Post-Spanish Civil War Theater: Evolution and Trends
Post-Spanish Civil War Theater
1. The Theater in the 1940s and 1950s
The Spanish Civil War’s impact on theatrical genres was tremendous. Authors like Miert, along with exile and increased commercial and ideological pressures, explored human poverty’s effects on theater from 1939 onward.
1.1 The Theater of the 1940s
The theater was conditioned by the bourgeois society of the time. It represented a fake reality, was outdated, and neglected formal experimentation. The main play types were:
- Comic theater,
Spanish Theater in the 20th Century: Trends and Key Figures
Spanish Theater in the First Half of the 20th Century
In the first half of the 20th century, Spanish drama followed two main directions:
- Conservative Theater: At the service of the bourgeoisie and with minimal critical capacity (Benavente, Valle-Inclán, and Arniches).
- Innovative Theater: Echoed existential and social problems (Unamuno, Azorín, Gómez de la Serna, Valle-Inclán, and Federico García Lorca).
Conservative Theater
The Bourgeois Theater – Jacinto Benavente: Represented formal and ideological
Read MoreEpistolary Genre in Roman Literature: Types and Authors
Item 10: The Epistolary Genre
The epistolary genre is minor compared to the epic or oratory. Letters are those involving a sender and a specific recipient, which may be real or fictitious. They are normally in prose and of variable length depending on the letter.
A first division can be drawn between public and private letters.
Private Letters
The private letter is addressed to a specific recipient, which is the only one who can fully understand its content and usually arises from a particular circumstance.
Read MoreSpanish Narrative: Post-Franco Era to Present Day
Spanish Narrative Since the 1970s
Following the death of Franco, Spain underwent a period of significant transition. King Juan Carlos I ascended to the throne, and after Carlos Arias Navarro’s resignation, Adolfo Suarez became president. This era marked a cultural opening to Europe, Spain’s entry into the UN, and the establishment of a democratic regime, leading to substantial political, social, and economic progress.
Characterizing the novel of recent decades is challenging due to the abundance of
Read MoreSpanish and Latin American Literature: Authors and Trends
Post-War Spanish Literature and Beyond
After the war, there were two factions: Nationalists and Republicans. There was a dictatorship under Francisco Franco, who banned freedoms.
1940s: Rooted and Uprooted Poetry
- Rooted Poetry: Regardless of the circumstances, formal perfection and beauty of verse are valued. Religious, loving, and patriotic subjects are explored, often using the sonnet. This was the official poetry of the Generation of ’36.
- Uprooted Poetry: Outside official channels, this poetry expressed
Homeric Epics: Iliad and Odyssey – Heroes and Tales
The Epics of Homer: Iliad and Odyssey
The Epics are ancient Greek literary works in verse (dactylic hexameter). Epic comes from the word “épos“, meaning word, narrative, or verse. Transmitted orally by bards, who sang tales of heroes who probably lived in the Mycenaean age.
Homer
Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Characteristics of Homeric Poetry
- Artificial language: Language used to be sung, not homogeneous, since different dialectical layers coexist: Aeolian, Ionic, and Attic.
- Formulaic diction: