Introduction to the History of Western Literature. Part II
Artículo made by Eleonor Nolan, May 16, 2022.
Pre-Renaissance period (1300 AD- 1450 AD)
A. Italy, the cradle of art:
During the 14th century, in Italy, as a result of the rediscovery of the writings of Classical Antiquity, an intellectual movement emerge, which we would later call “humanism”. The scholastics were initially interested in Greek culture prior to the invasion of the Roman Empire. Therefore, they began to delve into the theoretical texts of that period (which dealt mostly with philosophical issues), as well as those of poetic and theatrical genre. This led them to consider the influence that this traditions exerted on Rome after Greece became part of their territory.
For humanism, the individual and social potentialities of human beings were really very important. As such, it opposed the Scholastics’ position on education. In this regard, Humanism held that both men and women should receive a comprehensive education that encompasses body and spirit, in equal measure, to carry out their duties in civic life. Therefore, this philosophy involved the practice of sports, and the reading of texts on various topics.
Humanism began in Florence thanks to a powerful aristocratic family, known as “the Medici”, whose members serve as patrons of various artists, offering them their protection so that they could dedicate themselves to observing and analyzing the behavior of the different individuals belonging to each one of the spheres of society. Thus, Patronage became a practice that benefited not only these poets, playwrights, painters or sculptors, but also those who provided them with housing and financial support since they shared the prestige that the aforementioned achieved with their oeuvre. In this way, Florence became a central stage for culture and aroused envy among the noble families residing in other cities of Italy. However, these families, in turn, made themselves available to a large number of artists with such promptness that in a short time they displayed as much splendor in their palaces as the Medici did.
B. Vernacular language; homogenization process in Europe:
In most Western countries there were different dialects that varied significantly according to the regions in which each nation was divided. It is necessary to mention that the plebs was the social stratum that communicated through these jargons. However, despite this being the majority group in each country, Latin, and sometimes also Greek, continued to be the languages used to write and read literary works at that time. This implied that only people who had some level of education could access to such texts. Even so, during the Middle Ages, there were some theorist who tried to vindicate the language of each population by translating a few books into the linguistic modalities with the largest number of speakers, or by elaborating new literary works. These endeavours were not well received by the scholastics who put up great resistance by flatly refusing to admit the use of such dialects. In any case, at the end of the 14th century, a new philosophical doctrine began to advocate the implementation of vernacular languages in the same way. This context allowed countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, and of course also Italy, among others, to consolidate, during the 15th and 16th centuries, a single language as representative and official of each republic.
The Renaissance (1450 AD-1600 AD)
A. Historical context:
▪The invention of the printing press
Although there were already at least two types of machinery that printed characters on paper, both made in the East, none of them transcended as it did the one designed by Gutenberg.
The first one was created in China, between the years 1041 and 1048, by Bing Sheng, a man of scarce economic resources. Its structure was quite similar to the one that Gutenberg would later invent. Then, in 1234, another printing press based on that first model was manufactured in Korea, to which some modifications were made.
In addition to these two printing models, there was also a technique known as Xylography, which consisted of carving on a piece of wooden drawings or fragments of texts that would be later printed. This board was then covered with ink in the interstices, and pressed against a sheet of paper. In Europe, Xylography was used in the early 13th to make pamphlets, among other purposes. Gutenberg was inspired by this technique to make his invention.
Born in Germany in the year 1400, Johannes Gutenberg worked as a blacksmith and goldsmith, becoming an expert in making alloys of different metals. In 1438, Gutenberg began to work on a complex device of presses and moving blocks with which he intended to make the first mechanical copies of the Bible. Until then, books were copied manually by scribes who, in some cases, did not even know how to read; their job was to imitate the symbols included in the volume whose copy they had been commissioned to make.
The prototype of the printing press invented by Gutenberg was only in operation in the year 1450. To carry out his project, Gutenberg had to face several difficulties: from the creation of 290 molds, which allowed all possible combinations of the letters of the alphabet; as well as the creation of a special ink for these characters to be printed on paper; and finally the construction of tweezers flexible enough to exert pressure on the mobile blocks in their contact with the sheet support table without generating cracks on them.
The first book to be massively copied by this printing press was, as we have mentioned before, the Bible. A print run of 200 copies was made in Latin, a language still used by scholastics, as well as by poets and playwrights, to write their works.
How did the creation of the printing press influence Western literature?
The possibility of making several simultaneous copies of the same volume allowed books to cease to be the exclusive property of the Church and of wealthy families. Although at first the production of copies was expensive, with the increasing market demand cheaper raw materials began to be used, which brought about a great expansion of the printing industry. On the other hand, a few years later, other printing presses were built in other regions of Europe; one of them was established in Rome and then transferred to Venice. Books printed both Germany and Italy began to be exported to several European countries, which allowed these nations to rediscover the writings of Classical Antiquity as the Iberian Peninsula had done before. Therefore, the cultural process that had begun to take shape in the 14th century had its apogee in the 16th century when the West, in all its extension, immersed itself in the exhaustive study of the literary works of that period, consolidating humanism as an intellectual movement.
Born on November 10, 1483 in Germany, Martin Luther was a friar of the order of Saint Augustine who opposed the sale of pardons with which the Catholic Church intended to finance the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica that would be located in Rome. Luther, on October 31, 1517, disgusted by this fraudulent demeanor nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Castle’s chapel a manuscript containing ninety-five theses with which he stated his position on the matter.
These theses, originally written in Latin, were translated into German and then, thanks to the printing press, several copies were quickly distributed throughout Germany. Luther’s ninety-five theses also reached neighboring countries causing great commotion among their inhabitants. The denunciation of the impious practices of the Church provoke harsh criticism against it; thus, the Protestant Reformation began. A few years later, after the Council of Trent, the Counter Reformation, also known as Catholic Reform, took place. It consisted, neither more nor less, in the response of the Catholic Church to the ethical and theological accusations of the Protestants. However, it also involved the implementation of certain structural changes to preserve power as an institution and prevent the loss of parishioners.
How did the Lutheran Reformation influence Western literature?
Before Martin Luther’s Reformation, the Catholic Church was in charge of teaching how the Bible should be interpreted, and only the friars and monks had access to the sacred texts. After the invention of the printing press in 1450, the Bible was one of the most copied books, and its copies were evenly distributed in countries such as France, England, Spain, Netherlands, among others. As we have said, only members of religious orders, as well as certain individuals who had received an exceptional education, could understand what this writings said since they were in Latin. The commoners did not know how to read this language, much less speak it, because at that time it was already in disuse. However, several scholars began to make translations of the Bible so that it would be accessible to those for whom it was intended, that is, to any citizen who wanted to rule his life according to the principles of Catholicism. Thus, the Lutheran Reformation brought with it the need to produce a large number of copies in the vernacular of each country. In this way, each person could interpret the Bible for himself and question, in turn, the sayings of the Church in this regard. In Germany, where the Protestant Reformation took place, the translation of the Bible consolidated, among many other dialects, what would become the official language of the nation, and led to a detailed study of how a text should be translated. The same thing happened in other Western countries. On the other hand, as a result of the criticism unleashed against the Catholic Church, several intellectuals followed in Luther’s footsteps and published their own texts to express their points of view on society and the institutions that influenced it. In consequence, a new literary genre, known by the name of “essay”, came about.
B. Literary production. Controversy regarding the degree of progress and value in literature
The Renaissance was characterized by a return to the past. The literati focused their attention not only to those works of Classical Antiquity, but also to those of the Middle Ages. As a result, Renaissance literature did not show much progress in any of its aspects. Even so, some novelties can be mentioned with respect to the historical periods that preceded it.
▪Poetry
1. Chansons and Madrigals
Both were poems recited by singers; in some cases they included an instrumental accompaniment.
As will be remembered, in the Middle Ages there was a poetic subgenre, characteristic of French prose, known as “Chansos de Geste”, which was performed by musicians of aristocratic origin called “troubadours”. This subgenre was the predecessor of the Chansons of the Renaissance. These last ones did not differ too much from those compositions. They also emerge in France, and their theme was love.
With regard to the Madrigals, they were short poems, also with a love-like plot, which combined heptasyllable verses with hendecasyllables. They arose in Italy, consisting of a literary composition completely different from the existing ones. Madrigals quickly gained popularity in Europe, so several countries adopted this genre and made their own works that came to be distinguished from the Italian madrigal.
2. Sonnets
They were poems that were divided into fourteen hendecasyllable lines.
3. Lyrical
Genre pre-existing in antiquity. In theory, the works belonging to this category could be considered similar to the “Chansons” of this period due to their structure. Their verses, instead of being recited, were also sung, and they could be performed with an instrumental accompaniment as well. However, the Lyric did not focus on love as it main theme.
Likewise, it is worth mentioning that the Lyric was a genre that bore a certain resemblance to that of the same name created by the Greeks; therefore, it was an imitation of the previous one.
4. Epic
It was a composition of variable length that recounted the triumphs of the Classical Antiquity’s heroes. This poetic subgenre also had its origin in the traditions inherited from the Greek culture.
5. Elegy
In its beginnings, the elegy was a poem in which its protagonist lamented the death of a loved one. Its theme varied according to each historical period, but even so, catastrophes have always been part of its plot. The Greeks had already developed this genre before the invasion of the Roman Empire.
6. Pastoral
This genre described country life in an idealized way. The argument used to have some love intrigue.
▪Theater
Based on Greco-Roman traditions, dramaturgy introduced into its plots, in most cases, characteristic features of the society of that time.
▪Novel
This genre was one of the least developed during the Renaissance. Its structure, and theme, remained the same as those of the Italian “Novella” of the Ancient Age.
The Baroque (1600 AD-1750 AD)
A. Historical context:
▪Absolute monarchies
During the “Early Baroque”, whose beginning could be considered from the second half of the 16th century, a new form of government emerged and spread through several European countries.
The severe repercussions of the Protestant Reformation, with the subsequent weakening of the Catholic Church as an institution, favored the royal families of Europe to consolidate their autonomy and exercise implacable authority over their territories.
Perhaps the most striking case, in this sense, is that of Henry VIII, King of England between 1509 and 1547, who, having married Catherine of Aragon the same year of his assumption, ended up abandoning her for lack of a male heir. Henry VIII tried to get the annulment of the marriage by Pope Clement VII to marry Ana Bolero. However Clement VII refused to yield to the wishes of Henry VIII, so the latter proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church as far as England was concerned. Thus, the Anglican Church was founded. Henry VIII was the first monarch to concentrate both political and spiritual power in his hands.
Another noteworthy example is that of Louis XIV, King of France, who became head of state almost a hundred years later, in 1643, quickly becoming the highest representative of absolutism. Known as the “Sun King”, his influence was reflected in the works of painters, sculptors, musicians and poets, as well as in the architecture of the time; the construction of the Palace of Versailles was intended to represent the immense power that Louis XIV exercised over the people.
We must specify that for a king to have absolute power, there had to be a tacit contract between him and the people by virtue of which the citizens ceded their natural rights to the monarch in pursuit of an organized state. Likewise, absolute monarchies were governed by the principle of “divine right” according to which God granted the Kings the legitimate power to govern.
How did the Absolute Monarchies influence Western literature?
Some authors were inspired by the figure of their sovereigns to create their works. Others, through patronage, received commissions from the monarchs to highlight their attributes as rulers in said writings. In both cases, the style of these texts was characterized by a pompous and exuberant technique that sought to convince readers of the divine nature of their kings.
Born on February 15, 1564, in the city of Pisa, Italy, Galileo Galilei was a mathematician, physicist and astronomer whose greatest contribution to science was to reformulate the heliocentric theory of Nicholas Copernicus and spread it among scientists and common people during the first half of the 16th century. This theory held that the Sun was the center of our Solar System, while the Earth was one of the many planets that orbited around it. Nicholas Copernicus, born in Prussia on February 19, 1473, rediscovered the heliocentric theory from reading the studies carried out by the philosophers of Ancient Greece. In 1543, the same year as his death, his work “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium“, in which he set forth his conclusions on the matter, was published. We must remember that at that time the popular belief was that the Earth was the center of our Solar System, a theory known as geocentric. Galileo Galilei altered this paradigm with his publications on the mountains on the moon, the satellites of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, sunspots, and the Tidal movement, among many other aspects of the cosmos.
The treatises of Galileo, published at the beginning of the 17th century, aroused Controversy. The Church categorically rejected his postulates claiming that they contradicted the Sacred Scriptures. In 1616, the Inquisition carried out an investigative process against Galileo after which he was found guilty of heresy. As a consequence, his works, and all those that alluded to the Copernican principles, were included in the list of prohibited books. Still, Galileo was granted permission to continue his work on the condition that the heliocentric theory was not mentioned except in a purely hypothetical sense. However, in 1633 Galileo broke his promise by publishing “Dialogue Concerning the Two Principal World Systems.”
In this work Galileo described the conversation between three characters: Simplicio, Salviati and Sagrado. The first, defended the geocentric theory; the second, supported the Copernican principles; meanwhile, the last one, adopted an impartial stance against the two opponents. The Catholic Church did not tolerate this new affront. In 1633 Galileo was judged in Rome, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
How did the postulates of Galileo Galilei influence Western literature?
According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the human being, created in the image and likeness of God, was the most perfect creature that could exist. This concept reflected itself in all aspects of life. That said, as far as astronomy is concerned, although the geocentric theory was the result of several studies carried out in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it was perfectly suited to the Church’s need for the Earth to be the center of the Universe. As a consequence of the disclosure of Galileo’s axioms, in favor of the Copernican theory, the premises on which the Church had consolidated its power began to shake. Parishioners saw their beliefs questioned by the overwhelming evidence presented by Galileo against the geocentric theory. There were not a few people who experienced a deep feeling of anguish and disappointment at the truth that was revealed to them. Therefore, in an attempt to alleviate the suffering of society, art sought to create a more beautiful world than the one in which men were condemned to live. Writing, as one of the many artistic disciplines, incorporated strange and unrealistic elements into its narrative, as well as a large number of ornaments to emphasize the idyllic nature of its descriptions.
▪The Thirty Years War
At first, it was a matter of a purely religious nature. Subsequently, this altercation led to an armed confrontation over political and territorial issues between several European countries.
The war broke out in 1618 in Bohemia, current district of the Czech Republic, when Ferdinand II, King of that region, signed a decree by which citizens had to adhere to Catholicism. In response to this ordinance, a group of protesters threw two Catholic religious from a window of Prague’s Castle. The conflict would last until 1648 consisting of several revolts between the countries involved in the conflict. The war concluded with the Peace of Westphalia, the name given to two treaties signing precisely in the region of Westphalia located in northwestern Germany. Their clauses imposed the cession of lands by certain nations, which implied an important geopolitical transformation of the map of Europe; an even greater loss of power by the Catholic Church against Lutherans and Calvinists; and the emergence of the principle of sovereignty by which countries undertook to respect the rights of each State over their territories.
It should be said that the Thirty Years’ War significantly reduced the European population. The deaths were not due solely to the battle; many were due to famine, and diseases that spread in the regions devastated by the armies.
How did the Thirty Years’ War influence Western literature?
Despair took hold of those populations that were affected by the constant altercations between the troops of the different countries that carried out this armed struggle. The future did not seem to hold any consolation for those who had lost their fortune, their property, and even their family. In certain cases, these unfortunate people had even lost their faith in God. This context was propitious for the emergence of an artistic movement that sought, as we have mentioned before, to offer its public scenarios, characters and situations characterized by the unreal and embellished by tricks and illusions that exalted the senses. Literature was no exception in this case.
B. Literary production:
1. Techniques of composition
In this period, the writers used different devices to create their works. Among them the following can be listed:
►Metaphor:
Rhetorical figure by means of which an idea or concept is expressed through another that bears a certain relationship of similarity with it. An example would be the following:
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
From this it follows that the reader must interpret the meaning of the words chosen by the writer.
►Hyperbole:
Figure of speech by which any type of description is exaggerated, whether of a scene, an object, or the physical aspect of a character. It is also used to elaborate dialogues between the different actors of a poem, play, or any other literary work. In any case, it is used to increase the expressiveness of the message that the author wants to convey to the reader.
If he be married, My grave is like to be my wedding bed!
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
►Paradox:
Rhetorical figure that consists of using expressions that apparently involve contradiction. These expressions, however, do not contradict the principles of logic.
The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know… We know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
►Anaphora:
Rhetorical figure consisting of the repetition of one or more words at the beginning of a series of verses or sentences.
Mouth! who can chase souls together with lust Mouth! who is much sweeter than strong Heaven-wine Mouth! who pours in the Alicante of life Mouth! whom I must prefer to the riches of the Indies Mouth! whose balsam can strengthen us and wound us Mouth! who blossoms more pleasurably than any rose.
Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau (1616-1679)
►Hyperbaton:
Figure of speech by which the syntactic order of certain words in a sentence is altered. In poetry, this is usually due to metrical reasons.
The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
►Hypotaxis:
Grammatical relationship, by which two syntactic elements of different hierarchical level or function are joined, and in which one depends on the other.
O, then, I see Queen Mab has paid you a visit. She is the fairy responsible for dreaming, assuming a shape No bigger than an image engraved on a stone in the ring On the index finger of a politician, Drawn (in her chariot) by a team of creatures as tiny as atoms Across the noses of men as they lie asleep…
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
►Parataxis
Grammatical relationship by which two syntactic elements of the same hierarchical level or function, and independent of each other, are joined. It can be by juxtaposition or coordination. When it comes to juxtaposition parataxis, the clauses are interconnected without the use of a conjunction. Instead, in the case of coordination parataxis, there must invariably be a conjunction between these clauses. Parataxis is characterized by the abundance of details, facts or the mention of several actions within the same sentence.
In a village in La Mancha, which I won’t name, there lived not long ago a hidalgo of the kind that has a lance in the lance rack, an old shield, a lean nag and a fleet greyhound.
Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616)
►Paronomasia
Rhetorical figure consisting of the use of two or more words with phonetic similarity that differ only by a vowel or a consonant.
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done for I have more. That at my death Thy Son Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore And having done that, Thou hast done; I fear no more.
John Donne (1572-1631)
►Oxymoron
Figure of speech that is characterized by complementing a concept with another that has a contradictory or opposite meaning.
As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames No light, but rather, darkness visible.
John Milton (1608-1674)
2. Verse and Prose
During the Baroque, new literary genres did not arise either. The contribution of this period was based, mainly, on its approach to the following topics:
♦Religion and Mythology
Faced with the crisis that the Catholic Church was going through, some intellectuals tried to recover faith in God through the study of metaphysics. Therefore, the works writing by them were of a philosophical or spiritual nature. However, these texts exhibited such complexity that their understanding was impossible for those who were not familiar with the vocabulary used by their authors. For this reason, the writers themselves began to make booklet in which they gave a precise definition of each term that could cause confusion to readers.
In addition to this group of authors, there were others who, commissioned by the Catholic Church, also wrote texts on the same topic to move the faithful of the congregation, and restore splendor to the doctrine of said institution.
♦Satire
Disappointment and pessimism, as well as illnesses and poverty, led many writers to make burlesque works in which they ridiculed the society of the time, and its rulers. Satire consisted of a criticism that exhibited the misery in which various regions of Europe were immersed.
As a result of these literary compositions, the picaresque novel arose in Spain. Its protagonist was a cunning and petty character, with limited economic resources, who used stratagems to defraud others; it is the antithesis of the chivalric ideal of the Renaissance. The picaresque novel quickly spread throughout Europe, influencing the narrative of other countries.
♦Ethics and Morality
The difficult socioeconomic circumstances in which Europe found itself after the Thirty Years’ War, awakened in certain philosophers the need to denounce the dishonest practices of men, and, above all, the vices that corrupted society. Taking into consideration their own religious beliefs and political ideals, they sought to impose a new system of ethical and moral values. Among these intellectuals, several stood out as orators who carried out an important activity in the citizen’s life.
