Miguel Hernández: Social-Political Commitment in Poetry
Miguel Hernández’s Social-Political Commitment
The Spanish Civil War profoundly impacted Miguel Hernández’s human and poetic development. He discovered empathy, witnessing and understanding injustice, and aligning himself with the oppressed. Enlisting as a volunteer in the Fifth Regiment, he experienced the front lines firsthand. His literary creation became a weapon of protest, evident in works preceding the war, such as Vientos del pueblo (Winds of the People), El labrador de más aire (The Laborer
Read MoreMedieval Literature: Exploring Lyrical Traditions & “Cantar de Mio Cid”
Medieval Literature: The Lyrical Tradition
Lírica Tradicional (Traditional Lyrics): Anonymous songs composed and transmitted orally, expressing feelings of love. These songs were sung during work, parties, weddings, and funerals. Oral poetry becomes traditional as it is transmitted by the community. The poems are anonymous.
Structure: In many European cultures, traditional lyrics are based on rhythmic structures with parallelism. The main theme is love, often expressed from a female perspective.
Read MorePopular and Court Poetry: Ballads, Romances, and Key Authors
Popular Poetry: Ballads and Romances
The romances and epic compositions were often arranged in verses to be sung or recited. These verses were octosyllabic with assonance rhyme pairs. They differ from ancient epics and were composed by individual authors.
The Ballad
The recopilación dl d fifteenth-century romances, both anonymous and old, are called romances from S.XVI dl. They can be of biblical and classical origin, recounting stories from the Old and New Testaments, tragic events like the Trojan
Read MoreSpanish Theater: Jardiel Poncela to Lorca’s Tragedies
Intellectual Humor in Theater
Jardiel Poncela: An author who plays with language and grotesque situations.
Miguel Mihura: A precursor of the theater of the absurd. Notable work: Three Top Hats.
Theater of the Generation of ’27
Three noteworthy facets:
- Purification of poetic drama.
- Incorporating cutting-edge forms.
- Bringing theater to the people.
Key Figures of the Generation of ’27
Rafael Alberti: Avant-garde theater that moves toward compromise. Surrealist works include Man Uninhabited. On a Republican
Read MoreSpanish Literature: Application Letters to Contemporary Poetry
Letters and Theater
Application Letters: used for placing orders, request services… Letters of Transmittal Reports: often accompany checks, money, business documents. Letters of Complaint: express a complaint with a business transaction error or a professional decision or administration. Letters of Social Relations: relations between clients: greeting cards, invitations.
Comedy and Conservative Theater
Burgesa Comedy: It was created by Buenavente and Jacinto. It addresses transcendental problems
Read MoreMedieval Literature: Genres, Characteristics, and Key Works
Three Great Literary Genres
There are three major literary genres:
- Epic or Narrative: A work in which an author tells the actions of characters.
- Lyric: Characterized by the presence of a lyrical voice that expresses intimate feelings, with the intention of provoking emotions in the reader.
- Dramatic: Works written to be represented on a stage, showing the actions and voices of the characters without the intervention of the author.
Medieval Mentality and Culture
Medieval society was theocratic and very
Read More