Studied by 16 people
El Conde Lucanor -"De lo que aconteció a un mancebo que se casó con una mujer muy fuerte y muy brava."
-Don Juan Manuel, ~1300
It is a medieval text in Spain and it is a collection of stories. After a man and a woman get married, the man feels like he has all of the power and feels like the wife cannot serve him just like the animals cannot serve him. He treats the position of the woman as if she was one of the animals as well. She has a reputation of not listening to her husband either. The story is very chauvinistic and it shows the traditional gender roles at the time. One of the major themes to take away from this story is that if you cannot show what you want or who you are at the beginning, then you will never be able to show that feeling later in the long run. The story is in a modern perspective.
"Romance de la pérdida de Alhama"
-Anonymous, ~1500
The narrator does not want to believe that their city has been destroyed. He mounts his horse and goes to the king catillo to explain what happened. Then sounds the trumpet to call all the people and explain the news. When the narrator says "Woe to my Alhama!" Shows the feelings of all the people. This phrase repeats for emphasis and tone of sadness in the village. The second voice is an old Moor, who wonders why the king has called on the people. The third voice is that of the king, who explains that Christians have won the city of Alhama. The fourth voice is the faqih, respecting the king. The king said to have killed a blackberry family, which represents a flower, and the heart of the Moors.
"Segunda Carta de Relación"
-Hernán Cortés, 1520
The story is written by Cortes and he is writing about the king of Spain. He describes his plan for taking over the Aztec city of Tenochtítlan. He describes how he entered the city giving the king many gifts and he promised him he would find all the gold in the city. He also promised he would convert the Aztecs to christians "Peacefully." This wasn't true when he and his Spanish army attacked the city killing several Aztecs and torturing them violently. Cortes used a lot of Euphemism in order to water down the situation that happened in the city. This narrative is also an example and a representation of the clash between different societies in contact (Aztecs Versus Spain).
Soneto XXIII "En tanto que de rosa y azucena"
-Garcilaso de la Vega, 1530
Carpe Diem. It is a poem about a man describing the beauty of his woman and how it won't last forever. She has a relationship between herself and nature. This a very Renaissance styled poem.
"Lazarillo de Tormes"
-Anonymous, 1554
This story is a comedy and is known as being a picaresque piece of literature. It is a broad comedy that satirizes the different types of social roles in a society. It is about a young boy named Lazaro who lives with his mother. His mother is found with a black who steals and is a thief leading Lazaro to be taken a better, or they say, place to live. He is first given over to a blind man who is very mean and abusive. Lazaro doesn't have any food, so tricks the blind man into running into a pole leading him to get food and run away. Lazaro then runs into a cleric. He is very stingy and he has a box that contains bread just in case he runs out of food. The man has an over abundance of food, but being stingy, he saves food in a wooden box with a key. Lazaro gets a hold of the key and puts it in his mouth, so he won't get caught. Lazaro falls asleep with the key in his mouth causing his mouth to make a hissing sound. The cleric thinks it's a snake. At the end, he is caught. He is then with a squire who is from a rich family, but is very poor. He is in trouble because he hasn't payed the rent. Lazaro said the squire was going to get the money when really he was running away and never coming back. In the last chapter, Lazaro works as an important public figure. She is a good woman (doesn't matter since she is a woman and he is rich) The end makes the story a modern perspective.
Soneto CLXVI "Mientras por competir con tu cabello"
-Luis de Góngora, 1582
Carpe Diem. It is a poem Baroque styled poem describing how beauty doesn't last very long but this poem has lots of fluidity and is over the top.
"Don Quijote"
-Miguel de Cervantes, 1605
This novel is about an ambitious, middle-aged knight.
Salmo XVII "Mire los muros de la patria mía"
-Francisco de Quevedo, 1613
A man walks through his city describing the current state that it is in. He is in Spain and describing how it is decaying. He says how his house is stained and how he has a walking stick and how his sword (youth) is overcome with age. Carpe Diem (Memento Mori). This city is making him older as well. It is Baroque and a sonnet poem.
El Burlador de Sevilla
-Tirso de Molina, 1630
Act 1:
The play starts in Naples, Isabela invited Duke Octavio but the man with her is Don Juan. Don Pedro, Don Juan's uncle, comes to arrest Don Juan. Don Juan reveals that he is Pedro's nephew (el sobrino). Don Pedro lets Don Juan escape, and the King orders the Duke and Isabela to be married.
Don Pedro comes to arrest Octavio (wrongly) and Octavio plans to leave the country.
In the seashore of Tarragona, Tisbea, a peasant girl, finds Don Juan and Catalinon (Juan's servant) washed up. Don Juan declares his love for Tisbea. Tisbea takes Juan back to her house to nurse Juan back to health.
In Seville, the King is speaking to nobleman/military commander Don Gonzalo about arranging a marriage between Juan and Doña Ana (Gonzalo's daughter).
Back at the seashore, Juan and Catalinon flee after Juan seduced Tisbea. Tisbea is overcome with grief "fuego, fuego."
Act 2:
Don Diego (Juan's father) tells the king that Don Juan seduced Isabela. King banishes Juan from Seville and retracts marriage plans. Octavio arrives, begging for forgiveness after fleeing. The king allows him to stay.
Next, Don Juan and Catalinón arrive and talk to the Marquis de la Mota, who is a womanizer nearly as bad as Don Juan. The Marquis confesses, however, that he is actually in love with his cousin Doña Ana, but laments that she is arranged to marry someone else. Mota says he is going to visit Ana, and Don Juan sends Catalinón to follow him in secret. Don Juan's plans are also helped along when a servant of Ana's, having just seen Don Juan talking to Mota, asks that he give to Mota a letter from Ana. In the letter, Ana asks Mota to visit her during the night, at 11 o'clock sharp, since it will be their one and only chance to ever be together. Mota comes back again, apparently not having found Ana at home, and Don Juan says he received instructions
"Hombres necios que acusaís"
-Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 1690
This work is a satire that takes place and written around the time period of New Spain. This was a very pro-feminist period in a very modern perspective. It says hows stupid men accuse women for things that they didn't do or that are not true. It is an argument sticking up for women and is against men, ALL men. Also gives some of the types of women and how men perceive them such as prostitutes versus angels of the house. Brings up the argument of which is worse... A women who sells herself for money or the man who gives his money for sex. Controversial situation and a very critical work.
"En una tempestad"
-José María Heredia, 1830
This a work that is between Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Neoclassicism is returning the the original greek and roman classics and Romanticism deals with emotions. The language of the poem is CLASSIC and the romantic part of the poem focuses on the feeling and power of nature itself. The perspective is the man who is tortured by this powerful god. This person is talking to god in this massive hurricane and the poem is strongly religious (catholicism). The feeling is very overwhelming.
"Nuestra America"
-José Martí, 1891
This essay is about the unification of Latin American and the idea of how one defines an "American." The essay states the prejudice that the United States has on other parts of America and how they state things and rights for all Americans, even though some people who are Americans don't receive those rights, such as Latin Americans. The United States poses lots of threats on other parts of America and because they have to much power, other countries cannot control them nor have any say in anything. Martí suggests a unification but isn't possible due to United States' imperialistic power. A theme in this essay relates to the prejudices other American races face and how one society under the American branch controls all the other parts.
"He andado muchos caminos"
-Antonio Machado, 1903
Describes two groups of people in the poem. Group one are a group of poor people who are the ones that do all the work and are known as the ideal people. Group two are the ones who are rich and don't have to work, but get money through inheritance. Very general society and at the end, doesn't matter if you are good or bad, all end up in the same place. Memento Mori. Live your life the way you want to but know all go to the same place at the end. Very pessimistic.
"A Roosevelt"
-Rubén Darío, 1905
This poem is about expansionism and the idea that Roosevelt has a lot of power. The author is a strong critic and he represents Roosevelt as a strong hold for money and power (Imperialism). Roosevelt controls many parts of the world and modernism is seen in his essay. Again, a theme in this essay relates to the prejudices other American races face and how one society (United States) under the American branch controls all the other parts.
"El hijo"
-Horacio Quiroga, 1917
A kid goes hunting with his father in the forest. His father then lets him go off into the wilderness solo leading to the son's death at the end of the story. The father has a hallucination asking why his son was so late in return while in reality his son was dead in a barbed wire fence. The literary movement is naturalism and one could make the argument of the theme as time and reality versus fantasy. The pistol and the gun represent violence, teaching, maturity, and most importantly foreshadow danger.
"Peso Ancestral"
-Alfonsina Storni, 1919
This work relates to the weight that women are carrying on their shoulders. This weight is known to the reader as an "emotional" weight and the stress of the men that they are carrying. The work contains images of being heavy to relate to the idea of the weight. For example, the tears of men are venomous and quite heavy to women. The work is feminist and the author is critiquing society.
"Las medias rojas"
-Pardo Bazán, 1925
A girl that is a prostitute for her dad and she goes out to buy red stockings with her father's money. Once she gets the tights, her father, Tío Cladio, beats her and her beauty is lost. She doesn't have anymore beauty anymore not making her able to move to the United States anymore. Her ticket to go to the US was her beauty. The literary movement is naturalism because it shows the life of poor people and of a poor woman. The color red represents sex and prostitution.
"Prendimiento de Antoñito el Camborio" (Arrest of Antoñito)
-Federico García Lorca, 1928
This poem is about gypsies and how their culture is abused in the society that they are living in. A group of gypsies are imprisoned for taking lemons off of a tree in an area where nobody owns those trees. They are blamed for being thieves and sent to prison. The cops take the lemons they picked and make lemonade out of it. This poem shows the abuse of power in the United States and how one group can be ostracized due to their social status in a society. This a Romance poem, contemporary, and takes place during the first part of the twentieth century.
"San Manuel Bueno Martir"
-Miguel de Unamuno, 1930
The novela tells the story of the local Catholic Priest (Don Manuel) in fictional Valverde de Lucerna, Spain as told through the eyes of Angela, one of the townspeople. Throughout the course of the story Manuel is adored by the people of the town. He is constantly in the service of the townspeople. He refrains from condemning anyone and goes out of his way to help those whom the people have marginalized. Instead of refusing to allow the holy burial of someone who committed suicide, don Manuel explains that he is sure that in the last moment, the person would have repented for their sin. Also, instead of excommunicating a woman who had an illegitimate child, as the Catholic Church would have done, don Manuel arranges a marriage between the woman and her ex-boyfriend, so that order will return to the town, and the child will have a father figure. The people of the town consider him their "Saint" because of all of the good deeds he does.
Angela, after a brief stint away for education, returns to the town to live with her mother where she continues to be amazed at Manuel's devotion.
Later, Lazarus, Angela's brother returns from the New World, disgusted with the mental and physical poverty he finds in the town. He too is amazed at Manuel's devotion but believes that "He is too intelligent to believe everything he teaches." It is clear that Lazarus does not have a sense of faith. Angela's and Lazarus's mother passes away. On her death bed she makes Lazarus promise to pray for her—he swears he will. Her dying wish is that Manuel can convert him. Lazarus begins following don Manuel "to the lake" where Manuel is known to walk and think. Time passes and Lazarus takes Communion—to the townspeople, he appears to be converted. In reality, Lazarus is only praying for his mother's sake because it was her wish, not because he ha
"Balada de los dos abuelos"
-Nicolás Guillén, 1934
A man talks about both of his grandfathers. One is black and one is white. They are both similar and both guerreros. The black grandfather (facundo) is owned by the white grandfather (Federico). The tambores give the poem rhythm at the end. Theme is the idea of Mezcla or Mestizaje (mix of races). He is present in both of his grandfathers.
"Walking Around"
-Pablo Neruda, 1935
He is sick of being a man and being alive. He doesn't want to see anything anymore. Sexual and psychological things are going on in his mind. This is a very surreal poem. The elements he sees and describes have no significance. Pessimistic.
Pablo is tired of being a man.
Describes a class struggle, but is critical of the state. Likely written from an anarcho-communist perspective.
La Casa de Bernarda Alba
-Federico García Lorca, 1936
A play in spain where the head of the house is a tyrant mother named Bernarda who takes care of her daughters who are nuns. The mother is very strict and controls every aspect in the household and in the lives of the daughters. The literary movement is naturalism and modernism.
"A Julia de Burgos"
-Julia de Burgos, 1943
Very personal poem. Two types of Julia, one is the public one and the other is the private one. She is a cold hearted doll full of social lies. They are both fighting each other, nobody is "winning" over the other. The voice of the poem is the private Julia.
"Borges y yo"
-Jorge Luis Borges, 1944
This short essay has no form. There is a public and private Borges as well. One wins, and there is not any fight. Borges points out that his writing belongs to the other Borges, by the end, we do not know who the real Borges is. Borges not able to separate his identities.
"El Sur"
-Jorge Luis Borges, 1944
We don't know if Dahlmann died in the hospital or not. He is very similar to both his grandpas. At the beginning he represents his cleric grandpa as a librarian and later a guerrero when he fights the man in the fields with the knife. This story is a fantasy and has to do with reality versus dreaming. His family lived in the south, so there is repetition to spark further confusion. The cafe is pink like his house when he grew up there.
"No oyes ladrar los perros"
-Juan Rulfo, 1953
Realism. This story is about a father who is taking his dying son to a town called Tonanya. This story represents the hope for Ignacio,son to become a better person, but ends up dying. Ignacio was not noble and he was ready to die due to his lack of honor.
"Chac Mool"
-Carlos Fuentes, 1954
The literary movement is fantasy and the story related to circular time. A guy on a train is reading a story about a man named Filiberto who is the house that the reader is visiting. Filiberto finds this statue of Chac Mool in the basement, who is the god of water. The statue is fake, polished and is alive. The statue comes to life and takes the place of Filiberto at the end. He is wearing his clothes. Filiberto ends up drowning (se algó) in the ocean.
"La noche boca arriba"
-Julio Cortázar, 1956
A man gets into a motorcycle accident. The persons cannot be divided, running from the aztecs which is the knife of the surgeon.
"La siesta del martes"
-Gabriel García Márquez, 1962
A mother and a daughter take a train ride into a city during the time of a siesta. It is very hot and the mother and daughter have little to no money. They went to go see Carlos who is the mother's son who was caught stealing money for the survival of his family. He was a good guy but did abad action in order to survive. Nobody socializes with them when they show up because 1) they are poor, and 2) nobody wants to mess around with a thief. The hotness represents the poorness of the mother and daughter. If they had the money, they could sit on the train where air conditioning was present.
"Mi caballo mago"
-Sabine Ulibarrí, 1964
They are west of the United States. They are trying to capture the white horse. They think the horse is very magical and has many powers, Actually, the horse not have these powers or they don't know that it has these kinds of powers. The author realizes that he does not need to capture the horse. It is Bildungs Roman and relates to the coming of age and how one has the ability to be okay with letting go of fantasies.
"El hombre que se convirtió en perro"
-Osvaldo Dragún, 1967
This a short play that takes place during the reign of Perón so it's a modern work. There aren't any names only actors and it is a satire. The play is a meta-drama (meta-fiction) which is a play within a play. The main actor begins to feel bad because he doesn't have a job because there is an economic crisis and there isn't enough money to go around. He looks for a job and gets one as a watch man. He cannot be human and he accepts the job. His wife Maria is scared for him because he is like a dog and she is scared her son that she has is going to be a dog as well. He kisses the hand then bites it off (satire). This play satirizes the time of Perón and how the workers were treated and the roles they all played in society at the time.
Anti-Capitalism
Theatre of the Oppressed
Dehumanization
The importance of spoken language
"El Ahogado mas hermosa del mundo"
-Gabriel García Márquez, 1968
Magical Realism
Very weird
The washed up body (presence) brings purpose to the people on the island.
Put him back in ocean for respect.
He never "rots"
"Y no se tragó la tierra."
-Tomás Rivera, 1971
This a story about illegal immigrants who come to America (United States) to try to find a job and they cannot get one successfully. The women cannot work for sure and the terrible heat conditions in the fields cause heat strokes and they do not have the money to get one to a hospital. They also don't have documents even if they did have the money for hospitals. The narrator is the fictional person of the author. This story is related to the social interactions of societies.
"La Noche Buena"
-Tomás Rivera, 1971
A mother goes to the store to buy her children christmas presents. She has never done this before and she gets really scared when she walks in. Her anxiety takes over and she runs out of the store with they toys without purchasing them. She is found guilty for stealing. She is an illegal immigrant and she told her kids they will get toys on Dia de los reyes magos isntead. The kids know what was going on and accepted the fact that toys weren't everything about the holiday of christmas.
"Mujer Negra"
-Nancy Morejón, 1979
This poem takes place during the time of the slave trade and during the end of the Cuban Revolution which is modern Cuba. This poem has many voices going on beginning with a woman who is working on a plantation. She has sex with a white land owner and her baby is taken away from her because she is not only a woman, but she is african american. This poem ties together the prejudice of non-white races and women. At the end she is freed which is a hope for the future.
"Dos Palabras"
-Isabel Allende, 1987
This a short story about a poor family who doesn't deserve their own names. There is no escape for these people due to their lack of purpose, food, or financial needs. The mother tries to find a job and she starts by reading a dictionary. She begins to sell the words of the dictionary to people and later she is kidnapped by a colonel. The colonel is a candidate for the president and he needs her help to give a two word title for his speech. We find out, based on the title, that he later falls in love with her and vice versa. This story is an example of Magical Realism. This a feminist story about a woman who goes out to take the role of the head person in the family in order to survive.
"Como la vida misma"
-Rosa Montero, 2000
It is a short story that puts the reader in the driver seat of a traffic jam taken place in a parking lot. The second person puts the reader into the stressful and tiring situation of traffic in an anonymous city. The narrator is talking to us making us, the readers, the protagonists. Car 1 (protagonist) wants the parking space, he got the space because he drives like a crazy person. Car 2 got out of the space because he was leaving and car 1 almost hit car 2. Car 1 gets mad saying all are bad drivers when he is really the bad driver since he almost hit car 2. Irony. Realistic.
Note 
Flashcard (85)