Medieval & Renaissance Spanish Literature: Prose, Poetry, and Drama
Medieval Prose in Europe
Influences from the East
Medieval prose in Europe was influenced by collections of short stories of Indian origin, such as Kalila and Dimna and Sendebar.
Boccaccio’s Decameron
Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a collection of novellas, in Italy during the 14th century.
Alfonso X the Wise (13th Century)
In Spain, Alfonso X fostered a diverse intellectual environment at his court, where wise Christians, Arabs, and Jewish scholars gathered, forming the School of Translators of Toledo. The school’s objectives were to:
- Unify the Castilian language.
- Spread knowledge to the entire population (secularization of knowledge).
Works of Alfonso X:
His works covered various topics:
- History: “General Chronicle”
- Laws: “Book of Laws”
- Science: “Lapidary”
- Games: Books on chess, dice, and tables.
Don Juan Manuel (14th Century)
Don Juan Manuel, nephew of Alfonso X, was concerned with the copying, correction, and preservation of manuscripts.
El Conde Lucanor
His most famous work, El Conde Lucanor (Count Lucanor), features the Count presenting a problem to his advisor, Patronio, who responds with a story. The style is clear, concise, and didactic (intended to teach).
15th-Century Prose
The Sentimental Novel
The main theme of the sentimental novel is courtly love, exalting it as a kind of religion. A notable work is Prison of Love by Diego de San Pedro.
Romance of Chivalry
The protagonist is typically a knight who fights against evil and other characters, emerging victorious. Outstanding works include Tirant lo Blanch by Joanot Martorell and Amadis of Gaul by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.
Medieval Drama
Origins
Medieval drama originated from small pieces performed in churches and the secular world, including courts.
Religious Drama
Religious drama was initially represented in churches through liturgical events, later moving to the streets and incorporating elements from the court.
- Tropes: Songs with dialogue between characters in a religious scene.
- Liturgical Drama: Representation of a religious event, such as the Adoration of the Magi.
Secular Theater
Secular theater included farces and short plays performed by troubadours, satirizing the customs of the time.
La Celestina
Author: Fernando de Rojas
Play or Novel?
Due to its length and complexity, La Celestina is often considered a humanistic comedy, a subgenre of theater written in Latin. It can be related to the theatrical genre because it features dialogue, dramatic techniques, division into acts, and includes stage directions.
Characters
The play warns against the evils of servants and go-betweens and the dangers of carnal love.
- Bourgeois: Selfish, enjoy courtly love (e.g., Calisto and Melibea).
- Servants: Low socioeconomic status, driven by greed, envy, and crime (e.g., Sempronio and Pármeno).
- Matchmaker (Celestina): Cunning, envious, intelligent (understands people’s desires and weaknesses).
Introduction to Renaissance Literature (16th Century)
General Features
- New Mentality: Humanism exalts the human capacity for rational thought.
- Early 16th Century: Close relationship between man and the Church.
- Late 16th Century: Rivalry between Protestants (Reformation) and Catholics (Counter-Reformation).
- Consolidation of the power of European monarchies.
Culture and Art
- Renaissance: Rebirth of culture and reawakening of classical culture from the Middle Ages.
- Emerged in Renaissance Italy (Rome and Florence).
- Sought simplicity, balance, and harmony, recovering the art of Greece and Rome.
- Humanism enabled scientific and technological advances (e.g., Copernicus’s heliocentric theory, Gutenberg’s printing press).
Renaissance Literature
- Recovery of classical forms like the eclogue, elegy, dialogue, and epistle from Greco-Roman antiquity.
- Italian literature served as a reference, introducing the sonnet and hendecasyllable.
- New writers imitated classical authors while introducing personal innovations.
- Themes: Love and nature with a subjective vision.
- Use of mythological references.
- Style: Clear, seeking balance, simple, and natural.
Lyric Poetry in the Renaissance
Petrarchan Lyric in Spain
Influence of Petrarch
Petrarch’s most important work, Canzoniere (Songbook), is a series of poems written in diary form, narrating the poet’s love for Laura. The central theme is unrequited love. The style features the exaltation of the beloved’s beauty and the conflict between reason and emotion. The sonnet (14 hendecasyllable lines) is the dominant verse form.
Garcilaso de la Vega
Garcilaso was a Renaissance courtier influenced by Italian poetry.
Work
- Used the elegy (mourning the death of a loved one), eclogue (shepherds discussing their heartaches), and epistles (didactic, moral, and familial letters).
- Employed songs, sonnets, and liras.
- Themes: Love and nature.
- Style: Classical ideal of beauty, effortless language, clear and musical.
Religious Lyric in Spain
Ascetic Poetry
Ascetic poetry describes the practices necessary to achieve moral perfection, exemplified by Fray Luis de León.
Works of Fray Luis de León
- Prose: The Names of Christ, The Perfect Wife, Exposition of the Book of Job
- Verse: Ode to a Retired Life, Ode to Salinas, Noche Serena (Serene Night)
Theme: Desire for solitude.
Verse Form: Lira (combination of hendecasyllable and heptasyllable lines).
Style: Simple and expressive, focused on nature.
Mystical Poetry
San Juan de la Cruz’s work is inspired by religious sentiment.
Themes
- Joy of encountering God.
- Contradiction between earthly life and spiritual life.
- Love for God’s creation.
- Impossibility of expressing the union between the soul and God.
Works
- Spiritual Canticle
- Dark Night of the Soul
- Living Flame of Love
Style
Mixes religious literature and love poetry, imbuing his poems with eroticism and sensuality. His most important sources are biblical literature (e.g., the Song of Songs), pastoral and bucolic poetry, and Garcilaso’s eclogues. He uses the lira, combining seven-syllable and eleven-syllable verses.