17th Century Spanish Baroque Literature: Styles and Authors
17th Century Spanish Baroque Literature
Themes and Lyrical Forms
In the seventeenth century, Spanish lyric poetry achieved high quality and diversity in themes, tones, and forms. Poets like Francisco de Quevedo (FdQ) and Luis de Góngora (LDG) showcased this variation. Alongside them, Lope de Vega (LdV) contributed with a more natural style.
Conceptismo and Culteranismo
Two major literary movements emerged during this period: Conceptismo and Culteranismo.
Conceptismo, championed by FdQ and Baltasar Gracián, emphasized ingenuity and wit. It played with ideas and concepts through paradoxes, antithesis, and polysemy, often employing concise and elliptical language with metaphorical depth. It was primarily used in prose but also appeared in poetry.
Culteranismo, led by LDG, focused on formal beauty and elaborate language, following the trend set by Fernando de Herrera in the late sixteenth century. It aimed to create a poetic language distinct from common speech, using embellishments and intricate syntax. It was predominantly used in poetry but also appeared in prose.
The Easier Poetry
In the seventeenth century, a simpler style of poetry also existed, blending elements of Conceptismo and Culteranismo. This style was represented by Leonardo de Vinci’s meditative lyricism and the Argensola brothers’ Horatian poetry.
Luis de Góngora (1561-1627)
Góngora was a respected, feared, and renowned poet who developed a brilliant and complex poetic language, becoming a leading figure of Culteranismo. His poetry aimed to transform reality into a world of beauty, earning admiration but often lacking emotional depth.
His work can be divided into two categories: a complex, culto style and a more traditional lyrical style, often with a mocking tone.
Learned Poetry
Góngora’s culto style intensified from 1609, culminating in his major poems, Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea and Solitudes. These works sparked controversy among the public and fellow poets. This period marked the rise of Culteranismo, characterized by:
- Intensified lexical and syntactic complexity
- Accumulation of metaphors
- Abundant mythological allusions
- Intricate wordplay
Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea
This long poem, based on a mythological theme from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, showcases Góngora’s innovative use of language. He creates a poetic language far removed from common speech, demanding interpretive effort and knowledge of mythology to decipher its metaphors and periphrases.
The Solitudes
Góngora planned this poem in four parts but only completed the first and most of the second. The narrative serves as a backdrop for a hymn to nature, with a striking contrast between the subject matter and the brilliance of the language.
Letrillas and Romances
These poems represent Góngora’s traditional side. They were not published during his lifetime but circulated as songs and were later collected in Romanceros. They cover various themes, including pastoral, lyrical, Moorish, and mythological subjects, sometimes blending classical and burlesque elements. They often exhibit Conceptismo’s wit and conciseness.
Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)
Work
Quevedo’s work, like Góngora’s, is diverse. Besides poetry, he translated classical poets like Anacreon and Martial and wrote prose works, including burlesques, political and moral treatises, allegorical satires, and the picaresque novel La vida del Buscón (The Life of the Hustler).
Poetry
Quevedo was a well-known poet in his time. Although his works were not published until after his death, his compositions circulated in manuscripts, and his romances and letrillas were popular songs. His satirical poems, often circulated anonymously, were particularly celebrated.
Serious and Reflective Poetry
In this style, Quevedo expresses his feelings and ideas with a profound tone. It includes metaphysical, moral, religious, and love poems. The metaphysical poems are ascetic reflections on life, death, and the passage of time.
Poetry as a Game of Wit
This satirical style showcases Quevedo’s linguistic experimentation. It offers a critical view of society through burlesque, hyperbolic, and absurd humor. The topics are varied, including doctors, judges, unfaithful husbands, lecherous old men, flirtatious old women, mythological characters, and, frequently, Góngora himself, who becomes the target of numerous burlesque poems.
Quevedo’s Style
Quevedo’s poetry leans towards Conceptismo. Typical features include:
- Highly original metaphors, both beautifying and deforming
- Personification of objects and objectification of humans
- Creation of new words, often through derivation or compounding
- Unique use of grammatical categories
- Abundant wordplay based on hyperbole, antithesis, paradoxes, and polysemy
Narrative and Didactic Prose
Seventeenth-century narrative prose saw a shift from the previous century. Romances declined while the picaresque novel, the novella, and allegorical narratives flourished, notably with Baltasar Gracián’s El Criticón (The Faultfinder). Didactic satire also thrived, reflecting the spiritual climate of the time.
Quevedo’s Prose
Quevedo wrote extensively in prose, often with a pessimistic and even bitter tone, even when masked by humor. His works include:
- Allegorical satires
- Moral and political treatises
- Moral and philosophical works
- Literary criticism
- Festive and burlesque works
- Picaresque novel
The Hustler (El Buscón)
The Hustler is a major work of the picaresque genre, reflecting the moral decadence of the era with its profound insights and its style, a model of Conceptismo.