17th Century Lyric Poetry: Baroque Themes and Styles
The Lyric of the Seventeenth Century
The Baroque poets reflect the contradiction between the classical and idealized Renaissance, and a new, pessimistic, and disillusioned reality.
Topics
- Love is still the preferred theme of poetic compositions but is coupled with a reflection on the transience of earthly life, death, and the rapid passage of time.
The passage of time is reflected mainly in the short life of some mythical flowers like the rose or lily, and ancient ruins that recall a bygone splendor.
Read MoreQuevedo and Lope de Vega: Baroque Poetry
Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo belongs to a generation after Góngora and Lope de Vega. He was a man concerned about the affairs of his time, delicate and cruel at the same time. He represents the world of contrasts of the time. His complex social status and physical appearance provided him with a bitter view, expressed through anguish and tears or ridicule.
Subjects
Quevedo’s poetry presents a wide range of themes. He wrote metaphysical, moral, religious, and satirical poems.
Style
Quevedo
Read MoreSpanish Literature: Generation of ’27, 1940s Novels, and García Márquez
Generation of ’27: Key Stages and Authors
Stages of the Generation of ’27:
- 1st Stage (up to 1929): Coincided with the splendor of the avant-garde movements.
- 2nd Stage (1929-1936): Authors like Lorca experienced profound personal crises within Surrealism, finding ways to express their conflicts. New songs produced a rehumanization of poetry, coinciding with a complex political situation.
- 3rd Stage (from 1939): The Generation of ’27 was dramatically dispersed.
Federico García Lorca: Themes and Poetic
Read MoreSpanish Literary Modernism and the Generation of ’98
Modernism and the Generation of ’98: A Literary Revolution
Modernism represented a complete break from the Spanish literary tradition up to that point. It also signified the emergence of writers born in Latin America, not on the Iberian Peninsula, thus initiating a parallel literary tradition that used Castilian Spanish as its vehicle of expression. Modernism was so prolific that, while originating as a literary trend, it manifested in all branches of art, not just literature. Alongside Modernism
Read MoreCatalan Theater: Civil War to Contemporary Era
Catalan Theater: Civil War and Beyond
Theater During the Franco Regime: The Spanish Civil War was a setback for Catalan culture. The Franco regime forbade the use of the Catalan language and suppressed its institutions. Literature in Catalan was developed mainly in exile or underground. Theater was suppressed until 1946, when some performances resumed, though these shows suffered censorship and translation into Catalan was forbidden. Works from the nineteenth century (Guimerà, Pitarra) were performed,
Read MoreModernism in Spain and Latin America: A Deep Dive
Modernism in Spain and Latin America
Modernism focuses on two key areas: amplitude, the movement is a vital attitude in Spain and Hispanoamerica; its character patterns reaction against the bourgeois system.
Origins
Modernism emerged in Hispanoamerica as a subversive force and expression of resistance to bourgeois cultural mercantilism. Hispanoamerican modernism involved the claim of a new society with decolonizing intentions. Modernists reacted against materialism, imperialism, the bourgeoisie, and
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