Spanish Baroque and Renaissance Literature: Key Aspects
The Baroque Period in Spain
The Hispanic Monarchy faced a deep crisis, exacerbated by the pacifist policies of Philip III. Spain, exhausted by incessant military campaigns, experienced political instability due to a king who entrusted the government to his favorites. This culminated in the secession of Portugal and Catalonia in 1640. Military defeats in the Thirty Years’ War forced Spain to sign a peace treaty, ending its hegemony in Europe. Spain’s isolation grew, accompanied by a sense of decline and defeat.
Although often presented as the opposite of the Renaissance, the Baroque was not a reaction against it, at least not formally. Instead, it represented the culmination of a slow evolution that began in Mannerism.
Baroque aesthetics favored complexity and artificiality, dominated by exaggeration and violent contrasts. Spanish poetry was dominated by three major figures: Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, and Francisco de Quevedo. The picaresque novel became a permanent fixture in prose with Mateo Alemán’s Guzmán de Alfarache. Baltasar Gracián best exemplified Baroque pessimism, while Quevedo’s poetry and satirical prose alternated with profound existential themes. Theater became a spectacle for the masses, with Lope de Vega’s comedic model followed by playwrights such as Tirso de Molina and Calderón de la Barca, who conveyed the ideology of Baroque disillusionment on the stage.
The Renaissance in Spain
The Renaissance emerged in the sixteenth century as a revival of classical art and culture, emphasizing a human-centered (anthropocentric) worldview.
Literature explored human feelings and the surrounding natural world, reflected in the typical literary theme of “Carpe Diem.”
The Spanish Renaissance maintained Italian Renaissance features while incorporating idiosyncratic Spanish elements such as realism, individualism, and religiosity. It was both pagan and religious, idealistic and realistic, embracing both popular worship and aesthetic zeal, ethical concerns, stylistic innovation, freedom of expression, and admiration for the classics. The Spanish literary renaissance began to manifest in lyric poetry, starting with the work of Juan Boscán (Barcelona, 1493-1542).
Key Figures of the Spanish Renaissance
- Garcilaso de la Vega: A poet who introduced Italian influence to Spain, including the hendecasyllable (eleven-syllable line) in poetry (rhymed and unrhymed), combinations of hendecasyllables and heptasyllables (seven-syllable lines) in stanzas, and forms such as the sonnet, the tercet, and the octave.
- Fray Luis de León (1527-1591): Considered the best representative of the Spanish Renaissance. His best work in prose, De los Nombres de Cristo, was written in prison between 1574 and 1575. Other works include La Perfecta Casada (1583) and El Libro de Job (written 20 years later).
The dissemination of Latin and Greek texts, especially Il Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), a collection of love poems inspired by the life and death of his beloved Laura de Noves, greatly influenced the era.
Humanism
Humanism originated in Italy, with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Antonio de Nebrija (who wrote the first grammar of the Castilian language) as key figures.
Mystical Literature
Mystical literature is equivalent to religious literature and is divided into two types:
- Ascetic Literature: Concerned with the activities one must undertake to achieve moral perfection.
- Mystical Literature: Describes the phenomena experienced by individuals seeking direct contact with God within their souls.