The Literature Of Spain - Part 1

When we talk of Spanish literature we naturally think of works written in Spanish, or in Castilian as the literary language is usually called. However, literature existed in the land we call Spain one thousand years before any important Castilian work appeared.

The first inhabitants of the country within historic times were Iberians. We know very little about them, and of their language we have almost no trace.

In the course of time their land was invaded by the Celts, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Carthaginians.

In the year 206 B.C. the Romans took their turn invading Spain. For six hundred years Roman power remained unbroken in the country.

During this period many great Roman writers were natives of Spain. One of these was Seneca who was born in Cordoba, Spain in the year two of the Christian Era. One of his famous tragedies, Medea, is still performed.

In the first year of the fifth century A.D., Germanic tribes, the Suevi and Vandals, and the Alans invaded Spain and settled there. They adopted Roman customs, including the language, but still kept many of their own words. This was no longer the Latin in which the classics were written, but, rather, the Latin spoken by the soldiers and the common people.

During this period Saint Isidore of Seville wrote one of the most famous books of the Middle Ages, the Etymologiarum libri XX (Origins or Etymologies). In twenty volumes, Saint Isidore tried to collect all the knowledge and learning of his time. This was perhaps the first modern encyclopedia.

The Moors crossed from Africa in 711 and occupied most of what is now Spain. Almost immediately a struggle began to drive out the invaders. However there were Moors in Spain for almost eight hundred years.

Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, did not fall until the year 1492.

The Moors were great mathematicians, physicians, and engineers, as well as experts in agriculture. Many of the words used in Spanish today come directly from the Moors' tongue, Arabic. Thus, the language that we know today as Spanish, developed from many sources.

It was not until the year 1140 that an important work -- an epic poem -- was written in the language we can recognize as the one spoken today in Spain.

This language is known as Castilian because it had its origin in the central part of Spain, which is called Castile (land of castles).

The poem is El Cantar de Mio Cid. It was written by an unknown scribe and contained some three thousand, seven hundred and thirty lines, which treat of the deeds of a great warrior, Don Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, called El Cid -- which is from the Arabic word for lord or master.

He was a real man and the deeds recorded are for the most part true, as the poem was only written about forty-one years after his death.

In the poem El Cid is accused unjustly by envious enemies and is exiled by the King. Many of his loyal followers go with him into exile. They fight against both Christians and Moors, with many battles and finally capture the beautiful city of Valencia.

El Cid is pardoned by the King, and his daughters are married to nobles who turn out to be scoundrels. El Cid punishes them, and in the end all turns out well.

El Cid, considered one of the national heroes of Spain, appears in Spanish poems, ballads and plays, and as a hero in other European literature as well.

In addition to epic poetry, writing during this period included didactic, or teaching, literature, lyric poems, and ballads.

The most important writer of didactic prose was King Alfonso the Wise (1226-12284). Under his direction the history of Spain was traced from the time of the flood in the Bible. He also had the laws of Spain set down, and he wrote books on astronomy, chess, and many other learned subjects.

His nephew, Prince Juan Manuel, wrote Count Lucanor, a collection of fifty short stories, each with a moral. One of the most famous of the stories that most of us would recognize today is The Emperor's New Clothes, later retold for children by Han Christian Andersen.

By far the most popular form of literature during this period was the ballad. Like ballads everywhere, the Spanish ones deal with many subjects -- love, mysteries, wars and heroic events. They were not at first written but were handed down by word of mouth as songs and stories.

Many of these ballads, called romances in Spanish, are still recited and sung by Spanish speaking people all over the world.

One of the better known -- the Romance of Count Arnaldos -- was beautifully translated into English by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The most popular work written in Spanish in the fifteenth century is La Celestina. It is filled with the spirit of the Renaissance which was at the time spreading from Italy to the rest of Europe.

La Celestina, written about 1499 by Fernando de Rojas, is one of the first European novels. Since it is written in the form of dialogue, it is also considered to be one of the sources of the Spanish theater.

We know little of the life of Rojas except that he was a member of the Jewish faith who had been converted to Christianity.

His story concerns Calisto, a young man in love with the maiden Melibea, who does not return his love. By making use of his servants and of a clever old lady called Celestina, Calisto arranges to meet Melibea at night in her garden She comes to love him.

The servants of Calisto, angry at Celestina because she fails to fulfill her promise to give them part of the money that Calisto had given her, kill her. The book ends tragically.

Calisto falls from a wall when he goes to visit Melibea at night. Melibea, upon hearing the news of Calisto's death, commits suicide. The real interest of La Celestina does not lie in its plot but, rather, in its clear pictures of the people and the manners of that period.

The golden age of S[anish literature covers the latter half of the sixteenth and most of the seventeenth century. In Spanish it is called el siglo de oro.

Spain was then mistress of one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. Spanish conquerors had won for the mother country vast wealth and vast territory in the New World.

The Moorish invaders had finally been expelled from Spanish soil.

One of the most important creations of this period was the picaresque novel, so called because its hero is a picaro, or rogue.

In general, he is a young man who, in order to get enough to eat and at the same time avoid any type of manual labor, plays all sorts of tricks.

Although he never actually commits a crime, he lives on the margin of the law. The picaresque novels are at times both crude and vulgar. This type of novel has been imitated in many other lands.

The first and most famous of the picaresque novels written in Spain was The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes, the work of an unknown author.

The adventures of Lazarillo with his first master, a blind beggar, are so well-known that even today in Spain, a person who guides a blind man is called a "lazarillo."

Spanish literature reached its peak during this period in the work of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, one of the foremost figures of the world literature.

"Cervantes" was his father's family name. Many Spanish names have an addition at the end. It is often the mother's family name.

He was born in 1547 in the town of Alcala de Henares, the son of a humble surgeon.

We know little of his early life or of his formal schooling, but he did spend a great deal of time traveling about the country.

His first poetry, published in 1569, is of little value. In the same year, he went to Italy in the service of Giulio (later Cardinal) Acquaviva. He remained in Italy for five years, rejoicing in the brilliant spirit of the Renaissance.

According to Cervantes himself, the most important event of his career took place at this time.

This was the Battle of Lepanto, in 1571, in which he fought as a common soldier and in which he lost the use of his left hand.

On the return to Spain in 1575, his ship was captured by pirates. They thought he was an important person, so they held him ransom in Algeria. It was five years before he returned to Spain.

Cervantes obtained a government position in southern Spain, but because he could not keeps his accounts correctly he was imprisoned several times. In the midst of his difficulties he conceived the idea for his most famous work, Don Quixote of la Mancha.

The book was published in Madrid in 1605. It was immediately popular, not only in Spain but throughout Europe.

Many imitations of it were produced and even a false second part.

Cervantes himself then wrote his own second part, which was published in 1615. Even though his book was extremely popular, Cervantes continued to live in poverty.

Toward the latter part of his life, he published Exemplary Novels, considered by many the equal of don Quixote. Several other works of lesser important followed. He died in Madrid on April 23, 1616.

Don Quixote is first of all an amusing story, but hidden behind the amusement are the spiritual problems of men. Don Quixote is a poor nobleman turned mad by reading too many books of chivalry.

All about him, he begins to see giants, magicians and noble ladies in distress. He believes that he has been selected by Providence to go about righting wrongs and defending the weak. It's no wonder that much later Hollywood versions, included the song, "To Dream The Impossible Dream."

What he finds on the roads of Spain are ordinary people who mock him for his good intentions.

Sancho Panza, his faithful companion tries to point out the truth, but Don Quixote will not listen.

However, at the end of the book when Don Quixote lies dying, he realizes that he has committed many foolish acts.

Yet, in these "foolish" acts and in the speeches of Don Quixote, we are presented with some of the noblest views and aspirations of mankind.