Baroque Era: Thought, Literature, and Key Figures
The Thought in the Baroque Era
In the seventeenth century, a marked pessimism, deep disappointment, absolute distrust, and growing discontent arose because disease, death, and poverty were very familiar to the Baroque man. As a result, scientific investigation was somewhat dropped, and the Inquisition was attentive to everything that might be considered suspect.
Literature in the Baroque Era
Two trends emerged that changed the aesthetic of Renaissance literature: culteranismo and conceptismo.
Lyric
Read MoreRenaissance Thinkers and Humanism: Impact on Europe and Spain
Renaissance Thought: A Shift in Worldview
The Renaissance marked a significant change in worldview compared to the Middle Ages. The ideal was to adapt the teachings of the Greco-Roman classics to new times. From this need arose prose of thought, offering new models distinct from the medieval ones.
Key Thinkers in Europe
The most influential Renaissance thinkers, primarily from Italy, include Niccolo Machiavelli and Baldassare Castiglione.
- Niccolo Machiavelli: He wrote The Prince, a foundational book
Key Figures in Renaissance Poetry: Garcilaso & Fray Luis
Poets of the Renaissance
Garcilaso de la Vega
Prototype Renaissance gentleman, soldier, and poet, harmonizing ideals of arms and letters.
His poetic path has three creative stages:
- The influence of song poetry, in alternating octosyllabic forms. His verses lack Petrarchan elements and abound in cancionero love poetry, usually employing wordplay.
- The Petrarchan stage where he internalizes and imitates Petrarch, describing his love sentiments and using nature as a reflection and framework to portray his
Baroque Cultural Movement: Key Authors and Characteristics
Baroque Cultural Movement
The Baroque cultural movement developed during the seventeenth century in Europe. It is characterized by a highly artificial formal elaboration of artistic and literary works, conveying a generally pessimistic vision. The Baroque has a major presence in Catholic countries.
Ideology:
- Pessimistic and disillusioned view of existence.
- Reality is illusion and only appearance.
- To escape this disillusionment, people take two opposite directions: religious or spiritual enjoyment of
Post-War Spanish Poetry and Theater: Trends and Key Figures
Post-War Spanish Poetry and Theater
Following the Spanish Civil War, many poets remained in exile, with exceptions like Gerardo Diego, Dámaso Alonso, and Vicente Aleixandre. New poetic trends emerged:
Existential Poetry
This style explored themes of loneliness, anxiety, love, and religious sentiment. Luis Rosales, with The House On, exemplifies this trend. Some poets expressed existential anguish and protested against God.
Postismo
In 1945, Carlos Edmundo de Ory founded Postismo, an avant-garde movement
Read MoreSpanish Theater Evolution: Post-1936 to Realism
Spanish Theater After 1936
Theater after 1936, in the postwar period, exacerbated the constraints of the previous era: the need to please the bourgeois audience, censorship, etc. Theater can be classified as follows:
1. Immediate Postwar Period (1940s)
A) Triumphant Drama of the Decade
This commercial theater shows the following trends:
- High-Style Benaventiano Comedy: Characterized by well-made plays, a lack of depth in ideas and approaches, etc. Authors of this trend, such as Edgar Neville and Alfonso