Spanish Literature

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Spanish Literature

literature of Spain from about ad 1000 until the present, written in the Spanish language

Geography has been an important factor in the development of Spanish literature.

isolation from the rest of Europe

enabled Spain to develop its own distinctive literary voice resulted in part from its diverse population

Spanish literature takes in many contradictions. celebrates a combined heritage of Christian, Arabic, and Jewish influences

conforms to the literary styles of European movements

Spanish Literature Several historical events significantly influenced Spanish literature.

the occupation of the Iberian Peninsula from 719 until the late 1400s by Moors

16th century: Spain experienced a burst of intellectual activity in literature, art, and philosophy known as the Renaissance.

led to the Golden Age of Spanish literature from the mid-16th century through the 17th century

20th century: The Spanish Civil War and the rise of Francisco Franco profoundly influenced Spanish literature.

Authors were divided into two ideological camps: those who supported the fascist government and those who opposed it.

The Early Period (1st Century 10th Century)

Spanish: considered a Romance language that developed from the Latin language spoken in the Roman Empire

Middle Ages: a number of distinct dialects appeared in Spain

Each is named after the region of the peninsula in which it was spoken.

reflects the diversity inhabitants and heritage

The Early Period (1st Century 10th Century)

Under Roman Rule

19 B.C.: Romans completed their conquest of Spain. The region became known as Hispania. Its inhabitants learned Latin from Roman traders, settlers, administrators, and soldiers.

A Hispano-Latin literature was written in Latin by people born in Hispania.

some of the most important writers during the 1st century A.D. (the Silver Age of Latin literature)

Mela: wrote the first Latin geography of the Mediterranean world

The Early Period (1st Century 10th Century)

Under Roman Rule

Columella: wrote De re rustica (On Agriculture), the most complete treatise on agriculture of ancient times

Lucan: wrote the epic poem Pharsalia two greatest figures of Hispano-Roman letters: members of the Seneca family from Crdoba

Marcus Annaeus Seneca: known for his oratory and political writings

Lucius Annaeus Seneca: skilled in politics and oratory; became even more famous as a Roman senator, tutor of the emperor Nero, and author of three dramatic tragedies

Medea, The Trojan Women, and Agamemnon

The Early Period (1st Century 10th Century)

The Visigoths

Germanic tribes of eastern Europe

controlled Spain from the 5th to the 8th century

Latin: the official language of government and culture

belonged to a Christian sect called Arianism

end of the 6th century: most had been converted to Roman Catholicism by Saint Isidore of Seville

Saint Isidore of Seville: the most important intellectual figure in Spain during the Visigoth period

Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum, et Suevorum (History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi): the principal source of information about these early groups most important work: Etymologiae (a 20-volume encyclopedia)

The Early Period (1st Century 10th Century)

The Moors

brought to Spain an established language, religion, and social and political structure

built numerous Muslim universities where the study of medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and literature flourished

An extensive literature developed partly because Moorish caliphs (rulers) themselves were poets.

early Middle Ages: A sizable Jewish population appeared in Spain that brought commercial, administrative, intellectual, and artistic talents.

The mixture of Christians, Arabs, and Jews on the peninsula produced an unstable but highly creative literary environment.

subjects of literatures: religion, society, and politics

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Toledo: became a cultural center where Arab, Hebrew, and Christian scholars translated the important works of Islamic and ancient Greek culture into Latin

works on philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, mineralogy, medicine, and geometry

Alfonso VI: king of Castile who captured Toledo in 1085

The Muslim School of Translators came under Christian custody.

national language and literature.

The gradual retaking of Spain by the Christians proved to be linguistic.

12th and early 13th centuries: Writing in northern dialects (Castilian and Leonese) became standard as Christian forces pushed the Moors farther and farther south.

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

late Middle Ages: Spanish literature took many forms that helped define the emerging Spanish state under Christian rule.

Uneducated but highly entertaining bards sang stories of the Christian heroes.

Scholars wrote and translated works under the direction of monarchs.

Monks, clerics, and priests composed poetry about the natural and spiritual world.

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

The Earliest Spanish Literature jarchas (songs): the first truly Spanish works of literature that appeared just before the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula

first appeared as short stanzas at the end of a muwassaha (a poem written in the second half of the 11th century in Arabic and Hebrew)

combined styles of Arabic or Hebrew poetry in Mozarabic written in other Spanish dialects as the reconquest spread

most often expressed the point of view of a woman in love who seeks solace and advice similar in theme and form to later cantigas de amigo (love songs)

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

The Troubadour Style and the Epic late 12th century: The first great works of Spanish oral literature appeared.

poems composed by troubadours (medieval poets who sang for the people in village squares and for the nobility in castles and royal courts)

flourished in Spain as a result of pilgrimages to the burial place of Saint James, the patron saint of Christian Spain

entertained the pilgrims with songs and long, narrative poems called epics

epics: composed mainly in a poetic style known as mester de juglara (craft of the troubadour)

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

The Troubadour Style and the Epic

epics: composed mainly in a poetic style known as mester de juglara (craft of the troubadour)

verses: most were 12 to 16 syllables long, with a caesura (pause) in the middle

focus on social and political realities and lack of extensive exaggeration, supernatural forces, and fantasy

an epic poem in the troubadour style believed to be produced around 1140

El cantar de mo Cid (The Song of the Cid)

became a national hero and served as the subject for the most famous epic in Spanish literature

Rodrigo Daz de Vivar: an 11th century Spanish warrior known as El Cid Campeador

noted for its realistic, detailed description of the code of chivalry and other customs of the period, its accurate rendering of political alliances, and its dramatic touches

a guide to exemplary Christian behavior

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Evidence of a Dramatic Tradition

Troubadours performed plays as well as epics to amuse people.

Auto de los Reyes Magos (Drama of the Three Wise Men): a religious play written in the mid-12th century in the Castilian dialect

one of the earliest plays written in a Romance language

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

The Scholarly Tradition

initiated at Toledo by the Moors continued under Alfonso X, known as El Sabio (The Wise)

directed the scholars at the School of Translators to translate histories, chronicles, and scientific, legal, and literary writings from other languages (Latin, Greek, and Arabic) into Castilian

worked towards a standardized language based on the Castilian dialect

Castilian: became standard for literature and formal education

Libro del Conde Lucanor (1335; Book of Count Lucanor): a prose fiction by Don Juan Manuel; a collection of 50 stories that imitate the fables attributed to Aesop

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Poetry in the Cleric Style

end of the 13th century: mester de juglara (poetry of the people) and mester de clereca (craft of the clerics)

three characteristics of mester de clereca

The authors were educated individuals, such as monks and priests.

The structure was organized in stanzas of four verses that isolated and focused on specific ideas.

The subject matter focused more on religious aspects of love and life.

Gonzalo de Berceo: the first poet identifiable by name who wrote in the mester de clereca and in Castilian

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Poetry in the Cleric Style

Juan Ruiz: wrote El libro de buen amor (1330, enlarged 1343; The Book of Good Love)

consists of more than 7,000 verses written to glorify spiritual love

focuses on the raucous and negative influences of mal amor, or carnal love

addresses the conflict between two ideas religious piety and worldly experience with a blend of low humor and moral teaching

Trotaconventos: considered the prototype of the female go-between in many later European literary works

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Lyric Poetry

end of the 14th century: The educated classes in Spain had begun to produce shorter lyric poetry in Castilian.

often addressed the idea of courtly love sonnet: a popular form of lyric poetry, in imitation of the sonnet perfected by Italian poet Petrarch

15th century poet igo Lpez de Mendoza: offered the best examples of the early sonnet in Spanish in his Sonetos hechos al itlico modo (Sonnets written in the Italian Mode)

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Spain United

1479: marriage of Roman Catholic monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand V of Aragon

brought together the largest Christian kingdoms in Spain

assumed control of many powers of the Catholic Church

unified Spain and helped create a Spanish religious and political identity

expansion as Spain sent explorers to the Americas

Castilian as the official language of Spain

1492: humanist Antonio de Nebrija published Gramtica sobre la lengua castellana (Grammar of the Castilian Language)

the first attempt to study and standardize the grammar of a European language

Toward a National Literature (11th Century to 15 th Century)

Spain United

movable type became available for publishing books

made Spanish culture and literature immensely more accessible

Spain began to limit its cultural, philosophical, and religious identity.

intellectual and spiritual isolation: led to censorship of literature in newly conquered territories

La Celestina

La tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea (1499) by Fernando de Rojas exemplifies the strict moral tone and temper of the times in Spain.

concerns two noble lovers, Calisto and Melibea, who resort to the services of a go-between named Celestina to further their love

celebrates human diversity, accepting existence as a complex set of natural impulses

structure: a novel in dialogue form

illustrates the tensions between the novel and the drama

illustrates the tensions between tragedy and comedy, between the idealism of the lovers and the materialism of the servants

The Renaissance in Spain (Early and Mid -16th Century)

Renaissance literature in Spain was limited to a few forms, themes, and figures.

Renaissance humanism did not achieve the importance in Spain that it did in Italy, France, and other parts of Europe.

Spanish writers relied on accepted styles and looked to Spanish history for subject matter.

chief literary forms novels of chivalry romances (oral ballads from the Middle Ages)

pastoral poetry (poetry that portrays the innocence of life in the country)

religious poetry

The Renaissance in Spain (Early and Mid -16th Century)

Works of Chivalry and Romance

Chivalric novels celebrated the deeds of knights-errant.

immensely popular and mixed the themes of epic heroism with figures from the reconquest

Themes of courtly love (from the troubadour poets) were also popular.

Amads de Gaula (Amads of Gaul): a 14th century story written down in four books by Garci Rodrguez de Montalvo in 1508

Ballads/Romances circulated in oral form since the Middle Ages.

historical or legendary themes that focused on figures of the reconquest

Bernardo del Carpio and the Cid

romances fronterizos (ballads of the frontier): focused on wars between Christian and Islamic Spain

The Renaissance in Spain (Early and Mid -16th Century)

Pastoral Poetry

City dwelling became more common during the Renaissance.

Pastoral poetry became popular.

depicted ladies and gentlemen who retired to the country in search of a simple life

Spanish pastoral poets: Juan Boscn Almogaver and Garcilaso de la Vega

imitated the sonnet, tercet, and other verse forms often used in Italian pastoral works

The Renaissance in Spain (Early and Mid -16th Century)

Religious Poetry gained intensity near the middle of the 16th century, partly as a consequence of the Counter Reformation

expressed attitudes of spiritual devotion, the state of the soul, and the desire to withdraw from the world

Augustinian monk Luis Ponce de Len (known as Fray Luis de Len)

three writers of religious verse

Carmelite monk Juan de Yepes y lvarez (known as Saint John of the Cross)

Carmelite mystic Saint Teresa of vila (known as Saint Teresa de Jsus)

Religious

Poetry

Fray Luis de Len

worked on the theme of

pastoral serenity

lyric poem Vida retirada

(The Retiring Life)

on Christian devotion and the

beauty of love for God

Saint John of the Cross

composed the most

mystical and intense

poems written in the

Spanish language

poems: Cntico espiritual (Spiritual

Canticle), Llama de amor viva

(Living Flame of Love), and Noche

obscura del alma (Dark Night of

the Soul)

Religious

Poetry

Saint Teresa of vila

one of the most

important reformers of

the Catholic Church

during the Counter

Reformation

most famous prose:

Moradas del castillo interior

(1577; Rooms in the Interior

Castle of the Soul)

focuses on the

theology of the soul

and its relation to God

poetry: expresses her mysticism

and a personal desire to escape

the earthly life by joining God in

the afterlife

Spanish Baroque and the Golden Age (Late 16 th through 17th Centuries)

Baroque Period

filled with disillusion and disappointment 1567: The Netherlands revolted against harsh Spanish rule under Philip II and a costly war ensued.

1588: The Spanish Armada, the naval fleet sent by Philip to conquer England, suffered a humiliating defeat.

Spanish literature entered its Siglo de Oro (Golden Age).

Spanish writers saw from experience that talents often could not triumph over violence, ignorance, and injustice, nor over the forces that had defeated the Armada.

Spanish Baroque and the Golden Age (Late 16 th through 17th Centuries)

the creation of the picaresque novel

a narrative that recounts the life and adventures of pcaros (rascals)

prototype: La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades (The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and his Fortunes and Adversities, 1554)

demonstrates how the human spirit survives in a hostile world by use of wit and trickery

disillusion in pastoral writings

1559: Jorge de Montemayor Los siete libros de la Diana (The Seven Books of Diana)

the first pastoral novel written in Spanish

The Rise of Prose

Spanish writer, considered by many to be the greatest Spanish author, whose novel El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (Part I, 1605; Part II, 1615; The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha) is regarded as one of the masterpieces of world literature

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

achieved acclaim comparable to that of Homer, Dante Alighieri, and William Shakespeare

Don Quixote

generally considered the first great Western novel

describes the adventures of Alonzo Quixano, an idealistic Spanish nobleman who, as a result of reading many tales of chivalry, comes to believe that he is a knight who must combat the world's injustices

focus of the novel: the sustained dialogue between idealism and realism as lived by Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, respectively

structure: complex

contains characteristics of various types of novels and critiques of both the chivalric and pastoral modes

incorporates autobiographical elements and details of the history and deeds of the time

Spanish Baroque and the Golden Age (Late 16 th through 17th Centuries)

Luis de Gngora y Argote: one of the most inventive poets of the baroque age

experimented with language

used unusual word order, word invention, personal symbolism, descriptions of the five senses, and references to

came to be known as gongorism or culturanism: captured the essence of the Spanish culture in forms, words, and symbols

Experiments in Poetry

outstanding books: Fbula de Polifemo y Galatea (1627; Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea) and his unfinished masterpiece, Soledades (1627; Solitudes)

Spanish Baroque and the Golden Age (Late 16 th through 17th Centuries)

All plays were written in verse.

Golden Age Drama

Lope de Vega

three successful playwrights of the period

Tirso de Molina

Pedro Caldern de la Barca