Language Functions and Medieval Literature Analysis

Language Functions

Functions of language are not incompatible if mixed; talk of secondary functions.

1. Predominant and Representative Functions: Context focuses on the objective to convey information. Extralinguistics focuses on reality; its main feature is objectivity.
2. Expressive Function: Issuer-oriented, emphasizes feelings and attitude of the speaker. The message is above the transmission of the facts; the characteristic function is colloquial registration.
3. Appellative Function: Receiver-oriented, the intent is to influence the behavior of the receiver (call someone, ask questions, request, order, prohibit, counsel).
4. Phatic Function: Acts on the channel; the aim is to establish a communication channel or close it.
5. Metalinguistic Function: Focus on the code; characteristic of messages is that the language is taken as a reference.
6. Poetic Function: Oriented to the message, expressions in the message call attention to itself.

Medieval Literature

Gonzalo de Berceo (13th Century)

In a class-feudal society of diffuse topics, the 13th century saw classic, novelistic, epic-national, and religious works, such as those of Gonzalo de Berceo, the first poet of our literature. There are three classes:

• Hagiographic (lives of saints)
• Mariology (on the Virgin Mary; Miracles of Our Lady is the most extensive, consisting of an introduction and 25 allegorical stories narrated in which miracles of the Virgin occur)
• Liturgical (in ceremonies of worship)

Archpriest of Hita

It permeates a satirical, didactic, and moralistic meaning. The most important work is The Book of Good Love, written in the first half of the 14th century, mentioning the most varied themes and cultural trends of the Middle Ages.

The Book of Good Love

Thematic axis is love in its divine and human dimension; the tension between the two arises from the ambiguity of the work.

Argument and Structure

There is a succession of mock affairs featuring the poet; this autobiographical narrative is the core argument of the book.

Metric

Juan Ruiz used the frame via the subway, sometimes Alexandrian, replaced by the 16 syllables in their lyrical compositions of art. The verse leads to less than zejel especially.

Purpose

The title is confusing; it could refer to human love as fine art or to divine love, and the intention would lie there moralizing.

Medieval Prose

The first manifestations of prose published under the reign of Ferdinand III (first half of the 13th century) consist of translations of Latin texts.

Literary Prose (14th Century)

The birth of this prose occurs in the 14th century. Chancellor Ayala cultivated the historical genre with a humanistic spirit, prosecuting the facts critically. Don Juan Manuel, Count, author of the didactic work that constitutes the literary summit of the 14th century, is the author of Count Lucanor, a collection of 50 stories in which the Count Lucanor is instructed by his servant and counselor Patroclo. His moral teachings invite one to take practical actions to life. The work uses a distinctive style with which he pursues clarity and precision.

Count Lucanor Structure

• Introduction: The Count presents his servant with a problem of daily life and asks his advice.
• Core: The servant tells a story that is well adapted to the circumstances of the problem presented.
• Application to the problem of the moral of the story: The moral is summarized in a couplet.

Teaching in a New Genre

The novel comes together in a double 14th-century phenomenon: the degeneration of the epic and the decline of feudal society. The first signs are: the adventure novel converges with loving feelings by the action of the Classic Legends.

The Novel of Chivalry

Elements involved the heroic epic of the French and the fantastic and legendary history of Britain.

Medieval Drama

It is not related to classical antiquity, born tied to religious celebrations, comes from the dramatization of the religious ceremonies in churches. Over time, the dramatic elements acquire more relevance to the liturgical representation of what is taken out of churches.