Renaissance in Spain: Art, Literature, and Society
The Renaissance in Spain
The Renaissance was a cultural transformation that originated in Italy in the mid-14th century and soon spread to the rest of Europe during the 16th century. This movement represented a rebirth of Greco-Roman culture. The Renaissance involved a change in mentality and ways of life, in addition to a flowering of artistic, scientific, and technical endeavors. There was a special interest in the knowledge of man and the world around him. In Spain, the Renaissance’s era of fullness
Read MoreThe Art of Public Speaking: Greek Oratory
Oratory is the art of public speaking. The Greeks’ fondness for this finds its proper context in the new socio-political forms after the tyrannies, organized in democratic regimes. One of the basic tenets of democracy is the right of every citizen to freely present their views at meetings. The first speakers who composed “Tecnai” were Corax and Tisias. With them, rhetoric appears as an art that establishes the theoretical principles underlying speech. They cultivated the doctrine of “ejikob” (foundation
Read MoreSpanish War Poetry: Trends and Key Poets (1940s-1975)
The Poetry of War (1940s-1975)
During the 1940s, many poets of the Generation of ’27, with the exception of Vicente Aleixandre, Gerardo Diego, and Dámaso Alonso, remained in exile.
New Poetic Trends in Post-War Spain
- Existential Poetry: This trend explored themes such as loneliness, distress, and the unease of war and its aftermath. Some poets sought refuge in love or religious feeling. Luis Rosales’ The House Burning (1949) is a key work. Other poets expressed their angst with protests against a
Miguel Hernández: Social-Political Commitment in Poetry
Miguel Hernández’s Social-Political Commitment
The Spanish Civil War profoundly impacted Miguel Hernández’s human and poetic development. He discovered empathy, witnessing and understanding injustice, and aligning himself with the oppressed. Enlisting as a volunteer in the Fifth Regiment, he experienced the front lines firsthand. His literary creation became a weapon of protest, evident in works preceding the war, such as Vientos del pueblo (Winds of the People), El labrador de más aire (The Laborer
Read MoreMedieval Literature: Exploring Lyrical Traditions & “Cantar de Mio Cid”
Medieval Literature: The Lyrical Tradition
Lírica Tradicional (Traditional Lyrics): Anonymous songs composed and transmitted orally, expressing feelings of love. These songs were sung during work, parties, weddings, and funerals. Oral poetry becomes traditional as it is transmitted by the community. The poems are anonymous.
Structure: In many European cultures, traditional lyrics are based on rhythmic structures with parallelism. The main theme is love, often expressed from a female perspective.
Read MorePopular and Court Poetry: Ballads, Romances, and Key Authors
Popular Poetry: Ballads and Romances
The romances and epic compositions were often arranged in verses to be sung or recited. These verses were octosyllabic with assonance rhyme pairs. They differ from ancient epics and were composed by individual authors.
The Ballad
The recopilación dl d fifteenth-century romances, both anonymous and old, are called romances from S.XVI dl. They can be of biblical and classical origin, recounting stories from the Old and New Testaments, tragic events like the Trojan
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