation with language
• The sacred meaning of the body

Chronicle of a Death Foretold: Genre and Themes

This is a short novel that blends elements of the news story and detective... Continue reading "Analyzing Chronicle of a Death Foretold Structure and Style" »

Influences

A) Hispanic Roots: Literary modernism was born in Latin America with authors like José Martí and Rubén Darío.

B) The Influence of Parnassianism and Symbolism:

• Parnassianism: Parnassians sought, above all, the formal perfection of the literary work. It represents an attempt to escape from the reality of their time through the creation of an artificial reality where only beauty matters.
• Symbolism: Symbolism is an art form against which reality is merely represented. Symbolists intend to go beyond what can be perceived by the senses. Their mission is to find those other realities that exist behind the apparent reality and struggle with language to suggest them to the reader through the musicality of the text (literary resources).

C)

Fernando de Rojas: Author of La Celestina

Fernando de Rojas (La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo, 1470 – Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, 1541) was a Spanish dramatist, renowned as the author of the tragicomedy, La Celestina. This work is considered one of the top achievements in Spanish literary history and marks a crucial, transitional point between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Birth, Converso Heritage, and the Inquisition

Rojas was born into a family of conversos (Jewish converts) who faced repeated scrutiny and trials by the Inquisition for secretly practicing Judaism. Rojas actively assisted his family members, known as Marranos, affected by these persecutions. Documents related to his own accusations by the Inquisition strongly support... Continue reading "Fernando de Rojas: Life, Authorship, and La Celestina's Literary Legacy" »

Postwar Spanish Literature: The 1940s Generation

The 1940s saw the beginning of publication for authors such as Camilo José Cela, with The Family of Pascual Duarte (1942); Gonzalo Torrente Ballester; Miguel Delibes; and Carmen Laforet, with her work Nada (1945).

The 1950s Generation: Commitment and Social Critique

In 1950, a large group of writers appeared who differed from the previous generation. On one hand, they did not participate in the Civil War and were thus further removed from the war issue, preferring to discuss the present. On the other hand, they believed that literature should express the writer's commitment to society and have a purpose, sometimes political. The two major themes of these writers were:

1. Complaint of the injustice

Bernat Metge

His stepfather introduced him to the Royal Chancellery, where he held important positions and eventually became secretary. Metge was one of the writers significantly influenced by humanism. His most important work is Lo Somni (The Dream), in which he appears and tells the king that he is not in hell.

Jaume Roig

He authored Espill (Mirror) or Llibre de les Dones (Book of Women), a work written using the medieval technique of the noves rimades (new rhymes). He employed short verses and a fast pace. The work is divided into four books where the protagonist recounts her life, detailing various marriages. The woman is depicted as a collection of defects, almost as a human evil. This work has been considered a precedent to the Spanish picaresque... Continue reading "Literary Giants of Catalan and Valencian Heritage" »

The Baroque Artistic Style

The Baroque is an artistic style that reflects the pain of human existence.

Historical and Social Context: 17th Century Spain

The seventeenth century was defined by Absolutism, characterized by monarchical power and the appearance of validos (a sovereign's trusted person who had access to the government).

Key Monarchs of the 17th Century

• Philip III: Characterized by his inability and disinterest in governing the country, leading to a loss of political prestige and evidence of economic crisis.
• Philip IV: Showed more interest, but suffered from a severe economic crisis.
• Charles II: His reign is considered the darkest period in Spanish history. He died without issue.

Social Strata in the Baroque Period

• The Nobility: Lived off

Literary Movements and Correspondence

Future: Traditional and Aesthetic Rejects

Celebrating life, based on its two dominant themes: Machine and Movement. Thus, any expressive environment (visual arts, architecture, planning, advertising, fashion, film, music, poetry).

Caligrama

Text lines that are a drawing.

Dadaism

The absurdity reflects society. It is the start from scratch, breaking all the schemes proposed or prior practice.

It is an inartistic, antiliterary, and antipoetic movement questioning the existence of art, literature, and poetry.

Surrealism

(Boris Vian) Reality beyond the standards imposed by the author.

Surrealism was a great revolution in language and the provision of new composition techniques.

Generation of '98

• Features: The authors are

Miguel Hernández: A Literary Journey

Early Influences and the Echo of Góngora

In 1927, the 300th anniversary of Luis de Góngora y Argote's death was commemorated. Poets across the nation paid tribute to him, much like they had for Lope, Quevedo, and Calderón. For Miguel Hernández, a newcomer to literary circles, this event solidified his vocation. Many analysts observe a temporary influence of Góngora in Hernández's early work, *Perito en Lunas*. However, Hernández did not merely imitate. He discovered a profound resonance with the richness of the Baroque language. Like Góngora before him, he amplified the meaning of words, lending even greater power to his writing. During this period, Hernández achieved success where his contemporaries... Continue reading "Miguel Hernández: Life and Poetic Evolution" »

Vicente Aleixandre: Themes and Poetic Stages

In Aleixandre's poetry, despite its diversity and thematic variations, a common thought has persisted: the unity of love in the world in its various manifestations.

Three Main Poetic Stages

Aleixandre's poetic output is generally classified into three major stages:

First Stage: Surrealism and Liberation

This stage includes poems in prose such as Espadas como labios, Passion of the Land, Destruction or Love, World Travelers, The Shadow of Paradise, and Last Birth. At this point, the surrealist influence is evident in the freedom of expression and the desire for personal liberation. The primary topics covered are: the exaltation of nature, love and eroticism, and death.

Second Stage: Human Connection

Works... Continue reading "The Poetic Evolution of Vicente Aleixandre and Rafael Alberti" »