Culteranismo
Encyclopedia
Culteranismo is a stylistic movement of the Baroque
period of Spanish
history that is also commonly referred to as Góngorismo (after Luis de Góngora
). It began in the late 16th century with the writing of Luis de Góngora and lasted through the 17th century.
Culteranismo is characterized by a very ornamental, ostentatious vocabulary and a message that is complicated by a sea of metaphors and complex syntactical order
.
The name blends culto ("cultivated") and luteranismo ("Lutheranism
") and was coined by its opponents to present it as a heresy of "true" poetry.
This movement seems to use as many words as possible to convey little meaning or to conceal meaning. It is also associated with Latinized syntax and mythological allusions
. Culteranismo existed in stark contrast with conceptismo
, another movement of the Baroque period which is characterized by a witty style, games with words, simple vocabulary, and conveying multiple meanings in as few words as possible. The best-known representative of Spanish conceptismo, Francisco de Quevedo
, had an ongoing feud with Luis de Góngora in which each criticized the other’s writing and personal life.
Other practitioners of the style include Hortensio Félix Paravicino
.
by Góngora.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
period of Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
history that is also commonly referred to as Góngorismo (after Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora
Luis de Góngora y Argote was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered to be the most prominent Spanish poets of their age. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorism...
). It began in the late 16th century with the writing of Luis de Góngora and lasted through the 17th century.
Culteranismo is characterized by a very ornamental, ostentatious vocabulary and a message that is complicated by a sea of metaphors and complex syntactical order
Hyperbaton
Hyperbaton is a figure of speech in which words that naturally belong together are separated from each other for emphasis or effect. This kind of unnatural or rhetorical separation is possible to a much greater degree in highly inflected languages, where sentence meaning does not depend closely...
.
The name blends culto ("cultivated") and luteranismo ("Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
") and was coined by its opponents to present it as a heresy of "true" poetry.
This movement seems to use as many words as possible to convey little meaning or to conceal meaning. It is also associated with Latinized syntax and mythological allusions
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
. Culteranismo existed in stark contrast with conceptismo
Conceptismo
Conceptismo is a literary movement of the Baroque period of Spanish literature. It began in the late 16th century and lasted through the 17th century....
, another movement of the Baroque period which is characterized by a witty style, games with words, simple vocabulary, and conveying multiple meanings in as few words as possible. The best-known representative of Spanish conceptismo, Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco de Quevedo
Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo...
, had an ongoing feud with Luis de Góngora in which each criticized the other’s writing and personal life.
Other practitioners of the style include Hortensio Félix Paravicino
Hortensio Félix Paravicino
Hortensio Félix Paravicino y Arteaga was a Spanish preacher and poet from the noble house of Pallavicini....
.
Sample
The first stanza of the first of the SoledadesSoledades
Las Soledades is a poem by Luis de Góngora, composed in 1613 in silva in eleven- and seven- syllable lines: hendecasyllables and heptasyllables ....
by Góngora.
| Original Spanish | Literal translation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Era del año la estación florida | It was the flowery season of the year | It was spring. |
| en que el mentido robador de Europa | when the perjured kidnapper of Europa Europa (mythology) In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The name Europa occurs in Hesiod's long list of daughters of primordial Oceanus and Tethys... |
Zeus Zeus In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus... kidnapped Europa in the shape of a bull Bull (mythology) The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar to the Western world in the biblical episode of the idol of the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf after being made by the Hebrew people in the wilderness of Sinai, were rejected and destroyed by Moses and his tribe after his... . |
| (media luna las armas de su frente, | (half moon the arms of his forehead | The bull's weapons (horns) are shaped as a crescent. |
| y el Sol todos los rayos de su pelo), | and the Sun all the beams of his hair), | |
| luciente honor del cielo, | brilliant honor of the sky | |
| en campos de zafiro pace estrellas, | in fields of sapphire Sapphire Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give... grazes [on] stars |
The Sun is currently in Taurus Taurus (astrology) Taurus is the second astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 30th and 59th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between April 21 to May 21 each year... (the constellation of the Zeus bull), i.e., it is between April and May. |
See also
- Hiberno-LatinHiberno-LatinHiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a learned sort of Latin literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period from the sixth century to the tenth century.-Vocabulary and Influence:...
, a style of Latin poetry by Irish monks, with a similarly contrived vocabulary. - EuphuismEuphuismEuphuism is a peculiar mannered style of English prose. It takes its name from a prose romance by John Lyly. It consists of a preciously ornate and sophisticated style, employing in deliberate excess a wide range of literary devices such as antitheses, alliterations, repetitions and rhetorical...
, a similar style in English poetry. - Préciosisme, a similar style in French poetry.
- Marinismo, a similar style in Italian poetry.