Baroque and Enlightenment in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Baroque in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Baroque is the period of Western culture that began in the 17th century. It was a very prolific period in all forms of artistic manifestation, in which there was always an attitude of disappointment.

Key Themes of the Baroque Period

• Transience of life
• The taste for the monstrous
• The passage of time
• Contrasts

Literary Devices in Baroque Literature

• Taste for ornamentation (hyperbole and hyperbaton)
• Confusion between reality and appearance (paradoxes, antitheses, and puns)

Literary Currents of the Baroque

• Conceptismo: Showcases sharpness of wit through the association of ideas and words.
• Culteranismo: Focuses on formal beauty, with a heavy and pompous style.

Prose in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Authors:

1. Pere Joan Porcar: Wrote for 40 years more than 3400 fragments of a diary that describes 17th-century Valencia. This work constitutes the best mirror of Valencian society today. It narrates everyday and extraordinary events.
2. Joaquim Aierdi: Wrote "News of Valencia and His Kingdom," annotations on religious topics and social violence.

Theater in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

1. Francesc Fontanella: Wrote works of verse drama like "Love," "Firmness and Obstinacy," and "What's Disillusion."
2. Francesc Mulet: "The Princess and the King Matarot Tellina," "The Love of Melisendra."

Poetry in 17th-Century Valencian Literature

Cult Tradition:

• Conceptista, characterized by the density of the concept.
• Culterana, characterized by the use of mythology.

Authors:

• Francesc Vicent Garcia: The most representative poet of our Baroque period, with extraordinary literary quality.

Popular Poetry:

• Outstanding for its popular component.

Authors:

• Peter Hyacinth Morlà: The most prolific author of colloquia in 17th-century Valencia, with 7500 verses preserved. Works: Satirical and festive poems.

The Enlightenment in Valencian Literature

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement based on reason as a method of analyzing reality.

Key Works of the Enlightenment

1. The Encyclopedia (Diderot and Alembert) embodies the principles of the Enlightenment.
2. In France: The Candidate (Voltaire), The Emile (Rousseau).
3. In England: Robinson Crusoe (Defoe), Gulliver's Travels (Swift).

Valencian Authors of the Enlightenment

1. Marco Antonio Orellana: Wrote booklets on fish and birds of La Albufera.
2. Maians Gregory: A scholar interested in the native language and culture.
3. Antonio José Cavanilles: "Observations on the Natural History, Geography, Agriculture... of the Kingdom of Valencia."
4. Luis Galiano: His aim was to cleanse the language of everything that was strange and to achieve the classic model of Valencia. "Fables of Comedy" (1768): A caricature and slogan saying that talks about a humble family's disputes in Valencia.
5. Carles Ros: He wrote about spelling and grammar, comparative vocabularies, treaties, sayings, colloquia, and romances. He produced "Book of Women, Fables of Comedy."

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism was an artistic current from France that considered the classical world as the role model.

Characteristics of Neoclassicism

1. Taste for order, balance, and harmony.
2. Prose focused on moral life.
3. Cultivation of theater inspired by classical tragedies.