Ausiàs 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
Read MoreSpanish Poetry: Modernism, Generation of ’98, and Avant-Garde Movements
Spanish Poetry in the 20th Century
In the late nineteenth century, two significant movements emerged in Spanish poetry: Modernism and the Generation of ’98.
Modernism and its Pioneers
With Rubén Darío, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Antonio Machado, and Valle-Inclán, poetic endeavors began in the modernist style. However, each poet would later follow distinct paths.
Antonio Machado (1875-1939)
Machado, who defined poetry as “essential word in time,” initially explored sentimental romanticism in his work, Soledades.
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