Medieval Literature: Characteristics, Genres, and Evolution
Medieval Literature
Characteristics of Medieval Literature
- Theocentricism and Religion: Religious themes dominated literary works.
- Prevalence of Orality: Literature served to teach moral and religious lessons, reflecting a cultural blend.
- Literary Sources: Influences included Greco-Roman, Islamic, Hebrew, French, Germanic, and Italian traditions.
First Manifestations: Lyric Poetry
The earliest lyric forms appeared in Mozarabic jarchas (10th century). These short poems, often expressing a woman’s lament for an absent lover, are characterized by conciseness, repetition, expressive formulas (diminutives, exclamations), and irregular meter.
Mester de Juglaría (Minstrelsy)
Epic poems, recited by minstrels, celebrated heroic deeds. These works, with irregular assonance and rhyme, employed characteristic techniques like direct address to the audience, visual descriptions, repetitions (parallelism, anaphora), simple sentences, and the present tense.
Poema de Mio Cid (The Poem of the Cid)
This anonymous epic poem (12th century) narrates the exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid. The central theme is honor, lost and regained. The poem is divided into three parts:
- Song of Exile: Falsely accused, El Cid is banished and loses his honor.
- Song of the Wedding: El Cid conquers Valencia, restoring his military reputation and marrying off his daughters.
- Song of the Affront of Corpes: El Cid’s sons-in-law dishonor his daughters. El Cid seeks justice, his daughters remarry, and his honor is fully restored.
Mester de Clerecía (Clergy)
Characterized by the cuaderna vía (four-line stanzas with consonant rhyme), this genre explored religious, historical, fictional, and national themes in a learned and moralizing style.
Gonzalo de Berceo: Milagros de Nuestra Señora (Miracles of Our Lady)
This collection of 25 miracles performed by the Virgin Mary aims to inspire devotion and promote the monasteries.
Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita: Libro de buen amor (Book of Good Love)
This complex work combines love affairs, allegorical figures (Don Amor, Doña Endrina), goliardic elements, and didacticism. Its style features first-person narration, rhetorical questions, and minstrel techniques.
Medieval Prose
Calila e Dimna
A collection of fables of Indian origin featuring animals.
Sendebar
: is a collection of 23 tales of Indian origin where its central theme is a purifier biblical story: a prince, having rejected the love of his stepmother is accused of raping her for this
Origins of the novel: the books of chivalry: they are realistic and fantastical events are directed to the public court and have its hero the knight errant. * Written in prose * elements * unlikely protagonist moves through their individual interest * love acquires a very important development * cycles are grouped into issues .- 1 Greco-Roman antiquity, the story of Troy 2 Exports of France or England: the King Arthur and his knights of the round table 3 original Castilian affairs
Don Juan Manuel: The Count,: didactic work with 5 parts consisting of 51 stories in each story: Patronio County Council, answered questions of the count and it uses an example to solve the doubt. Simple prose style, subtle use of dialogue and strong presence in front of the descriptive narrative. Intent: The main purpose of the Count, is the didactic