Spanish Romanticism and Realism: Authors and Works
Emergence of New Themes in Romanticism
Key themes: Pessimism, love in extreme situations, interest in exotic and faraway places, glorification of the past, reflection of human feelings, and descriptions of landscapes.
Romantic Features
- Mixture of prose and verse.
- Combination of genres; drama breaks the rules of Neoclassical prose.
- Historicist.
- Costumbrismo: Depiction of everyday life scenes.
Larra (1809-1837)
Born in Madrid in 1809. He wrote a historical novel and a tragedy but is best known for his journalism.
Read MoreLost Cowboys: A Journey Through Cowboy Culture
Book Review: Lost Cowboys by Hank Wangford
Introduction
Did you realize that there were no horses or cows in the Americas until Columbus introduced them on his return visit in 1494? Or that the first cowboys were not those of North America, but the gauchos, huasos, llaneros, and vaqueros of Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, and Mexico? I certainly didn’t, until I read Hank Wangford’s revealing study of cowboy culture, from Patagonia in South America to the Alamo in Texas.
Content Overview
The book is full
Read MorePopular Poetry, Traditional Songs, and Adjectives
Popular and Traditional Poetry
In every culture, there are songs and poems that quickly spread. These poems and songs that people know, sing, and recite constitute popular poetry. Some works of popular poetry carry over time and are passed down from generation to generation through the centuries, so that eventually, no one remembers who the author was or when he composed it.
Characteristics of Traditional Poems
- Oral Tradition: It is transmitted mainly orally, frequently through singing and music.
- Musicality:
Noucentisme: Catalan Cultural and Literary Movement
Noucentisme: A New Era in Catalan Culture
The name Noucentisme was associated with a new era. It is a literary movement, but behind it, there is a government with a clear cultural application.
An important Catalan political culture, with a very clear Enric Prat de la Riba, was supported by Pompeu Fabra, Eugeni d’Ors, and Josep Carner. His government modernized the political language and Catalan culture. Enric Prat i la Riba scored lines in orthography. Since the Rebirth, they already tried to modernize
Read MoreThe American Renaissance: Key Figures and Literary Movements
An American Renaissance
In the 1830s and 1840s, the frontier of American society was quickly moving westward. Following in the path of Brackenridge and Cooper, writers were beginning to look at the western frontier for ideas for a literature about American life. The feeling was that the cultures of Massachusetts and Virginia ought to be the models of national culture. At this time, Boston and its neighboring towns and villages were filled with intellectual excitement and activity.
The Transcendentalists
Among
Read MoreSatire in Scriblerian Literature: A Critical Analysis
Satire in Scriblerian Literature
The aim of this essay is to discuss the role of satire in Scriblerian literature, focusing on the satirical techniques employed by members of the Scriblerus Club. The Scriblerus Club, named after the fictional Martinus Scriblerus, was an informal association of authors formed in 1714, including Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St. John, and Thomas Parnell. They used satire to address their concerns about widespread corruption.