Spanish Baroque Literature: Authors and Styles

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 figure was Francisco de Quevedo.

Baroque Poetry Characteristics

Baroque lyric poetry preserved genres and metrics imported from Italy during the Renaissance, while also utilizing traditional forms like eight-syllable verses and romances.

Themes reflected the concerns of the era:

• Criticism of manners.
• The transience of life.
• Disappointment and death.

Stylistically, it presented renewal with innovative concepts, including culteranismo and conceptismo.

Luis de Góngora's Literary Works

Góngora's work features two main types of compositions:

• Popular poems: Minor art compositions written in a straightforward language, emphasizing romances and letrillas (short satirical poems).
• Cultured poems: Major art compositions, including nearly two hundred sonnets on various themes such as love and morality.

Notable Works

• The Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea: Recreates the myth of the cyclops Polyphemus, who is in love with the nymph Galatea, but she loves Acis.
• The Solitudes: Exalts life in nature.

These cultured poems are characterized by a style rich in obscure and challenging culteranismo, mythological references, complex metaphors, and violent hyperbatons.

Pedro Calderón de la Barca's Theater

Calderón wrote a theater of ideas that delved into the moral and philosophical concerns of his era.

Autos Sacramentales

Autos Sacramentales reflected theological dilemmas of the time. Characters, often personifications of abstract ideas like sin, virtue, pride, or faith, played roles whose virtuous execution was key to salvation.

Dramas

His dramas addressed issues such as the passage of time, the deceptive nature of reality, and honor.

• The Mayor of Zalamea: Explores the theme of honor. A captain assaults the daughter of Pedro Crespo. The offender is executed by the mayor.
• Life is a Dream: Contrasts the principles of free will and predestination. King Basilio imprisons his son Segismundo due to astrological predictions that he will overthrow him. After a popular uprising, Basilio is defeated by Segismundo, but Segismundo forgives him and restores him to power, demonstrating that human will can overcome destiny.