Sixteenth-Century Castilian Prose: Renaissance Literature
Sixteenth-Century Castilian Prose
Castilian prose in the Renaissance developed along four main directions:
Didactic Prose
Aimed at the improvement of man and the reformation of society. Examples include:
- Juan Valdés, Diálogo de la Lengua
- Fray Antonio de Guevera, Contempt of Court
Historical Prose
Driven by the expansionary effect of the time and the prospects created with the conquest of America. This stream is represented by Father Mariana’s Indian History, which has a formative purpose.
Religious Prose
In tune with the popular religiosity of the time. Examples include:
- Fray Luis de León, La Perfecta Casada
- Santa Teresa de Jesus, Way of Perfection
Narrative Prose
Acquired great importance in this century because of increased readership. Various forms of narrative from the fifteenth century (books of chivalry and sentimental fiction) were modified, and fresh works of various genres and narrative forms of entertainment emerged.
Renaissance Narrative Trends
Two trends developed:
- An idealistic trend, covering stories of adventurers and fantastic tales.
- A realistic trend, remarkable for the way they describe characters and settings.
Books of Chivalry
Highly popular in previous centuries, they continued with the final form Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo gave to Amadis of Gaul in 1508.
The Italian Novella
Tangled intrigue and tragic or burlesque themes, imitated by John Timoneda in Patrañuelo and brilliantly adapted by Cervantes.
The Pastoral Novel
Emerged in mid-century, inspired by works of classical literature, along the lines of The Arcadia by the Italian Sannazaro. The first novel of the genre is The Seven Books of Diana by Jorge Montemayor, followed by The Diana in Love with Gil Polo and the Galatea of Cervantes.
Cervantes’s Novel
Imitates the Byzantine Greek narrative genre and describes the perilous journey full of adventures of the protagonists. Jungle Adventures by Jerome Contreras belongs to this genre, which survived until Lope de Vega’s seventeenth century.
Moorish Novel
Has its antecedents in the border ballads and sentimental stories developed between Christians and Moors at the end of the Reconquista.
Picaresque Novel
Against these idealistic stories, realistic fiction emerged with The Novel Lazarillo and Don Quijote. The picaresque genre begins in 1554 with The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and his Fortunes and Adversities, a realistic work that came at a time of success for books of chivalry and the pastoral genre.
Emergence of the Picaresque Novel
- Social atmosphere characterized by demographic changes and large masses of people living in cities and begging.
- The breakdown of cohabitation due to discrimination against converted Jews and their descendants.
- The ideological openness initiated by Charles I and the appearance of Erasmus, who criticized the improbable nature of the idealistic novels.
- The literary reaction against the romances of chivalry, by which the picaresque protagonist appears as an anti-hero.
The Rogue and its Features
Essential rogue features are:
- Anti-heroic attitude, devoid of ideals, and a way of life based on tricks and traps.
- Presents an ironically low source tree, that conditions and defaults Lock.
- Serves many (and the author criticizes various social strata).
- Acts motivated by immediate stimuli.
- Mainly experiences hunger and adversity with resignation, seeking social climbing.
- Highly adaptable and is not materialistic.