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

Modernist and Traditional Trends in Spanish Poetry

The most outstanding features of this poetry are the synthesis of modernism and tradition and the diversity of aesthetic trends, among which are:

• Modernist Interior Poetry (Ultraísmo and Creationism):
  1. The importance of the city and enthusiasm for modern life.
  2. Poetic experimentation: the cultivation of the image, plastic and visual values, and the suppression of rhyme and punctuation.
• Pure Poetry: Looking at the essential representation of the world, with an outstanding presence of nature and its changes, while rejecting sentiment and the anecdotal. It tends toward sobriety and nominalism, cultivating regular versification.
• Neopopularism: Poets like Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Gerardo

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" »

**15th-Century Literature: A Blend of Medieval and Humanist Ideals**

**Key Literary Models of the Era**

• Dante Alighieri: Author of *The Divine Comedy*
• Francesco Petrarch: Known for his love poetry, which influenced European literature
• Giovanni Boccaccio: A model for sentimental prose

**Characteristics of the Mixture of Humanism and Medieval Themes**

• Chivalric subjects
• Evaluation of fame
• Admiration for a cultivated style
• The demise of the medieval schools of clergy and minstrelsy

**Learned Poetry**

This style, also called "cancionero" because the poetry is preserved in the songbooks of the time, is conceptual and addresses issues such as love, satire, and morality. Love poetry is modeled after medieval courts, while the lyrical theme mimics the moral-allegorical... Continue reading "15th-Century Literature: Humanism, Poetry, Prose, and Theater" »

Lyric Poetry: Features and Major Roman Poets

The Lyric

Features

• Expression of the author's feelings
• Everyday topics such as love or hate
• Conveys emotions to the reader
• Short compositions
• Mythological allusions

Catullus — Lyric Poet

Catullus

He is one of the greatest lyric poets. Two modes of poetry he wrote include:

• Iambic poems and short compositions, including epigrams in elegiac couplets.
• Narrative poems in which he does not refer to himself at all.

These works reflect personal feelings or impressions experienced by the poet himself, especially in relation to his beloved Lesbia.

Two circumstances mark his life and work: the infidelity of Lesbia and the death of his brother. In the poet's life are mixed feelings of happiness with moments of gloom and... Continue reading "Roman Lyric Poetry — Catullus, Horace and Ovid" »

Key Characters

• Santiago Nasar: The central character, a 21-year-old from a powerful family.
• Angela Vicario: Accused Santiago of taking her virginity.
• Bayardo San Román: A newcomer, known for his courage and arrogance, who marries Angela.
• Placida Linero: Santiago's mother, who fails to foresee her son's death.
• Christopher Bedoya: A childhood friend of Santiago.
• Pedro and Pablo Vicario: Angela's twin brothers, obligated to avenge the family honor.

Authors

Mario Vargas Llosa

A writer whose fiction varies in each novel, always seeking to renew structures and ways of expression to approach Latin American reality. Works include: The City and the Dogs, Talk in the Cathedral, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, The War of the End of the World.

Miguel Angel Asturias

Nobel... Continue reading "Key Characters and Authors in Latin American Literature" »

Antonio Machado: A Poet of Melancholy

Antonio Machado was born in Seville in 1875. Like his brother, he was educated in the liberal and progressive environment of the Free Institution of Education. His first book went unnoticed, and its influence is clear from Rubén Darío and the French symbolist poets. He appeared in 1903 with the title of Loneliness, which was published in 1907 but again under the title of Solitudes, Galleries, and Other Poems. His vocabulary is rich, full of adjectives and metaphors, as was characteristic of the modernists.

Recurring Themes in Machado's Work

Frequent topics in his poetry include the melancholy of autumn, trees, and gardens in the evening, symbolizing the sad feelings of the author. Machado's work is closely... Continue reading "Antonio Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez: Spanish Poets' Legacy" »

Romantic Lyricism: Definition and Features

Romantic lyric is a literary piece written in verse that has the characteristics of the Romantic movement.

Key Features:

• Directly linked with the author's emotions and experiences.
• Identification of nature with the author's moods.
• Presence of religious elements.
• Identification of the poet with his work, incorporating elements of their life.
• Polyrhythm, meaning the lines are not metrically equal.
• Use of romantic elements, such as metaphors and expressive resources.

Latin American Representatives of Romanticism:

• Martín Fierro
• Rubén Darío
• Esteban Echeverría
• Juan Zorrilla
• Juana Inés de la Cruz

Juan Antonio Pérez Bonalde: Romantic Lyricist (19th Century)

Life and Influences:

• Left Venezuela due to disagreements with

Marcus Fabius Quintilian

Marcus Fabius Quintilian stands as the highest representative of Roman eloquence in the eyes of our era. Of Spanish origin, he was born in Calahorra, in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, around 40 AD. He soon went to Rome, where he was taught by the most important rhetoricians of the time. In the last years of Nero's government, he returned to Spain, but was recalled by Galba in 68 AD and remained in Rome until his death.

The Emperor Vespasian appointed him teacher of rhetoric, and Domitian later commissioned him to educate his nephews. In stark contrast to his public life, which was full of fame and success, his private life was very unhappy, as he soon lost his wife and two young children.

In 90 AD, Quintilian... Continue reading "Masters of Roman Oratory: Quintilian and Cicero's Legacy" »