Miguel de Cervantes: Life, Works, and Literary Impact
Miguel de Cervantes: A Literary Overview
2.1. Life of Cervantes: Born in 1547 in Alcala de Henares, into a family with possible Jewish origins. His life was marked by significant events:
- 1570: Traveled to Italy.
- Involved in the Battle of Lepanto.
- 1575: Captured and taken to Algiers.
- Rescued and returned to Spain, later writing La Galatea (1585).
- Faced financial difficulties, leading him to write plays.
- Experienced excommunication and imprisonment. During his final imprisonment in Seville, he began writing
Golden Age Spanish Literature: Baroque Era Insights
Baroque Mentality and Spanish Golden Age Literature
Baroque mentality describes a society that distrusts itself and is very concerned about politics, economics, and social norms. It covers topics such as heartbreak, life as a dream, and Stoic philosophy. It separates party-loving societies and luxury in which he is well aware of the issue of honor. It was a period of conservatism and caution on the liberty of expression, in consequence of the Counter-Reformation. The Baroque stresses the artificial,
Read MoreFederico García Lorca: Life, Work, and Themes
Federico García Lorca: A Literary Journey
1898-1936: Born in Fuentevaqueros, Granada. Studied law. (L) Music, with his friend Manuel de Falla. 1919-1928: Student residence with Dalí, JRJ, Buñuel. 1929-30: In New York and other American cities. 1932: Directs representations of classical theater throughout Spain with ‘La Barraca’. G: Shot by the rebels in Granada.
Lorca’s work expresses his intense vitality marked by an agonizing sense of death (constant dualities). His life reflected passion, love,
Read MoreMiguel Hernández: Love, Death, and Life in Poetry
Miguel Hernández: Love, Death, and Life
I come with 3 wounds of love, of death, of life.
Love + Life = Death
Death = Life + Love
Death + Love = Life
The metaphor of the wound is considered to belong to the language of passionate love in tragic medieval songbooks.
Love in the Poetry of Miguel Hernández
In the first stage, the poet reproduces influences from 19th-century romantics, such as Bécquer and Espronceda. His compositions show a writer leaning towards mythology and eroticism, often with the theme
Read MoreCantar de Mio Cid: Exile and Journey to Burgos
Location
This text is a fragment of the Cantar de Mio Cid. It is a narrative poem divided into three songs: The Song of Exile, The Song of the Weddings, and The Song of the Affront of Corpes. The text we are discussing is a part of it.
This epic poem, also called an *epic poem*, has an unknown author. However, it is believed it could have been written by two minstrels, one from Soria and another from Burgos, due to the specific references given for sites that appear throughout the work. We know the
Read MoreCastilian Prose and Literature: 13th-14th Centuries
Origins of Castilian Prose
- Fernando III established Castilian as the language of chancery, replacing Latin. He declared Castilian the official language for all documents and texts.
- Alfonso X the Wise, son of Ferdinand III, promoted the Toledo School of Translators. He inspired historical, scientific, cultural, and literary works that helped establish a written policy for Castilian prose.
- In the 13th century, the first collections of stories or fables were translated into Arabic. The two most important