Golden Age Spanish Literature: Key Authors and Works
Manners and the Novel
Manners reflect environments and characters. The novel’s rates are descriptive and picturesque, abundant with humor and social satire. It may have didactic or moralizing intent, represented by figures like Red and Luis Velez de Guevara.
Picaresque Novel
This narrative initiates the movement toward realism and inaugurated the picaresque novel genre, flourishing in the 16th and 17th centuries. Narrators such as Matthew Vicente Espinel and works like Buscon, Estebanillo Gonzalez,
Read MoreAusiàs March and Catalan Literature: Realism and Popular Traditions
Ausiàs March: Life and Works
Ausiàs March was born in Gandia in 1400 and died in Valencia in 1459. The son of a family of poets and knights, he served Alfonso the Magnanimous, who appointed him royal falconer. He married twice and had natural children. March’s poetry breaks with the tradition of troubadour poetry, comprising 128 poems that express his feelings. Man and poet are the same, appearing with all virtues and flaws, doubts and certainties, speaking about obsessions: love, relationships
Read MoreGabriel García Márquez: Life, Works, and Style
Gabriel García Márquez: Life and Influences
Author’s situation at the time: Gabriel García Márquez was born in Aracataca, Colombia, in 1928. He belonged to a middle-class family and was raised by his grandparents. His grandfather, Colonel Ricardo Márquez Mejía, a liberal war veteran, was one of the founders of Aracataca. His grandmother, Tranquilina Iguarán Cotes, greatly influenced him (surnames appearing in One Hundred Years of Solitude and Chronicle of a Death Foretold).
García Márquez
Read MorePostwar Spanish Poetry: Generations, Themes, and Key Poets
Postwar Spanish Poetry: An Overview
Miguel Hernández
Miguel Hernández, due to his age, belongs to the Generation of ’36. However, his career and relationships with poets from the Generation of ’27 allow him to be considered a follower of this generation. His poetry is characterized by poetically addressing the issues of life, love, and death, and socio-political commitment, always with great passion. Formally, his work emphasizes the originality of its forms and mastery of traditional metrics, such
Read MoreSpanish Poetry: Generation of ’27 – Authors and Traits
The Poetry of the Generation of ’27
The Generation of ’27 (G27) was a group of Spanish writers and poets who emerged after 1920. The members of the G27 shared three fundamental characteristics:
- Main Features: They were all born between 1892 and 1902, had similar intellectual backgrounds, and paid homage to Góngora in 1927.
- Influences: From Modernism, they took artistic rigor, a minority attitude, and a mysterious conception of poetry. From Juan Ramón Jiménez, they adopted aesthetic purity and the
Cicero: Oratory Master and Roman Statesman
Cicero: Oratory and Political Career
Oratory is the art of expressing oneself well and convincing one’s audience. This quality was very necessary in a theoretically democratic Rome, as a good speaker could get certain laws approved, designate one candidate or another to exercise a magistracy, etc. The art of oratory was indispensable to anyone who wanted to dedicate himself to a political career. Soon, rhetoric became one of the most important subjects in higher education. The schools were visited
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