Baroque Literature: Splendor and Decline in 17th Century Spain
UNIT 17: BAROQUE SPLENDOR AND DECLINE
Introduction
The Baroque, a cultural and artistic movement that flourished during the 17th century, coincided with a period of economic, political, and cultural crisis in Spain. This period was marked by widespread misery, depopulation caused by epidemics like the plague, frequent wars, and religious conflicts. The crisis was particularly acute in Castile, where the decline in the arrival of precious metals from America led to bankruptcy and a severe economic downturn. The government’s policies, including currency devaluation, reduction of silver content in coins, and tax increases, exacerbated the situation.
Socially, the peasantry, which constituted the majority of the population, faced impoverishment, while the middle classes weakened. There was a rise in unproductive social groups like the gentry, rogues, and beggars, who became archetypal figures of the era.
17th Century Lyric Poetry
Topics
The themes explored in 17th-century Spanish lyric poetry were diverse, ranging from serious philosophical reflections to parody and ridicule. Some prominent themes include:
- Metaphysical, Moral, and Religious Poetry: Exploring themes of existence, morality, and faith.
- Love Poetry: Continuing the tradition of courtly love and Petrarchan themes.
- Satirical and Burlesque Poetry: Employing satire, burlesque, and comedy to critique society and human folly.
Form
- Metrics: Poets frequently used the pentameter, sonnets, and romances.
- Expressive Resources: The Baroque style embraced metaphors, paradoxes, cultisms, puns, hyperbole, and a prevailing sense of wit.
Culteranismo and Conceptismo
The Baroque aesthetic pursued originality through hyperbolic exaggeration, the juxtaposition of opposites, and intricate wordplay. These characteristics manifested in two dominant literary trends: Culteranismo and Conceptismo, both of which prioritized complex expression over straightforward content.
Culteranismo
Culteranismo, named after its defining feature—the use of cultismos (learned or obscure words)—was spearheaded by Luis de Góngora. Key features of Culteranismo include:
- Abundant use of cultismos: Emphasizing the musicality of language, particularly through the use of proparoxytone words.
- Latinized syntax: Employing complex sentence structures and a sophisticated vocabulary.
- Rhetorical devices: Utilizing metaphors, alliteration, hyperbaton, and other figures of speech.
Conceptismo
Conceptismo, championed by Francisco de Quevedo and Baltasar Gracián, focused on the ingenious combination of witty ideas and surprising wordplay. Its main characteristics include:
- Emphasis on wit and intellect: Prioritizing rational and logical expression over emotional appeal.
- Wordplay and linguistic innovation: Creating new words through composition and unexpected semantic shifts.
- Rhetorical devices: Employing metaphors, antithesis, and particularly the oxymoron.
Culteranismo: Luis de Góngora (1561-1627)
Born in Córdoba, Luis de Góngora studied at Salamanca and became a priest in 1617, serving as chaplain at the court of Madrid. He had notable literary rivals in Lope de Vega and Francisco de Quevedo. Góngora’s poetry is characterized by:
- Pictorial Sense: His descriptive poetry appeals to the senses and reflects a contemplative and imaginative approach.
- Emphasis on Landscape: Nature plays a central role in his work.
- Blend of Cultism and Popularity: His poetry draws from Renaissance humanist culture while amplifying and complicating its techniques. He combines learned and popular elements.
- Satire and Panegyric: He cultivated both satirical poetry, expressing his critical views, and panegyric poetry, praising figures like the Duke of Lerma.
Topics and Style
Góngora’s poetry encompasses a wide range of topics, including love, satire, morality, philosophy, religion, and eulogy. His style is marked by elaborate language and intricate wordplay:
- Cultismos: He uses words of Latin origin to elevate his language beyond the everyday.
- Hyperbaton: He employs this syntactic device to create flexibility and fluidity in his verse.
- Mythological Allusions: These serve as symbolic bridges between abstract concepts and concrete images, particularly in his love poetry.
- Metaphor: He uses metaphors to transform or embellish aspects of nature that might be considered ugly, uncomfortable, or unpleasant.
Works
Góngora’s works can be broadly categorized into:
- Popular Poems: Including romances and letrillas, employing more accessible language and themes.
- Cultured Poems: Comprising sonnets, songs, and longer works characterized by his signature Culteranismo style. His major works include:
- Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea: A mythological poem written in octaves, narrating the story of the Cyclops Polyphemus’s love for the nymph Galatea, who is in love with Acis. Polyphemus, enraged by jealousy, kills Acis, who is then transformed into a river.
- Solitudes: A lyrical poem composed in rhyming consonant silvas, with the tone and scope of an epic. It celebrates nature and rural life.
Conceptismo: Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645)
Born in Madrid, Francisco de Quevedo studied at Jesuit schools and the University of Alcalá de Henares, where he earned degrees in Arts and Theology. He moved to Valladolid, where he gained recognition as a poet. He held various political positions and died in 1645 at Torre de Juan Abad.
Topics and Style
Quevedo’s poetry explores a wide range of themes, including metaphysical, moral, religious, and satirical subjects. He was a master of language, employing a variety of techniques to achieve his poetic effects:
- Metaphors and intensifying devices: He frequently used repetitions and other devices to amplify his message.
- Puns, hyperbole, neologisms, antithesis, oxymoron, and epithets: He skillfully employed these rhetorical figures to create wit and surprise.
- Varied Metrics: He wrote in sonnets, silvas, romances, and letrillas, demonstrating his mastery of different poetic forms.
Works
Quevedo’s diverse body of work includes:
- Metaphysical Poems: Often in sonnet form, these poems reflect on the transience of time, the brevity of life, and the acceptance of death.
- Moral Poems: These sonnets offer reflections on wealth, power, vice, virtue, and material possessions. Quevedo was influenced by Stoic philosophy, which emphasized acceptance of life’s adversities.
- Religious Poems: His Catholic faith, with its focus on earthly life’s fleeting nature and preparation for death and eternal life, provided Quevedo with solace and a framework for understanding human existence.
- Love Poems: Often intertwined with his metaphysical concerns, Quevedo’s love poems explore love as a means of reconciliation with life and even a potential triumph over death.
- Satirical Poems: Satire served as an outlet for Quevedo’s bitterness and disappointment, allowing him to showcase his linguistic ingenuity and critique social ills.