Ramon Llull: Life, Works, and Influence on Literature
What Does the Term ‘L’art’ Mean in Ramon Llull’s Work?
Llull’s research method, known as L’art, is a system that facilitates the organization and communication of ideas. L’art is the core of the entire Lullian system and allows one to address arising issues. He believed he had found a common ground shared by believers and unbelievers, where they could rationally argue about the existence of God and the creation of the universe. Throughout his life, he continued to revise, improve, and implement this so-called art, which derives great part of his work.
What is the Book ‘The Lover and the Beloved’?
This compilation of 365 verses, or aphorisms, has a very clear intention from Llull: the adoration and contemplation of God, which raises an experience, real or supposed, of a direct connection between the person and the divine.
A Summary of Ramon Llull’s Works
- Didactic Novels:
- Blanquerna
- Felix or the Book of Wonders
- Moral Defense of His Art:
- Book of Beasts
- Other Works:
- The Lover and the Beloved
- Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men
- Poetry (Autobiographical):
- Cant de Ramon
- Lo Desconhort
What Does the Expression ‘Love and the Ways of Courtliness’ Mean?
In 12th-century medieval society, when a gentleman adopted the ways of courtliness, he embraced a series of personal behaviors, visual language, and good manners of the court. This civilizing trend helped to smooth the savage and violent attitudes that were inherent in warrior activities. The courtly knight is also related to the code developed by the troubadours, who, in their poetic compositions, named this ‘fine love,’ referring to the spiritualization of love versus physical love. This new conception of love is later called courtly love.
What is an Allegory? Is the ‘Book of Beasts’ an Allegory?
An allegory is a rhetorical device used to express an idea through a set of images that embody a figurative sense, with a direct intention of either aesthetic or moral teaching. Thus, the Book of Beasts presents the personification of animals that relate to human society, revealing bad behavior. The technique of the exemplum consists of a short story with moral and didactic content, which serves to entertain the reader amidst heavier doctrinal exposition. It requires the reader to use their ingenuity to discover the author’s intention. It is also a practical and understandable expression of behavioral models that the author intends to defend or criticize.
What are Llull’s Conceptions of Literature?
Llull has an instrumental conception of literature; it has no purpose in itself. Everything he writes is intended to guide the reader or listener’s ideology and persuade them. Therefore, he strives to master the literary resources necessary to reach the public and persuade them of the goodness of his message. We must appreciate his great skill as a writer who masters the techniques and traditions of literature. He became a master of techniques such as the exemplum and allegory. Llull demonstrates a remarkable imaginative and persuasive ability.
What is Troubadour Lyric Poetry?
Troubadour lyric poetry expresses concepts like the feudal vassalage relationship established between the noble lord and his subjects. In this case, however, it is the service and homage that the lover gives to his beloved, the noblewoman. The poetry of the troubadours involves, in short, a reinforcement of feudal society: the knights are taught to treat even the wife of their lord with loving vassalage, which almost always involves simple courtesy. So, the knights involved in the ritual of courtly love participate in the ritual of vassalage, strengthening the structure because, in essence, they express a willingness to be considered and favored by the feudal lord.
What Characterizes the Poetry of William of Berguedà and Cerverí?
The poetry of William of Berguedà highlights the genre of sirventes in the 12th century. Cerverí (13th century), in contrast, is a troubadour of the last period of troubadour poetry. Unlike that of Berguedà, who was a proud and unashamedly noble feudal lord, Cerverí was a troubadour integrated into the court, serving as an official of the kings of the House of Aragon. Far from the feudal world, his poetry seeks new experiments to address the issue of authenticity in love, using both a comedic tone and a thorough, thoughtful approach.
What are the Most Personal Characteristics of Ausiàs March’s Poetry?
Ausiàs March manages to reflect the sensitivity of his own time and give a calm, eternal quality to the problems of mankind. He wrote his work in Catalan, and in this sense, his linguistic choice should be highlighted as an important step in Catalan literature.
What is the Relationship Between March’s Poetry and Troubadour Lyric?
Ausiàs March’s poetry echoes references to courtly love and the feudal world. He himself was a man who struggled to preserve his privileges. However, these feudal remnants in his poetry are rather a formal element that does not preclude expressing a passionate relationship characterized by intellectual reflection, a mental and analytical game that produces enough tension. Therefore, we can say that he uses the tradition of courtly love to build his own poetic world, with tension between physical and spiritual love, in a very human way.
Explain the Concept of Love in March’s Poetry
One of the main themes in Ausiàs March’s poetry is the male-female love relationship. If at first, one seems to detect tension between modesty and spiritual love, he then delves into a discussion that leads to the desire to see both sides of love harmonized.
What Literary Resources are Common in March’s Poetry?
Ausiàs March’s poetry is characterized by an abundance of surprising and harsh comparisons, an uncompromising musicality. There is an abundance of imagery, great precision in the choice of vocabulary, and the need to translate his thoughts into verses of complex syntax.
What is the Political Function of the Chronicles?
The four major chronicles’ primary goal is to praise the reigns of a series of Catalan kings. While the chronicles of the kings are more markedly propagandistic, those written by Bernard Desclot and Ramon Muntaner reveal, respectively, the perspectives of an enthusiastic historian and a server of the Catalan royal dynasty and its expansion throughout the Mediterranean. Besides Muntaner, especially, there is the intention to present models that serve as a lesson for future kings and noble interests, conditioned by the feudal model: a joint project headed by the monarch.