A Literary Journey Through Time: From Medieval to Baroque Spanish Literature

Posted on Sep 21, 2024 in Latin

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 works, resulting in a predominantly theocentric focus.
  • Genres did not adhere to classical models.
  • War was a frequent theme, particularly in the 15th century, with many works exploring 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, leading to a prevalence of war epics.
  • Alfonso X “The Wise” commissioned the translation of numerous works into Castilian, significantly advancing Castilian prose (The Toledo School of Translators).
  • The reign of the Catholic Monarchs saw the expulsion of Jews and Muslims, and the imposition of Castilian and Catalan languages by the end of the 15th century.

2. The Renaissance (Humanistic Philosophy)

  • Increased adherence to classical models.
  • Anthropocentrism: Replaced theocentricism, 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. Plato’s and Aristotle’s views on nature restricted Bible translation to the Church and limited research.

3. The Baroque

Most Important Features:

  • A break from balance and harmony.
  • A disillusioned view of reality.
  • A Golden Age for art and culture.
  • A period of social crisis and Spanish decline.
  • Under Felipe III, the Moors were expelled, marking the beginning of political and economic decline.
  • Felipe IX’s reign saw this decline worsen, with poverty and political instability becoming more pronounced.
  • The succession crisis following Charles II’s death, with Philip V (a French candidate) ultimately chosen over Charles II’s nephew, led to the War of Succession, leaving Spain impoverished, plague-ridden, and divided.

Changing Forms of Literary Genres

Lyric Poetry

1. The Middle Ages

  • Characterized by minor art, brevity, clarity, and anonymity.
  • Use of octosyllabic verses (a form that remained popular).
  • 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 (sonnets). Latin was characterized by seemingly jumbled words, often centered around courtly love themes. Court poets played a significant role, employing allegory (interconnected metaphors) to convey meaning. Moral and existential pessimism, common in medieval times, also found expression in works like the “loca-sut” (a genre emphasizing the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death).

2. The Renaissance

  • Characterized by Italian influence (e.g., Francesco Petrarch).
  • Introduction of the heptasílabo (seven-syllable verse).
  • Continued popularity of the hendecasyllable and the rise of:
    • The Sonnet: 14 verses divided into two quatrains (four-line stanzas with alternating rhymes) and two tercets (three-line stanzas with a variety of rhyme schemes).
    • The Lira: Alternating seven-syllable and eleven-syllable lines.
    • The Estancia: Seven-syllable and eleven-syllable lines, popularized by poets.
    • Eclogues: Compositions about love, featuring shepherds as characters.
    • Odes: Poems praising a person or thing.
    • Elegies: Compositions honoring the dead.
  • Revival of classical myths and tropes (e.g., Carpe diem, Beatus ille – praise of the simple life, Locus amoenus – idealized landscape descriptions).

3. The Baroque

  • Characterized by complexity and ornate language.
  • 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 writing of odes and elegies.
  • Use of obscure language and mythological allusions.

Epic Poetry

1. The Middle Ages

  • Mester de Juglaría: Popular, anonymous, and orally transmitted, featuring tales of warriors.
  • Cantares de gesta: Songs about the real-life exploits of noble warriors, anonymous, written in a variety of verse forms (polymetric) with assonance rhyme.
  • Mester de Clerecía: Works by learned authors, focusing on religious and moral stories, using a single verse form (isometric), rhyme, and the “cuaderna vía” structure (four-line stanzas with a single rhyme) (e.g., “Miracles of Our Lady”).
  • Short Narrative Forms:
    • Fables: Originating in India and transmitted through Arabic culture, fables were didactic stories with a moral message.
    • Folk Tales: Anonymous stories passed down orally.
    • Frame Tales: Collections of stories within a larger narrative framework (e.g., “Conde Lucanor”).
  • Books of Chivalry: Replacing epic poems, these prose works featured fictional heroes and episodic narratives with little character or plot development.
  • Romance: Narrative poems, particularly popular in the 15th century, written in an indefinite series of octosyllabic lines with paired assonance rhyme.

2. The Renaissance

  • Flourished in the mid-16th century.
  • “Lazarillo de Tormes” is often considered the first modern novel, featuring a developing protagonist and reflecting Italian influence.

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: Idealized narratives featuring shepherds.
  • Moorish Novel: Featured Moorish characters and idealized settings.
  • Byzantine Novel: A genre developed by authors like 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 a series of monologues depicting the Passion of Christ.
  • Christmas plays were popular, with the “Order of the Magi” (a manuscript play depicting the journey of the Magi) being a notable example, though some scholars believe it to be incomplete.
  • Secular theatre began to evolve in the 15th century.

2. The Renaissance

  • Secular theatre became more established, alongside the emergence of popular theatre.
  • The Counter-Reformation in the 16th century led to a resurgence of religious plays, known as “autos sacramentales.”
  • Tragedy and comedy were distinguished by their characters: tragedy featured noble characters, while comedy focused on commoners (as it was considered inappropriate for nobles to be objects of laughter).
  • 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 defied classical conventions by blending elements of tragedy and comedy.
  • Cultured Theatre: Following university tradition, these plays were written in verse, adhered to the three unities, and were divided into five acts. The three unities were:
    • Unity of Action: A single, unified plot to avoid confusing the audience.
    • Unity of Time: The events of the play should occur within a 24-hour period.
    • Unity of Place: The setting should be limited to a single city or country.
  • These unities aimed to create a sense of verisimilitude.
  • Popular theatre emerged in the 16th century, influenced by Italian commedia dell’arte troupes. These troupes featured stock characters and improvisation, performing often vulgar plays for the common people.
  • Traditional Theatre: Lope de Rueda in Spain developed short, comedic pieces called “pasos” (steps), performed between acts of longer plays. These short works, along with “entremeses” (interludes), evolved into “sainetes” in the 17th century, with Lope de Rueda being a key figure in their development.

Baroque Theatre

  • Lope de Vega, a key figure in Baroque theatre, developed a popular formula for plays in the late 16th and 17th centuries.
  • He emphasized naturalness and audience appeal, often disregarding the three unities.
  • Baroque theatre contrasted with classical theatre, offering audiences the satisfaction of happy endings.
  • Lope de Vega’s plays, though termed “comedies,” often blended tragic and comic elements, featuring both noble and commoner characters. They were written in verse, with language adapted to suit the characters and situations.
  • These plays were typically divided into three acts for entertainment purposes.
  • Lope de Vega used his plays as a platform for pro-monarchy propaganda.
  • He outlined his theatrical principles in his work “The New Art of Writing Plays.”
  • Autos sacramentales were allegorical plays featuring characters representing virtues, vices, and sins, often performed on carros (stages on wagons).