Key Aspects of 15th Century Spanish Literature and Culture
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Causes of the Late 15th Century Transformation
- The era of discoveries and the application of great inventions (compass, gunpowder).
- The rise of Humanism.
- Columbus's discovery of America.
- The development of the bourgeoisie.
Cultural and Historical Facts of the 15th Century
The rougher forms of medieval life were refined, extending the bourgeois mentality, and culture became a feature of social distinction. Columbus's discovery of America marked a pivotal moment.
Characteristics of Castilian Popular Lyric
- Variety
- Depicts nature
- Repetition
- Puns
- Contrasts
Romances: Forms and Origins
New Romances
Romances written by cultured poets of the 15th and 17th centuries.
Old Romances
A collection of romances that were sung at the end of the Middle Ages.
Theories on Romance Origin
- At the end of the Middle Ages, they can be found in the decomposition of the chanson de geste.
- They may also have been the result of a great poet whose work received widespread reception.
Literary Resources in Romances
- Enumerations
- Antithesis
- Calls to the listener
- Frequent dialogue
- Syntactic simplicity
Definition of Romance
A verse poem with assonance rhyme in even-numbered lines and an indeterminate series of octosyllabic verses.
Courtly Love
Originating in 12th-century Provence, its theme is love. Its creators, the troubadours, presented women as superior beings, worshipped by the lover in a relationship of vassalage.
Influenced Literary Forms
Galician and Catalan lyric poetry, due to their proximity.
15th Century Castilian Poets and Their Works
- Santillana: Serranillas, Divine Comedy.
- Juan de Mena: Laberinto de Fortuna.
- Jorge Manrique: Coplas por la muerte de su padre.
Coplas por la muerte de su padre (CMP) by Jorge Manrique
Theme of CMP
It is a profound meditation on life and death.
Structure of CMP
This work consists of 40 stanzas, reflecting on the transition from medieval life and the omnipresence of death, offering hope for a better world.
Metrical Structure of CMP
Formed by coplas de pie quebrado (broken-foot couplets), consisting of six stanzas with octosyllabic and tetrasyllabic lines, and consonant rhyme (8a 8b 4c).
La Celestina: A Masterpiece of Spanish Literature
Titles of La Celestina
- Comedia de Calisto y Melibea
- Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea
- La Celestina
Author of La Celestina
Fernando de Rojas.
Content and Genre of La Celestina
Initially, it had 16 acts; the following year, 5 more were added. As a novel, it features free treatment of time and space, the existence of non-dramatic scenes, and detailed character design.
La Celestina as Theater
It lacks a narrator and was not primarily intended for stage representation but for collective reading.
Language Use in La Celestina
It employs both scholarly and popular language, with characters speaking one or the other depending on their social class. The old matchmaker, Celestina, can even change her linguistic register according to the speaker.
Main Themes in La Celestina
- Love
- Death
- Ambition
- Greed