Medieval Spanish Literature: Epic Poetry and the Cantar de Mio Cid
Literary Genres
Lyric Literature: This genre expresses the writer’s subjectivity.
- Oda: Expresses enthusiasm and admiration.
- Song: Short poem with a love theme.
- Elegy: Expresses sorrow for personal events.
- Eclogue: Love-themed dialogues between shepherds.
- Satire: Ridicules and criticizes actions or persons.
- Epistle: Written in letter form.
- Epigram: Short poem of a festive nature.
Popular Lyric Forms:
- Zejel
- Carol
- Lyrical Ballads
Narrative Literature: The narrator recounts external events, creating a fictional world with characters and events, typically in the third person.
Forms of Narrative:
- Epic: Extensive narrative recounting a hero’s exploits. Includes epic poems.
- Novel: Extensive prose narrative.
- Short Story: Short narrative with a simple argument.
Theater: Stage performance before an audience, containing conflict, denouement, and resolution.
Theatrical Forms:
- Tragedy: The protagonist faces an adverse fate.
- Comedy: Aims to entertain and exhilarate.
- Drama: Combines features of tragedy and comedy.
Children’s Theatrical Forms:
- Auto Sacramental: Brief religious theme.
- Comedia, Step, and Farce: Short pieces performed during intermissions of comedies.
Lyrical Works Combining Music and Drama:
- Opera: Sung and based on literary works.
- Zarzuela: Combines music and spoken dialogue.
Other Genres
Teaching Genre: Aims to teach or instruct the reader.
- Essay: Personal view on any subject.
- News Article: Personal commentary on current events.
- Fable: Short story with a moral.
- Epistle: Letter to an imaginary person.
Medieval Literature: Narrative and Drama
Oral Narrative: The Mester of Minstrelsy (12th Century)
Minstrels were professional performers who traveled, reciting poems and singing. The profession was called the Mester of Minstrelsy.
Types of Jugglers:
- Specialized in tales of military prowess.
- More cultured, singing operas in palaces.
- Accompanied by musical instruments.
- Composed their own poems (troubadours).
Jugglers entertained audiences, aiming to excite and connect with viewers’ experiences.
Epic minstrels, recounting the exploits of local heroes, were most numerous.
Epic Poetry and Epics
Epics are long verse narratives centered on historical events and a hero embodying a people’s values. (Gestas = Deeds)
The Castilian Epic
Three songs comprise the Castilian epic, notably the Cantar de Mio Cid, the longest poem (3,730 lines) from the 14th century.
El Cantar de Mio Cid
El Cantar de Mio Cid recounts a hero’s exploits. The protagonist, El Cid, an unjustly banished nobleman, fights to regain his honor.
I. The document is a typical 14th-century minstrel manuscript, signed by copyist Per Abbat (Pedro Abad), dated 1207.
II. The poem’s author is unknown. El Cantar de Mio Cid is anonymous.
III. Plot: The story begins with hardship and ends gloriously. The poem is divided into three songs:
- Song of Exile: El Cid is unjustly banished and must regain his honor. He wins battles, gaining prestige and wealth.
- Song of Marriage: El Cid conquers Valencia and receives a royal pardon. He marries his daughters to the Infantes of Carrion, regaining honor by acknowledging the king and elevating his daughters’ status.
- Song of the Shame of Corpes: The Infantes of Carrion prove cowardly, and El Cid’s vassals ridicule them. The Infantes abandon their wives at Corpes oak grove, abusing them. El Cid seeks justice from the king, who convenes the Cortes of Toledo. Representatives of the Cid and the Infantes of Navarre and Aragon propose marriage to El Cid’s daughters.
IV. The central theme is the restoration of honor:
- Social honor: El Cid rises from exile to become a king’s ally.
- Personal honor: As a father whose daughters were abused.
V. El Cid embodies virtues: loyalty to his king, bravery, devotion to family, and a belief in justice. He represents the medieval epic’s model gentleman.
VI. Historicity: The poem recounts part of the life of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a lower nobleman who rose through battle and conquest. The poem blends historical facts and legends, aiming to inform and showcase social and artistic human models.