Worker Writers School: Empowering Voices in Labor
Last week, readers of the New York Times may have been excited to catch some very excellent literary news, in a report by Aimee Lee Ball titled “The Real Nanny Diaries.” The story concerned a writing workshop for domestic workers currently being held at the Brooklyn Public Library. Participants have come to Brooklyn from places as remote as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lithuania, and even Texas. The workshop offers a space for the writers to share their projects and provide each other with
Read MoreNew Criticism: Methods and Principles in Literary Analysis
New Criticism: Ideas and Methods
Popularizing Literature
New Critics contemplated literature as an element of communication and preservation of traditional values. The first step was to popularize it. Only the high intellectual classes read literature, so they made it extremely pedagogical because everybody wants to have access to it.
Key Strategies
- Staffing University Departments with Critics: Little by little, they replaced the historians at the top of the departments with critics. The assistants
Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba: A Deep Dive
Federico García Lorca’s *The House of Bernarda Alba*
A Masterpiece of the Generation of ’27
Federico García Lorca, a renowned poet, playwright, and prose writer, belonged to the influential Spanish Generation of ’27. *The House of Bernarda Alba*, a play in three acts, is one of his most acclaimed works. Written in 1936, shortly before his execution, it premiered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1945.
Characters: Stereotypes and Complex Individuals
Lorca masterfully blends stereotypes with complex characters.
Read MoreSpanish Renaissance: Literature and Society in the 16th Century
Characteristics of the Renaissance Period
The 16th century saw the rise of a cultural and philosophical movement that focused on humanism and a renewed interest in the Greco-Roman past. This movement, known as the Renaissance, aimed to guide humanity towards modernity, leaving behind the perceived stagnation of the Middle Ages.
Historical Context
The Renaissance arrived in Spain during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. It coincided with the discovery of America, which significantly influenced Spanish
Read MoreSpanish Baroque Literature: Poetry, Theater, and Prose
The 17th Century: A General Crisis and the Baroque
The 17th century, often referred to as the period of the General Crisis, fostered a worldview characterized by chaos and disillusionment. This sentiment manifested in an exaggerated aesthetic, particularly evident in the language of the time. Two prominent literary movements emerged: Culteranismo, championed by Góngora, focused on formal beauty, while Conceptismo, associated with Quevedo, emphasized content density.
Baroque Poetry: Reflecting Pessimism
Read MoreGalician Literature: From the Dark Ages to Rosalía de Castro
The Evolution of Galician Literature
The Dark Ages (Séculos Escuros)
During this long period, only a few literary manifestations were preserved:
- Oral, anonymous, and traditional poetry: Music, novels, short stories, poetry, sayings, etc.
- Academic: Renaissance and Baroque compositions by Martín Torrado, Tonel Gómez, Isabel de Castro (Countess of Altamira), etc.
- Panxoliñas: These experienced significant development due to the *galeguización* of the Christmas theme, because of the identification between