Baroque Literature: Paradox, Contrasts, and Society
Baroque Literature: Paradox and Social Reflection
What in the Renaissance was a vision of the world as contingent and varied disappears. It looks like tensions between opposites that are not resolved. The balance that we see is unstable, and any variation may be disastrous. The universe is much more dynamic. Therefore, human experience is a bundle of contradictions. There will be a theological-type vitalism, but on the other side, creating tension, it is dominated by sensory and physical vitality. It just flows; the only certainty is that the individual will die, which is used to devalue the sensory expansion drive. If death is the only certainty, time will be marked by anxiety. Time passes at full speed, with slow death from birth, yet one should be happy that it did, from the doctrinal point of view, and that at death, we will meet with the creator. Such an approach, in which everyone is educated, is professed by a few, since the impulse for life is stronger. This contradiction flows into the religious ceremony.
In France, and then Holland and England, things will begin to change with rationalism. Gradually, an awareness of disappointment appeared, where nothing is as it seems, that everything is an appearance, and this is being translated into a series of literary developments as forms of deception. And it makes several authors link to neo-Stoicism to prevent the passions from affecting us. Transcendental meditation is very much in the literature of the period. There is a current social and political culture that values appearance to survive, as in the literature by Gracián.
Institutional Paradox and Social Hierarchy
Such a paradox is reflected at the institutional level, asking for orthodoxy in political, religious, and doctrinal standards to give unity and avoid external voltage. This is where the arts and language will supply half. The literature reminds us that society is divided into levels, with the king at the top and the people without nobility. The idea of social stratification (that they attempted to destroy during the Enlightenment) will be linked to the perception of personality, with the idea of honor and *honra* (reputation). Although in literary language, they are confusing two sides of the same coin within the conception of the individual. *Honra* is nothing if not translated into honor (which is what others think), and since we are what we seem, we are what others attribute to us, and it makes honor central to the conception of individuals during the time. Hence the duels:
- Between nobility: For honor-related offenses.
- Populace: The mob has no honor, so it does not compete with the peasants; the servants do beat him.
- Orthodoxy and heresy: Whether we are a Christian or Protestant nation.
- Within the Iberian Peninsula: Limpieza de sangre (blood purity) versus sangre sucia (dirty blood) as a descendant of Jews.
Continuity and Change in Literary Tradition
Although Baroque literature has a different tone from the humanist, the basis remains the same: the domain of rhetoric and poetics, the study of the classics, and the idea that creation is an *imitatio*. That line of continuity is most evident in places like France in the mid-century, especially under Louis XIV, when classical bases were reinforced.
Previous models will continue, such as Petrarch’s love for literature. Italy remains a theoretical point of reference and still defends the idea that the poet is both a scholar and a teacher. Many genres are continued: pastoral novels, religious dramas, and poetic cults.
Moreover, a number of changes and developments are important.
The *imitatio* was a part of orientation towards the improvement of the models (but avoiding imitation); it is emulation. Deviations from the models will be especially important, which will include the assessment of originality and creative power. In the humanist model, emulation took the classical model while indoctrinating; it had to entertain, leaving aside the *move*. In the Baroque era, the *move* will be essential.
Emphasis on Language and Style
We will be in a literature of contrasts but seeking a final unit, based on continuous light and dark, but consistent and clear.
The emphasis will be on language, literary style, word usage, and the virtuoso use of rhetorical models. It is the time when metaphors are more complex. There will be two fundamental ideas: *Agudeza* (Acuity) and *Concepto* (Conceit).