Spanish Literature: Baroque Period Key Authors & Works
Luis de Góngora
Góngora’s new style is based on the concentration of procedures, which is a stylistic and poetic revolutionary concept. Despite being elitist and removed from the accusations of darkness, new forms spread and came to constitute a poetic stream, Culteranismo. Polyphemus and Galatea is a mythological poem composed of 63 royal octaves. Góngora, with Polyphemus, surprised his contemporaries with the poem’s difficulty and novelties. He contributed numerous mythological allusions and,
Read MoreMiguel Hernández: Bridging Tradition and Modernism in Verse
Tradition and Modernity in Miguel Hernández’s Poetry
Miguel Hernández’s (MH) poetry is deeply personal. His unique style is the result of various influences, blending the Spanish poetic tradition with modern elements.
This mix of tradition and modernity is not unique to Hernández; it characterizes the work of the Generation of ’27. Spanish poets like García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, and Gerardo Diego embraced both the tradition of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, and avant-garde
Read MorePortuguese Poetry: Franco Dictatorship (1936-1975)
Portuguese Poetry Between 1936 and 1976
After the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the Franco dictatorship (until 1975) began. This authoritarian regime was characterized by a lack of basic freedoms, such as speech or assembly, to impose a single ideology and deny the linguistic and cultural diversity of Spain. Consequently, some authors connected with the Brotherhood and the Galicianist Party, such as Castelao, had to emigrate for political reasons and continued their literary work in America. Those
Read MoreAngel Gonzalez and Spanish Poetry After the War
The post-war period following the two World Wars deeply impacted art and thought, leading to a sense of pessimism. Spain faced economic hardship, cultural assimilation, censorship, the promotion of Catholic culture, and exile for many, including writers like Alberti (or death for Lorca). Many writers left Spain, impacting its literature, though the situation improved in the 1950s. In the 1940s, early works showed discontent, but were not overtly critical. The 1950s saw a loosening of censorship.
Read MoreRenaissance Literature: Love, Religion, and Count Lucanor
The Renaissance in Literature
Lyrical Renaissance
The Lyrical Renaissance focuses on love lyrics, exemplified by Garcilaso de la Vega. During this time, there was a separation between the natural and the supernatural. Garcilaso de la Vega was a prominent poet.
Life and Works of Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso belonged to a noble family and served Charles I. He masterfully expressed feelings of love by describing the beauty of his beloved (Isabel Freyre). Formally, Garcilaso introduced metric structures
Read MoreMiguel de Cervantes and His Masterpiece: Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes: In 1605, the first part of The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote appeared, a story that immediately attracted the interest of readers of the time. The hero, Alonso Quijano, and his adventures are the result of the intuition and experience of its creator, Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes’s life demonstrates and teaches the human struggle between youth and the reality of their time, which also appears in Don Quixote. Published at the beginning of the 17th century,
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