Federico García Lorca: Life, Theater, and Social Themes
Federico García Lorca: Thematic Introduction
The focus of Lorca’s work is the moral confrontation between the authoritarian, rigid, and conventional (represented by Bernarda) and the desire for freedom (embodied by Adela and Maria Josefa). Sub-topics include passionate love affairs, censorship, hypocrisy, and the clash between two characters, attitudes to life, and ideologies.
Moral Clash Between Authoritarianism and Desire for Freedom
Bernarda tries to impose oppressive rules based on her authority
Read MoreRoman Literature: Theater, Poetry, History, and Epigrams
Theater
The sense of play and imitation is characteristic of all beings. In Greece, there was the national theater festival in honor of the god Bacchus. In Italy, camouflage was included in many religious rites and festivals of the goddess of agriculture, which included many dances, songs, and imitations. A story is played, but the music, imitating the dance and Latinos, formed a whole. The Romans started to imitate the Greeks and Etruscans, inheriting masks, actors, etc.
The Play
Plautus
Moved to Rome
Read MoreAusiàs March, James I, and Ramon Llull: Catalan Literature
Ausiàs March: A Valencian Poet of the 15th Century
Ausiàs March (Valencia, 1400-1459) came from a family of former citizens linked to the service of the crown, who ascended to the nobility in 1360. James March, his grandfather, was very influenced by the poetry of his nephew, and this is seen in his three poems of allegorical love themes, and a brief lyrical production. Ausiàs March’s father, Peter March, was the author of three new compositions in rhyme and several lyrical poems with a moral
Read MoreGalician Narrative: Evolution, Authors, and Key Themes
The New Narrative of Galicia
Beginning in the 1960s, Galician narrative can be divided into three strands. First, the narrative of authors related to Editorial Galaxia, especially Álvaro Cunqueiro, Ánxel Fole, and Eduardo Blanco Amor, who continued to publish important works. Second, a stream of realistic narrative, focusing on themes of rural Galicia and emigration, represented by Xosé Neira Vilas. Finally, the so-called “new Galician narrative,” formed by authors such as Camilo González Suárez
Read MoreRoman Historiography: Caesar, Nepos, and Sallust
Origins of Roman Historiography
The funeral eulogies (laudationes funebres) spoken at funerals of famous people, ancient records of judges, and especially the annals of the pontiffs, served as the foundation for Roman historiography. These practical writings with literary aspirations evolved as the Romans expanded their territories after the First Punic War (264-241 BC). They began to record their history as political propaganda and national affirmation, documenting events year by year, similar to
Read MoreRomanticism and Enlightenment in 18th and 19th Century Spain
Romanticism in the 19th Century
Romanticism was an ideological and aesthetic movement that began in Germany in the last third of the 19th century. It extended throughout Europe. The dominant genre was lyric poetry. The first book was a sentimental Romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), by Goethe.
Main Features:
- Against established norms, it defends imagination, feelings, and fantasy.
- Against the criterion of “universality,” it defends the differences found in the individual soul and the