spanish literature

Literature

Literature is a type of artistic expression that uses oral or written language. The author makes an aesthetic use of the word in order to express an idea, feeling, experience or story (real or fictitious), in an unconventional way.

There are types of literature among them there are:

Children's literature: refers to literary works written for children. It is characterized by making extensive use of images and can cover all three literary genres. Children's literature uses simple language and simple descriptions that are easy for children to interpret.

 

Non-fiction literature: these are those stories of real stories such as, for example, autobiographies.

 

Fantasy literature: refers to those stories loaded with imagination in which unreal facts and people are described, such as the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

 

Fiction literature: is one that mixes stories and descriptions of real or fictional facts or characters. For example, accounts of paranormal events.

 

It can be mentioned that literature has several genres among them we have:

Lyrical: It is characterized by being written in verse. Compositions such as elegy, hymn, ode, eclogue or satire are included.

Epic or narrative: its content is narrated in prose or in long verses. The epic, the cantares de gesta, the short story and the novel belong to this genre.

Dramatic: composed of theatrical works and compositions, such as tragedy, comedy, farce or farce.

Spanish literature

It is one of the most outstanding literature that exists because thanks to it, we can realize various facets of Spain.

Brief history of the literature of Spain Castilian literature is that of El Cid of the twelfth century, which is an epic story that was transmitted from generation to generation by oral repetition, this was before the written works appeared in the thirteenth century when the root of theater, poetry and prose began to be seen. Despite this past, the origin of the literature of Spain took place in the Renaissance era, in the fifteenth century, the Spanish soil received much Italian influence.

 

At this time, which still had flashes of the Middle Ages, many of the works produced had a fairly marked religious tone and medieval patterns, such is the case of the works of Fray Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz, Jorge Manrique and Fernando De Rojas, who composed La Celestina during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs.

Baroque literature

The seventeenth century was marked by the Golden Age, which was one of the most significant times for the origin of Spanish literature. At that time what was "fashionable" was Baroque literature, which gave rise to great literary productions such as Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, a work that is usually an indisputable Spanish literary synonym. At the same time, the playwright Lope de Vega and the poet Quevedo, also appear in the list of authors and works of the Golden Age of Spanish literature

Romantic Literature

Romanticism; this new literary movement emerged in the early nineteenth century as a reaction to the rationalism of the earlier era. It was one of the stages of Spanish literature in which feelings and emotions were once again the protagonists of the outstanding works of nineteenth-century Spanish literature, where names such as José de Espronceda and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer appeared.

In this case, the authors and works of nineteenth-century literature were characterized by discarding the square rules of the logisticians. However, the summary of nineteenth-century literature is identified with the birth of a more realistic approach (Realism), which became popular for characterizing every key point of society and avoided making stylized and imaginative texts, too imaginative styles of romanticism.

 

Then, from realism was born Naturalism, a subgenre that was based on the objective reality of the environment and society, and was represented by authors such as Galdós, a prolific writer, creditor of works such as Los Episodios Nacionales, and Clarín, a literary critic who wrote La Regenta.

 

Modern Spanish literature

The introduction to Spanish literature through texts has led us to an evolution towards the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Spanish literature of the twentieth century is a synonym for change, although a little run over and individualistic; Each author who ever started in one of the previous literary currents, decided to develop their unique and individual style, but they still made themselves noticed.

 

After the events of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, generations of writers emerged, such as the Generation of '98, Generation of '14 and Generation of '27, who were great pillars to sustain the development of Spanish literature, despite the fact that Franco had a heavy hand with censorship.

 

Modernism, which sought "formal" beauty, also focused on directing letters towards sociocultural renewal, and later the names of prospects such as Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti and Luis Cernuda shone. It is worth noting that, in the post-war period, thanks to globalization and new technologies, the world was able to know and become familiar with the most important works that were born on Spanish soil.

Some of the characteristics of Spanish literature are:

Diverse styles: It refers to his texts are able to mix several movements such as idealism, realism, fantasy and cult.

Simplicity and humor: his works have the seriousness that deserves to deal with certain topics, Spanish literature stands out for its absence of paraphernalia to give way to simplicity, play with doses of stoicism, but also leaving room for a great sense of humor and pride in the history of his homeland.

Nationalism: The authors of Spanish literature were able to express love and criticism of their homeland as a symbol of respect, affection and longing. That is why in many literary works of Spanish writers you will see lines referring to the homeland, democracy, social achievements, cultural heritage and memories of the war.

Some representatives of Spanish literature

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). He is the origin of everything that was known later and was called "modern literature". Thanks to his work Don Quixote, published in 1605, Cervantes went down in history for producing the most important work of Spanish literature; The story centers on a Spanish nobleman who decides to live the life of chivalry and spread justice in the world. Other of his most important works are La Galatea (1585), The Voyage of Parnassus (1614) and The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda (1617).

 

The winner of the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature, Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958) who was one of the celebrated and prolific Spanish poets. Jimenez was motivated to write in the days when he was in a sanatorium, after the death of his father. Growing up and becoming a trained writer, Juan Ramón stood out for combining color and music, to give them meanings such as love, sex or lust, poured into "pure poetry", which for him was only a text with a lyrical nature. In 1917 he wrote Diary of a Newlywed Poet, and two years later he released Stone and Sky.