Medieval & Renaissance Spanish Literature: A Comprehensive Guide

Posted on Sep 27, 2024 in Latin

Medieval Spanish Literature

Middle Ages

Society and Economy

  • Feudal System: Nobility (defense, privileged), Clergy (privileged, religious), Peasants (underprivileged).

Religion

  • Geocentrism: God as the center of the universe.

Culture and Literature

  • Clerics: Primary cultivators of culture.
  • Languages: Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, and emerging Romance languages.
  • Genres: Village lyric songs, noble epic poems.

Medieval Lyric

Traditional Lyric

  • Jarcha (11th Century): Arabic or Hebrew, female voice, love themes.
  • Cantigas de Amigo (13th-14th Century): Galician-Portuguese, love, nature, parallelism.
  • Villancicos: Castilian, similar to Jarchas.
  • Romance (14th Century): Themes of the borderlands.

Educated Lyric

  • Muwassahas: Arabic or Hebrew, 5-7 verses, love themes.
  • Cantigas de Amor (13th-14th Century): Galician-Portuguese, love, political, and social themes.
  • Troubadour Poetry (13th Century): Provençal, courtly love.
  • Cancionero (15th Century): Provençal, courtly love.

Major Authors

  • Ausias March (14th Century): Catalan, personal feelings, rejection of traditional poetic topics.
  • Marqués de Santillana: Classical and Romance literature, Serranillas (meeting of shepherdess and gentleman).
  • Juan de Mena: Latin influence, allegorical poetry, Labyrinth of Fortune (political, 12-line stanzas).
  • Jorge Manrique: Noble ideals, Verses on the Death of His Father (transience of life, fame, death, 40 stanzas, unique rhyme scheme).

Medieval Narrative: Epics

  • Epic poems celebrating knightly exploits.
  • Sung by minstrels (mester de juglaría).
  • Irregular verses, assonance, rhyme.
  • Epic epithets, direct appeals.
  • Realistic storytelling with historical details.

Cantar del Mio Cid

  • Exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid).
  • Anonymous, fictionalized account of his life.
  • Three parts: Exile, Weddings, Affront of Corpes.

Old Romancero

  • Collection of anonymous, orally transmitted medieval romances.
  • Octosyllabic verses, varied rhyme, epic characters.
  • Historical Romances: Historical figures and events, including Moorish romances and episodes of the Reconquista.
  • Romance Novels: Fictional characters, love themes, real and imagined events, rhyme, assonance.

Medieval Didactic Narrative: Mester de Clerecía

  • Composed by priests (13th-14th Century).
  • Religious and ethical content.
  • Didactic purpose.
  • Cuaderna vía (four-line stanza).
  • Oral transmission.

Major Authors

  • Gonzalo de Berceo (13th Century): Miracles of Our Lady.
  • Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita (14th Century): Book of Good Love (earthly vs. divine love).

Castilian Prose

Authors and Works

  • Alfonso X “el Sabio” (13th Century): Established Castilian as the language of administration and law. Translated oriental tales (Kalila and Dimna, Sendebar). Legal, scientific, and recreational works.
  • Don Juan Manuel (14th Century): Count Lucanor.

15th-Century and Renaissance Spanish Literature

15th Century

Features

  • Rise of the bourgeoisie.
  • Focus on money and the present.
  • King’s authority restored, emergence of states.
  • Appearance of universities.
  • New mentality.

La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas

  • Calisto’s infatuation with Melibea.
  • Celestina’s intervention.
  • Tragic consequences.

Renaissance (16th Century)

Features

  • Humanism: Study of classical culture, appreciation of human beings.
  • Anthropocentrism: Human as the center of the universe.
  • Courtiers and patrons of the arts.

Renaissance Lyric: Petrarchan Poetry

  • Renewal of themes and metrical forms.
  • Garcilaso de la Vega: Sonnets, eclogues, songs, love complaints.

Ascetic and Mystical Poetry (Late 16th Century)

  • Fray Luis de León: Religious poems and odes.
  • San Juan de la Cruz: Mystical experiences, human and divine love.

Renaissance Narrative

  • Novel of Chivalry: Amadis of Gaul.
  • Pastoral Novel: La Diana.
  • Picaresque Novel: Lazarillo de Tormes (first-person narrator, social critique).
  • Moorish Novel: Abencerraje.
  • Byzantine Novel: The Story of the Captive.

Miguel de Cervantes

  • Pastoral Novel: La Galatea.
  • Novella: The Illustrious Kitchen Maid.
  • Novel of Chivalry: Don Quixote (adventures, friendship, ideals).
  • Byzantine Novel: The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda.

Baroque Literature (17th Century)

Features

  • Political and economic decline.
  • Rise of nobility, impoverishment of the masses.
  • Pessimism and disillusionment.
  • Artistic splendor and contrast.

Baroque Theater: The New Comedy

  • Performed in corrales de comedias.
  • Three acts, two jornadas.
  • Tragic and comic elements.
  • Themes of love, honor.
  • Stock characters.

Major Authors

  • Lope de Vega: Public appeal, diverse sources, action-driven, dialogue, rhythm. Fuenteovejuna.
  • Calderón de la Barca: Aristocratic, ideological, abstract themes, introspective characters. Life is a Dream.