A Literary Journey Through Spanish Medieval & Golden Age Literature

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 in Latin

Major Literary Genres

Epic or Narrative

This genre includes publications in which an author presents the facts and actions of characters.

Lyrical

Characterized by the presence of a lyrical voice expressing their inner feelings, with the intent to provoke an aesthetic emotion in the reader.

Dramatic

Composed of works written to be performed on a stage before an audience by showing the actions and voices of the characters without the intervention of the author.

Medieval Mentality and Culture

Medieval society was a theocratic society, deeply religious, where the transcendent had considerable influence in all aspects of life. Existence was conceived as a transition to the afterlife, so death had a liberating meaning. Political instability made war an everyday reality, highlighting religion and war as key elements in the medieval ideology.

Characteristics of Medieval Literature

Very few people were literate, and therefore access to culture was very limited. Texts were written by hand, a long and costly process. In these circumstances, most works were transmitted and enjoyed orally and were anonymous. Due to the instability of fortune, love and death were central themes in the literature of the time. The nobility’s attitude changed, becoming more refined and cultured; they were expected not only to know how to fight but also to write and serve the ladies.

Chanson de Geste

Epic poetry from the 12th and 13th centuries, recited by minstrels who extolled the exploits of a hero embodying the virtues of a people.

Romances

In the late 15th century, learned poets became interested in these poems and incorporated them into songbooks. The great poets of the Golden Age composed new ones in the traditional style. The most extensive set of romance texts is the romancero. The old romances, or those from oral tradition, are known as the old ballad; those created by known authors are the new or artistic romances.

Mester de Clerecía

Used to describe a series of narrative poems of didactic intent and religious nature from the 13th and 14th centuries, composed in cuaderna vía (stanzas of 4 lines of 14 syllables “Alexandrian” with a strong central caesura or pause and consonant rhyme).

The Book of Good Love

All elements of the book are subordinate to the central theme: love and deception. Religious and secular matters overlap, and the admonitory tone alternates between burlesque and irony, making it difficult to determine if the work is didactic or merely entertainment. The language is rich, ranging from the cultivated style of the time to colloquialisms, resulting in a complex and multifaceted work.

Verses of Manrique

Constitute an elegy that combines various traditional elements in an original way. The poem is divided into three parts: the first discusses death abstractly; the second evokes historical figures; and the third addresses the death of Rodrigo Manrique. This scene is presented as a dialogue between Death and the poet’s father.

Story Structure of Count Lucanor

The story is divided into four parts:

  1. A dialogue between the Count and Patronio, in which the Count presents his problem.
  2. The narration of a story or example.
  3. Applying the story to the Count’s case and its acceptance by the Count.
  4. Intervention of Don Juan Manuel, who decided to include the example in the book with a moral.

Celestina

Topics

Love

Callisto intends to be the perfect courtly lover but behaves like a thoughtless and selfish young man who, under the pretext of serving and honoring Melibea, seeks to satisfy his desire. He is active in the process and does not regret his actions.

Fortune and Death

Events are governed by fortune, which ultimately leads to the death of most of the characters. Celestina dies from greed, Sempronius and Pármeno pay for the crime committed, Callisto is the victim of his recklessness, and Melibea remains consistent to the end with the behavior that placed her outside the social norms of the time. The deaths appear inevitable, creating a tragic atmosphere.

Purpose of the Work

Apparent Objective

Discussion on the intention of love, as stated in the prologue.

Cult Goal

The disastrous end of the characters can be interpreted as a punishment for their corrupt behavior, which seems to support Rojas’ moralizing intention. However, his attitude is ambiguous, given the work’s erotic content and existential pessimism.

Converts

Jews who converted to Catholicism generally continued to retain their customs, which led to accusations and numerous references in the literature of the time. The descendants of the converts were called New Christians and were very numerous.

Baroque Mentality: Attitude Towards Life and Aesthetics

  1. Life is a transition towards death.
  2. The world is a deception.
  3. Human nature is wary and unfolds in a world of glitz.
  4. The idea of instability is manifested in art and the expression of movement.
  5. There is a tendency towards contrast and disproportion.
  6. The Baroque pursues sensationalism and surprise.

Evidence in Literature

  1. Dreams and disappointment are key themes in Baroque literature.
  2. Satire and critique of reality are frequent.
  3. The picaresque genre reflects a skeptical view of society and the deceptive world.
  4. A dynamic and complex style is employed, often using exaggeration.
  5. Conflicting elements are present: beauty and ugliness, the serious and the satirical.
  6. Baroque literature seeks originality; classic forms are neglected, and new expressions are sought.

New Poetic Forms

  • Sonnet: 2 quatrains with fixed rhyme ABBA ABBA and 2 tercets with variable rhyme – CDC DCD, CDE CDE.
  • Chained Tercet: hendecasyllable, ABA BCB CDC rhyme.
  • Royal Octave: ABABABCC rhyme.
  • Lira: combines 3 heptasyllable lines and 2 hendecasyllable lines, with aBaBb rhyme.

Culteranismo

Also known as Gongorism, it identifies with the resources used by Góngora: the beautification of reality through metaphors and images, the continued use of hyperbaton or alteration of the usual syntactic order, the use of cultisms, and numerous allusions to classical mythology.

Byzantine Novel

The plot takes the form of a pilgrimage, during which adventures unfold, mixing action with the amorous. The protagonists, young and in love, are often separated throughout the narrative.

Lazarillo de Tormes Structure

Divided into 7 chapters or treatises and a prologue that is intertwined with the outcome of the first 3 treatises. The longest treatises are structured following the lines of folk tales. The theme of hunger is a thread throughout the first 3 treatises. From treatise 4 onwards, the author uses the narrative structure of the short story.

Novelas Ejemplares

A collection of 12 short stories, including Rinconete y Cortadillo, El licenciado Vidriera, El coloquio de los perros, and others. Cervantes was the first Spanish author to write prose novels in the Italian style. Cervantes’ novels are distinguished by their disregard for the narrative framework in which the stories are inserted and greater attention to the psychological characterization of the characters.

Don Quixote

Cervantes’ most famous work, published in two parts. The first, titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, appeared in 1605, and the second, The Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, in 1615.

Action of Part One

Alonso Quijano, a wealthy gentleman in his 50s, loses his mind by reading books of chivalry and decides to become a knight-errant. In a first solitary departure, he is knighted by an innkeeper. On his second outing, accompanied by a peasant, Sancho Panza, episodes occur that parody those of the books of chivalry. They free some captives and must hide in the Sierra Morena. Sancho takes a letter to Dulcinea. The priest and the barber devise a ploy to deceive Don Quixote and return him home. Don Quixote, believing himself cured, returns to his village.

Action of Part Two

Cervantes includes an episode where the protagonists dialogue continuously, enriching the characterization of Don Quixote and Sancho. In his third outing, Don Quixote heads to Zaragoza for the first time. He decides not to go through Zaragoza and heads for Barcelona. On the beach, Don Quixote will be defeated by the Knight of the White Moon (the bachelor Sansón Carrasco), who demands that he return to his village and not embark on new adventures for a year. Don Quixote falls ill upon arrival in his village and dies a few days later, after having renounced the knighthood of books.

Types of Poems by Quevedo

  • Metaphysical: compositions that meditate on human existence, the brevity of life, the fleeting nature of time, or the acceptance of death.
  • Moral: reflect on virtues, vices, wealth, fortune, and power.
  • Religious: devoted to passages or characters from the Old and New Testaments.
  • Love: Quevedo attempts to renew the Renaissance love lyric.
  • Satirical: he was especially fond of satire, where he could experiment with language and highlight the defects of society.