Miguel de Cervantes and Lazarillo de Tormes: Spanish Literature
Miguel de Cervantes: Life and Works
Miguel de Cervantes (1547, Alcalá de Henares) was born to a barber-surgeon father and experienced economic difficulties during his childhood in Cordoba, Seville, and Madrid. He was a disciple of López de Hoyos. In 1569, he traveled to Italy and entered the service of Cardinal Acquaviva. He then joined the army and participated in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
In 1575, while returning to Spain, he was captured by Barbary pirates. His family paid a ransom for his
Read MoreSpanish and Latin American Literature: Trends and Authors
Poetry as a Way of Knowing
One work trend is that poetry is meant to be a way of knowing the mystery against logic and rational thought. It is an anti-realist poetry that values the creative freedom of the avant-garde and in which language becomes the protagonist. Feelings are expressed with modesty, without the poems telling the biography of the poet. Jose Angel Valente, Antonio Gamoneda, and Andres Sanchez Robaina are its main representatives. The anthology “Strange Islands”, selected by Jose Angel
Read MoreSpain’s Tumultuous Turn of the Century: Imperialism, Modernism, and the Generation of ’98
The Dawn of Turmoil: Late 19th Century Europe and Spain
The late 19th century marked a period of unprecedented splendor in Europe. The Industrial Revolution entered a new phase, with accelerated technical progress fueling an era of imperialism among the most advanced nations. Spain, however, was shaken by these imperialistic tensions. The Disaster of 1898 saw Spain lose the remnants of its former empire, causing widespread suffering, particularly among the poor who were obligated to military service.
Grammatical Analysis: Gender, Number, Adjectives, Pronouns, and Periphrasis
Grammatical Analysis
Gender and Number
Gender:
- Motivated: Male/Female distinctions (e.g., poet/poetess, bear/osa).
- Unmotivated: No inherent sex (e.g., olive, guitar, objects).
- Common Gender: Same form for male and female (e.g., the athlete).
- Epicene Gender: One form for both sexes (e.g., the eagle).
- Ambiguous Gender: Can be masculine or feminine (e.g., the sugar).
Number: Singular (sg) and Plural (pl). Some words are always singular (singulariam tantum) like thirst, complexion, adolescence. Others are always
Read MoreCatalan Dialects: Characteristics and Lexicon
Northwestern Catalan
- The intervocalic /-d-/ usually becomes silent, especially in the suffixes -ada, -ador.
- Use of possessive forms: lo, la, los, les (the); ma (my), ta (your), sa (his/her).
- Demonstratives have three degrees of deixis: este/esta (this), eixe/això (that), aquell/aquella (that over there).
- The first person singular of the present indicative does not take -o.
- The imperfect subjunctive uses the desinences -és, -esses, -éssem, -ésseu, -essen.
- Frequent use of diminutives.
- Own lexicon:
- Creïlles
Spanish Novel Trends in the Last 30 Years
Significant Aspects of the Spanish Novel in the Last 30 Years
In sum, two are the most significant aspects of the Spanish novel in the last thirty years:
a) The unifying character. It hosts almost all the trends, patterns, speeches, issues, experiences, and personal concerns.
b) The individuality. Each writer will choose the direction that is most appropriate to find a style with which to express his personal world and his particular vision of reality.
So we can say that in recent decades live:
a) Important
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