A Comprehensive Guide to Spanish Literary History
Socio-cultural-historical Literary Discourse
1. The Middle Ages
Features:
- Works were manuscript preserved, incomplete, lost, or anonymous.
- Literature was transmitted orally (people were largely illiterate).
- Monks were primarily responsible for transcribing texts, resulting in a predominantly theocentric focus in literature.
- Genres did not adhere to classical models.
- War was a frequent theme, and in the 15th century, many works centered around death (e.g., Jorge Manrique’s “Couplets to the Death of His Father”).
- The Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula and the Christian Reconquista heavily influenced literary themes, particularly in epic poems.
- Alfonso X “The Wise” commissioned the translation of many works into Castilian, contributing to the development of Castilian prose (The Toledo School of Translators).
- The reign of the Catholic Monarchs saw the expulsion of Jews and Muslims, and Castilian and Catalan were imposed as the dominant languages by the end of the 15th century.
2. The Renaissance (Humanistic Philosophy)
- Greater adherence to classical models.
- Anthropocentrism: Replaced theocentrism, emphasizing the perfection of humankind.
- Humanism: Promoted the study of Grammar, Rhetoric, Poetry, History, and Philosophy.
- Erasmus: Erasmus of Rotterdam, a scholar of religion and classics, sought to reconcile Christianity with contemporary ideas.
- Neoplatonism: Based on the philosophical ideas of Plato, which were revived during the Renaissance.
The prevailing view of nature, influenced by Plato and Aristotle, discouraged the translation of the Bible unless authorized by the Church, and restricted much research.
3. The Baroque
Most Important Features:
- A break with balance and harmony.
- A disillusioned vision of reality.
- A Golden Age for art and culture.
- A period of social crisis and Spanish decline.
During the reign of Felipe III, the Moors were expelled, marking the beginning of political and economic decline. This decline worsened under Felipe IX, with poverty and political instability becoming more pronounced. His son, Charles II, being childless, appointed Philip V, a French candidate, as his successor. This led to disputes and the War of Succession, leaving Spain impoverished, ravaged by plague and crop failures, and deeply divided.
Changing Forms of Literary Genres
Lyric Poetry
1. The Middle Ages
- Characterized by minor art, brevity, clarity, and anonymity.
- Predominance of octosyllabic verses.
- Traditional Lyric: Anonymous, plain, and simple, transmitted orally through songs with refrains (carols). This period also saw the emergence of jarchas.
- Lyrical Worship: Written compositions with identifiable authors, employing formal language, dodecasyllabic verses with rhyme (copla de arte mayor), or hendecasyllable verses (sonnet).
Latin was characterized by its complex word order. Love poetry frequently explored courtly love themes. In courtly poetry, the figures of the lover and the beloved (often a powerful figure) were central. Allegory, a set of interconnected metaphors, was used to convey deeper meaning. Moral and existential pessimism, common in medieval literature, also found expression in lyric poetry, often through the “loca-sut” motif, which served as a reminder of mortality and the fleeting nature of life.
2. The Renaissance
- Characterized by Italian influence (Francesco Petrarca).
- Introduction of the heptasílabo (seven-syllable verse).
- Growing popularity of the hendecasyllable and the sonnet.
- The Sonnet: 14 lines divided into two quatrains (four lines each with alternating rhymes) and two tercets (three lines each with a specific rhyme scheme).
- The Lira: Alternating seven-syllable and hendecasyllable lines.
- The Estancia: Seven-syllable and eleven-syllable lines, popularized by Garcilaso de la Vega.
- Eclogues: Love poems featuring shepherds as characters.
- Oda: Poems praising a person or thing.
- Elegies: Poems commemorating the dead.
Classical myths and literary tropes were revived, such as Carpe Diem, Beatus Ille (praise of the simple life), and Locus Amoenus (description of idealized landscapes).
3. The Baroque
- Characterized by complexity and elaborate style.
- A blend of traditional and cultured lyricism.
- Marked by bold contrasts, metaphors, and frequent use of antithesis (juxtaposition of opposing ideas).
- Themes of disillusionment and unrequited love.
- Continued use of odes and elegies.
- Obscure and complex language with mythological allusions.
Epic Poetry
1. The Middle Ages
- Mester de Juglaría: Popular, anonymous, and orally transmitted, featuring tales of warriors.
- Cantares de Gesta: Epic poems based on real historical events and figures, characterized by anonymity, irregular verse structure (polymetric), and assonance.
- Mester de Clerecía: Works by learned authors, often religious and moral in nature, employing regular meter (isometric), rhyme, and the “cuaderna vía” structure (four-line stanzas with a single rhyme).
- The Story: Originating in India and transmitted through Arabic culture, stories served didactic purposes, often in the form of fables.
- Folk Tales: Cultured stories transmitted orally.
- Frame Tales: Collections of stories within a larger narrative framework (e.g., “Conde Lucanor”).
- Books of Chivalry: Prose narratives that replaced epic poems, featuring idealized heroes and episodic structures with little character development.
- Romances: Narrative poems, particularly popular in the 15th century, characterized by octosyllabic verses and assonance.
2. The Renaissance
- Flourished in the mid-16th century.
- “Lazarillo de Tormes” is considered the first example of the picaresque novel, a genre that would evolve significantly.
- Influence of Italian literature.
Novelistic Genres
- Sentimental Novel: Focused on love and idealized reality.
- Picaresque Novel: Emerged in the second half of the 16th century, offering a more critical and realistic perspective, often highlighting negative aspects of society (e.g., “Lazarillo de Tormes,” “Guzman Alfarache”).
- Books of Chivalry: Continued to idealize reality.
- Pastoral Novels: Featured shepherds as characters and idealized rural life.
- Moorish Novel: Featured Moorish characters and idealized their culture.
- Byzantine Fiction: A genre popularized by Cervantes and Lope de Vega in the 17th century.
Theatre
1. The Middle Ages
- Theatre had to be essentially reinvented.
- Early forms were rudimentary, often consisting of religious monologues depicting the Passion of Christ.
- Christmas plays were popular, with the “Order of the Magi” being a notable example.
- Secular theatre began to evolve in the 15th century.
2. The Renaissance
- Secular theatre became more established, alongside the emergence of popular theatre.
- Religious plays, known as “autos sacramentales,” reappeared in the 16th century due to the Counter-Reformation.
- Tragedy and comedy were distinguished by their characters: tragedy featured noble characters, while comedy focused on commoners.
- Tragicomedy: “La Celestina” by Fernando de Rojas, a work with both Renaissance and medieval elements, written in prose and intended for reading due to its length (21 acts). It blended elements of tragedy and comedy, defying classical genre conventions.
- Cultured Theatre: Followed the classical tradition with five acts, written in verse, and adhering to the rule of three unities.
- Unity of Action: A single, unified plot.
- Unity of Time: Events unfold within a 24-hour period.
- Unity of Place: Action confined to a single location.
- These rules aimed to enhance the verisimilitude of the play.
In the 16th century, popular theatre emerged, influenced by Italian commedia dell’arte, featuring stock characters and improvisation. This form of theatre, often performed in public spaces, was more accessible to the common people.
- Traditional Theatre: Lope de Rueda pioneered short, comedic pieces called “pasos” (steps), performed between acts of longer plays. These short pieces, along with “entremeses” (interludes), evolved into “sainetes” in the 17th century.
3. The Baroque
- Lope de Vega revolutionized theatre in the late 16th and 17th centuries with his formula for popular theatre, which enjoyed immense success.
- He emphasized naturalness and audience engagement, often disregarding the rule of three unities.
- Baroque theatre contrasted with classical theatre, prioritizing entertainment and popular appeal.
- Lope de Vega’s plays often featured happy endings and blended elements of tragedy and comedy, appealing to a wide audience.
- He wrote in verse, adapting the language to suit different characters and situations.
- His plays were typically structured in three acts for greater dynamism.
- He used theatre as a platform for propaganda, promoting the monarchy and King.
- Lope de Vega outlined his theatrical principles in his work “The New Art of Making Comedies.”
- Autos Sacramentales: Religious plays featuring allegorical characters representing virtues, vices, and sins, often performed on carros (stages on wheels).