Enric Valor: Post-War Catalan Literature and Linguistics
Socio-Political Context and Narrative Production in Post-War Catalonia
The socio-political conditions of the Franco period significantly impacted the production of narrative. Politically, the Franco period can be divided into four stages:
- The 1940s: Characterized by the aftermath of the war and harsh repression.
- The 1950s: The arrival of international support.
- The 1960s: A period of economic recovery.
- The 1970s: The decline of the regime.
Novelists who had published before 1939 faced censorship but continued
Read MoreNeruda’s “Twenty Love Poems”: A Deep Dive into Passion
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Thematic Unity and Erotic Themes
There is a certain thematic unity between “Twenty Love Poems” and “Crepusculario.” They brought the erotic theme, speaking of a unique passion for the woman. They speak of jealousy, the wait, and complete love.
Passionate love of past or future. The poet confesses as a sad man, but the reason is not explained. All poems are written in an elegiac, nostalgic, and sad tone. He uses comparisons with natural elements (pine-mast).
In
Read MoreAmerican Literary Realism: 1865-1915
Realism (1865-1915)
I. Historical Context
- A. Civil War brings demand for a “truer” type of literature that doesn’t idealize people or places.
- B. People in society defined by “class”; materialism.
- C. Reflect ideas of Darwin (survival of the fittest) and Marx (how money and class structure control a nation).
II. Genre/Style
- A. Realism
- A reaction against Romanticism; told it like it was.
- Focus on lives of ordinary people; rejected heroic and adventurous.
- Anti-materialism; rejected the new “class” system.
- View
18th-Century Literature in Spain: Movements & Trends
Contributions of Eighteenth-Century Literature
Interest in new ideas, based on criteria of utility, service, and progress in the service of humanity and Spain, are central themes of reason and good taste. Feelings are repressed; there is no passion. The literature is literal and aims for moderation. Its task is to study the diffusion of new ideas and education. The author’s pen is imposed by the desire to teach with delight. The aesthetic ideal is the rigorous standard of French Neoclassicism, restraining
Read MoreBritish Empire and Victorian Era: Literature Analysis
The British Empire in Literature: Kipling and Conrad
LIT 49 Growth & Administration of the British Colonial Empire in the 18th & 19th Centuries: Joseph Conrad & Rudyard Kipling.
1. Introduction
2. The British Empire
2.1. Origins of the British Empire: 16th-17th Centuries
2.2. Development of the British Empire in the 18th Century
2.3. Expansion & Consolidation in the 19th Century
3. Voices of the Empire in Literature
3.1. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
3.2. Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
4. Didactic
Read MoreMercè Rodoreda, Quim Monzó, and Catalan Literature
Mercè Rodoreda’s *Aloma* and Literary Context
Mercè Rodoreda’s *Aloma* (1937) was written before and revised after the Spanish Civil War (up to 1958), reflecting a period of rebuilding lives. Rodoreda’s stories often blend reality with a unique, personal world. The work can be seen in two blocks: realistic and non-realistic. When the “mirror breaks,” all realities are revealed.
Rodoreda’s other notable works include *The Time of the Doves* (*La plaça del diamant*, 1962). The protagonist, Colometa,
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