Spanish Literature and the Baroque Era
ITEM 6: LITERATURE
The Seventeenth Century
The Baroque Period and Crisis in Spain
The Baroque is a European artistic movement that developed in the seventeenth century. It is characterized by pessimism and disappointment.
In Spain, the death of Philip II in 1580 marks the end of a golden age, and the country enters a general crisis:
- It is a period of continuous warfare. Spain is experiencing the end of a military hegemony of nearly two centuries.
- The defense of a universal monarchy and Catholic unity fails: the Protestant Reformation has taken hold in Europe.
- There is a general impoverishment because of the excessive costs of imperial politics.
- The social contrasts are enormous.
Culture and Art
- Philosophical theories, including empiricist and rationalist thought, encourage scientific research.
- In art, appearance is valued. In painting, highlights include the Spanish Diego Velázquez and the Italian Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. In German music, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Literary Characteristics of the Baroque
Literature addresses the broader public.
- The purpose of literature is no longer to moralize or teach, but to entertain and please the public.
- A lively literary world emerges, marked by polemics between authors.
In the seventeenth century, the temporary sobriety and balance of Renaissance literature gave way to stylistic exuberance and complexity.
- The writers seek innovation, impact, and surprise.
- There is a renewal of genres and styles.
- Items and Renaissance forms are reused, but driven to the extreme.
- Literature, like painting, is filled with contrasts of chiaroscuro and constant opposition of opposites.
- It uses a complicated language with an abundance of literary figures.
- A taste for decoration and wordplay is highlighted.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Biography and Life Events
Born in Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes was shaped like a Renaissance man and went to Italy with Cardinal Acquaviva. In 1570, he became a soldier and fought at Lepanto. When returning to Spain, he was captured by the Turks and held captive in Algiers. He was taken to jail twice. He died on April 23, 1616, in Madrid, beset by economic hardship.
Cervantes’s Dramatic Works (Theater)
- Among his classical theater works, we include El cerco de Numancia (The Siege of Numantia).
- In comedy, highlights include The Great Sultans and The Baths of Algiers.
- The interludes noted include The Election of the Mayors of Daganzo.
Cervantes’s Poetry
- At first, he wrote mainly in Italian meters and was modeled on Garcilaso and the pastoral lyric.
- Then he devoted himself more to the lyrical pastoral novels, such as copies.
- Among his long poems is The Song of Calliope.
Cervantes’s Narrative Works
With Cervantes, modern fiction was born.
La Galatea (Pastoral Novel)
The first novel, Galatea, is a pastoral novel by Cervantes that generally adheres to the rules of the Renaissance genre:
- The noble characters are dressed as shepherds.
- Verse poems appear, but they are written in prose.
One notes a tension between the pastoral world and the late sixteenth century.
The Exemplary Novellas
They are stories with lessons and are an example of a new genre.
- Cervantes wanted to propose a model of behavior in each novel.
- At the same time, he creates a literary novella model called Cervantine.
The Byzantine Novel: The Persiles
The work Persiles and Sigismunda is the last novel he wrote. Cervantes follows the Byzantine model.
- It is a chain of adventures of the main characters.
- A taste for creative freedom and the fiction that will influence contemporary novels.