Ancient Literary Traditions: A Comparative Study
Item 1. Western Literature
Introduction
The first written texts date from 3500 BC and emerged as a need to express religious and philosophical thoughts, aiming for static, objective results in literature. The oldest known literature comes from Egypt (located in eastern Africa, separated from Asia by the Red Sea, and centered around the Nile River) and Mesopotamia (located in Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). These two civilizations were agricultural, relying on fishing and farming. They
Read MoreSt. John of the Cross: Mystical Poetry & Baroque Literature
St. John of the Cross: Mystical Poetry
Mystical poetry expresses the exceptional experience of the soul’s union with the divine. The lyric of St. John of the Cross expresses the experience of love through evocative and emotive symbols, inspired by the Bible, the language of love, and nature.
Life of St. John of the Cross
From humble beginnings, St. John was protected by a nobleman, which allowed him to study philosophy and theology at the University of Salamanca as a Carmelite. There, he met Fray Luis
Read MoreAntonio Machado: Life, Works, and Poetic Evolution
Antonio Machado: Life and Work
Antonio Machado was born in Seville on July 26, within a middle-class, liberal, and progressive family. He later lived in Madrid, where he studied in 1893. He openly published his first prose works, while his first poems appeared in 1901. He was a professor and married Leonor Izquierdo. A few months after the appearance of Campos de Castilla, Leonor died (August 1). He wrote in all genres, standing out prominently in poetry. His first book was Soledades (1903), a few
Read More15th Century Spanish Literature: Key Works & Authors
15th Century Spanish Literature
The fifteenth century is the time when the Castilian language definitively settles as dominant in educated lyric poetry. Before then, poets of Castile, influenced by earlier traditions, preferably employed Galician-Portuguese in their compositions. 15th-century learned poetry, of a courtly character, emerged among the nobility and was centered around the courts of kings.
This courtly poetry is compiled in cancioneros, anthologies that brought together works by one
Read MoreGustavo Adolfo Bécquer: Life, Works, and Literary Impact
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: A Biographical Sketch
1. Born in Seville on January 17, 1836, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer belonged to a noble family of Flanders established in Seville in the late sixteenth century. He was the father of a genre painter who died when Bécquer was 5 years old, leaving his family in a dreadful economic situation. In 1846, Bécquer was admitted to the College of San Telmo to study navigation. The following year, his mother died. A few months later, the school was closed, and Bécquer
Read MoreDon Quixote: Summary and Analysis
Don Quixote: Publication History
The first edition of Don Quixote appeared in 1605, although there is evidence of a previous version from 1604. After seeing an unauthorized continuation of his work, Cervantes decided to continue the adventures of Don Quixote, publishing a second part in 1615.
Composition and Structure
The work is structured in two parts, and its action is organized around Don Quixote’s three departures. The first two are narrated in Part 1, and the last in Part 2.
Part 1
The knight Don
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