Spanish Literature

Group 9
 Spanish Literature
• The body of literary works produced in Spain.
Such works fall into three major language
divisions:
• Castilian
• Catalan
• Galician
 Castilian
• A term related to the Spanish language, but its
exact meaning can vary even in that language. In
English, Castilian Spanish usually refers to the
variety of European Spanish spoken in northern
and central Spain or as the language standard for
radio and TV speakers
 Catalan
• Language spoken in eastern and northeastern
in three regions of Spain: Catalonia, Valencia,
and Balearic Island.
 Galician
• Galician is a language spoken by about 2.4
million people mainly in Galicia, in the north-
west corner of Spain. Galician is more or less
mutually intelligible with Portuguese but uses
Spanish spelling conventions.
 History of Spanish Literature
• The history of Spain has been marked by all types of events,
wars, conquests, marriages, deaths and literature has played
an important part in it. From the epic tale of the "Cantar del
Mio Cid" to the surrealism present in some of Cela's works;
from the amazing adventures of Don Quixote to the many
books recounting the horrors of the Spanish Civil
War, Spanish literature has had it's own way of influencing
history.
• The history of Spanish literature starts
with "El Cantar del Mio Cid" (12th century), an
epic narrative that was transmitted orally
through the story tellers. However, the first
written testimonies of Spanish literature begin
in the 13th century with the Middle-
Ages literature, which cultivated all the genres
in prose, poetry and theatre.
 Baroque Period

• The Spanish Baroque coincides with

the Golden Age of Spanish literature, called
that way because of the great number of
excellent literary productions that appeared in
the period.
• Miguel de Cervantes is, without
doubt, the ultimate Baroque author.
His masterpiece, the adventures of
the mad knight "Don Quixote", is
considered the most important book
of the Spanish literature and one of
the most important in the Universal
literature. Other important authors in
this period are the poet Quevedo and
the play writer Lope de Vega.
 Enlightenment period
• The Enlightenment period in Spanish literature can be divided
in three different periods: the post-Baroque period, the Neo-
Classical period and the pre-Romanticism period. The
Enlightenment wants a break with the old concept of authority,
and thinks reason is more important than feeling or emotions.
This is why this period doesn't have a strong poetry group. In
prose, essays and didactic texts are the most popular types of
works, especially among literates. Newspapers help to spread
the knowledge of other European countries around Spain.
 20th century
• The 20th century is a century of great change in Spain.
There's not a specific movement. Rather, every author
develops his or her own personal style. Novels become
the most popular genre, and social themes are very
common, especially those related to life in Spain during
the Spanish Civil War and the following dictatorship
 Romanticism and Realism
• Romanticism appears as a reaction against the strict
rules of the Enlightenment, and in opposition to it, it
places more importance in feelings than reason.
• Realism appears when literates have grown tired of
Romanticism and are looking for something more real.
They were tired of the imaginative and colorful, and
sought to observe the people, society and
contemporary traditions objectively. Its goal was to
present the truest portrait of society.