Spanish Baroque: Literary Movements and 17th Century Culture
The Baroque Era: Splendor and Decline in the 17th Century
The Baroque was a profound cultural and artistic movement that flourished during the seventeenth century. This period coincided with a significant era of economic and social crisis.
A Period of Crisis and Cultural Contrast
Baroque thought and culture were deeply marked by pessimism and disillusionment. Society turned to religion with a deeper awareness. This pervasive crisis was reflected in sharp cultural contrasts, leading to a violent clash of ideas and expressions.
Artistic Expression and Spanish Literary Zenith
Artistic expressions of the Baroque era often pushed the boundaries of Renaissance forms, leading to an exaggeration or forceful application of their expressive resources. Notably, Spanish literature during this period reached its absolute peak, producing some of its most enduring masterpieces.
Baroque Attitudes and Themes
Key Attitudes of the Baroque Period
- Growing Embrace of the Senses: A heightened appreciation for sensory experience.
- Joyful Vitalism: Despite the underlying pessimism, a celebration of life’s energy.
- Disappointment and Vital Distress: A profound sense of disillusionment with life’s realities.
- Resigned Acceptance of Life: A stoic, often melancholic, acceptance of fate.
Lyricism in 17th Century Spanish Poetry
Lyricism in the seventeenth century was rich and varied, exploring diverse themes and forms.
Poetic Themes of the Baroque
- Moral and Religious Poetry: Deep reflections on ethics, spirituality, and the human condition.
- Love Poetry: Courtly love themes persisted but were infused with greater intensity and complexity.
- Satirical and Burlesque Poetry: Often targeting specific characters, societal vices, or the customs of the time.
Baroque Poetic Forms and Styles
Baroque poetry largely continued the traditional forms that prevailed during the Renaissance, but with distinct stylistic innovations.
Metrics and Expressive Resources
The period showcased a wide variety of metric forms. Poets extensively employed expressive resources to achieve their artistic goals, leading to the emergence of two dominant poetic currents: Culteranismo and Conceptismo.
Culteranismo vs. Conceptismo
Culteranismo: The Style of Luis de Góngora
Its main creator was Luis de Góngora. The primary features of this aesthetic are:
- Abundant Use of Learned Words: Employing cultismos (words of Latin or Greek origin) for expressive meaning and musical value.
- Complex Syntax: Frequent use of hyperbaton (inverted word order) to create intricate sentence structures.
- Rich Imagery and Metaphors: Emphasis on sensory description and elaborate figurative language.
Conceptismo: The Wit of Quevedo and Gracián
This poetic style is based on the witty and surprising association of ideas and words. Its main proponents were Francisco de Quevedo and Baltasar Gracián. The most characteristic features include:
- Concise Lexicon: A focus on intellectual meaning rather than emotional expression.
- Wordplay and Juxtaposition: Creation of new meanings through composition and unexpected juxtaposition of words.
- Rhetorical Devices: Extensive use of figures such as metaphors, antithesis, and especially oxymoron.
Luis de Góngora: Master of Culteranismo
Luis de Góngora y Argote is the quintessential figure of Culteranismo. His poetry is renowned for its complexity and beauty.
Key Characteristics of Góngora’s Poetry
- Pictorial Sense: A sensory, descriptive poetry that speaks of love with a contemplative attitude and vivid imagery.
- Landscape as Central: Nature often stands as the centerpiece of his work, depicted with elaborate detail.
- Cultism and Popularity: A unique blend of cultured and popular elements, demonstrating his versatility.
- Satire and Panegyric: Góngora excelled in both satirical and laudatory poetry, often displaying contradictory themes.
Góngora’s Poetic Style
The most obvious feature of Góngora’s style is its difficulty, which he defined as a stimulus to intelligence and sensitivity. The poet employs various devices to avoid direct expression and enhance the musicality of his verses:
- Cultism: Frequent use of words of Latin origin (cultismos).
- Hyperbaton: A learned syntactic device Góngora uses for flexibility and ease in the language, highlighting the phonetic value of words.
- Mythological Allusions: Extensive references to classical mythology.
- Metaphor: Used as a formula for the stylization of nature, creating complex and layered meanings.
Major Works of Góngora
- Popular Poems: Short compositions in traditional meters like romances and letrillas. While popular in form, they often exhibit the same stylistic complexity as his cultured works.
- Cultured Poems: Include sonnets, songs, and major works such as:
- Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea
- Soledades (Solitudes)
- Fable of Pyramus and Thisbe