Catalan Literature: Realism, Popular Forms, and Chivalry
Catalan Poetry Realism
After the death of Carles Riba in 1960, three works of poetry were published that marked a turn toward realism:
- Paid Holidays by Pere Quart
- La piel de toro by Salvador Espriu
- Da nuces pueris by Gabriel Ferrater
All three indicated a new way to understand poetry: an expression of everyday reality, using narrative techniques and language more accessible to the reader.
Vicent Andrés Estellés
Vicent Andrés Estellés (1924-1993) was revealed by City in Your Ear, with a realistic tone.
Read MoreSpanish Avant-Garde Movements: Surrealism and Bécquer’s Rhymes
The Avant-Garde Movements in Spain
The unfolding of artistic movements along the 20th century presented a world where traditional artistic norms were challenged. Homogenized schools, often called ‘isms,’ reflected a dehumanized art that sought to express sentiments and employed techniques that deformed reality. Key traits included breaking with past artistic standards, seeking new forms of expression, and embracing moral and political rebellion.
Surrealism: A Vanguard Movement
The concept of the avant-
Read MoreSpanish & Latin American Novels: Key Themes & Authors
The Novel in the Forties
The two most important novels of the forties are The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela. This reflects the inhumanity and violence of rural Spain. Cela’s picaresque novel combines naturalism and the grotesque. The novel Nothing reflects the emptiness and lack of expectations in the miserable and gray life of post-war Spain.
The Social Novel
During the fifties, the social novel dominated Spanish literature. This trend provides critical testimony of Spanish society.
Read MoreEvolution of Spanish Theater: Modernism to Esperpento
Spanish Theater in the Early 20th Century
The early 20th-century Spanish theater inherited forms from the previous century: historical dramas in verse, “high comedy” aimed at bourgeois society, and the “kind guy,” inherited from farce and *entremés*. Authors of the Generation of ’98 (such as Valle-Inclán) and the Generation of ’27 (such as García Lorca) created innovative works, leading to significant Spanish theatrical creations.
Modernist Theater and the Generation of ’98
A “commercial” theater
Read MoreEuropean Avant-Garde Movements and the Generation of ’27
European Avant-Garde Movements
The period following World War I saw the rise of numerous avant-garde artistic movements and isms across Europe. These movements aimed to break away from traditional culture and propose a new, modern, and original vision for art and literature.
Major European Avant-Garde Movements
- Cubism: Introduced calligrams, poems where the verse arrangement forms images (e.g., fountains, propellers).
- Futurism: Rejected sentimentality and romanticism, celebrating the beauty of machines,
A Concise Overview of Roman Art and Architecture
Roman Art and Architecture
Roman art and architecture assimilated and incorporated multiple elements from Etruscan and Greek traditions, as well as from the architecture of conquered territories.
Rationality and order were key principles in all Roman buildings, as emphasized by Vitruvius.
Materials used included marble, brick, opus latericium, stone, clay molding, and concrete, often covered with stone slabs and opus caementicium.
Architectural Orders
The Romans adapted the Greek orders, creating two
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