gongorismo
Quick Summary
Gongorismo, also known as culteranismo, was an esoteric literary style in Spanish literature that emerged in the early 17th century. It aimed to elevate poetic language through re-Latinization, employing classical allusions, vocabulary, syntax, and word order. This style, heavily influenced by the poet Luis de Góngora, is characterized by its ornate, complex, and often obscure language, making it difficult for the uninitiated to understand. While Góngora's work was intended to create timeless poetry, lesser imitators exaggerated these features, leading to "gongorismo" becoming synonymous with literary affectation. Despite centuries of criticism, the style was re-evaluated in the 20th century, with Góngora recognized as a major poet.1234
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- Luis Carrillo y Sotomayor
…highly ornate and rhetorical style gongorismo, originated by the poet Luis de Góngora. In Carrillo’s treatise on poetry, Libro de la erudición poética (mod. ed., 1946), he attempted to justify his methods by claiming the merits of obscurity in poetry.
Read More…highly ornate and rhetorical style gongorismo, originated by the poet Luis de Góngora. In Carrillo’s treatise on poetry, Libro de la erudición poética (mod. ed., 1946), he attempted to justify his methods by claiming the merits of obscurity in poetry.
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…culteranismo to such extremes that gongorismo entered the language as a synonym for literary affectation. Lesser imitators of Góngora deliberately cultivated obscurity in their work, thus overshadowing the original aim of the style, which was to create a poetry that would be timeless and universally appealing.
Read More…culteranismo to such extremes that gongorismo entered the language as a synonym for literary affectation. Lesser imitators of Góngora deliberately cultivated obscurity in their work, thus overshadowing the original aim of the style, which was to create a poetry that would be timeless and universally appealing.
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Latin American literatureThe Barroco de IndiasIn fact, gongorismo is practically a whole poetic movement in colonial Latin America, affecting poetry through the 17th century and well into the 18th.
Read MoreIn fact, gongorismo is practically a whole poetic movement in colonial Latin America, affecting poetry through the 17th century and well into the 18th.
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Portuguese literatureThe 17th century and the Baroque…the pervasiveness of Gongorism (gongorismo; see also culteranismo) in Portuguese poetry. This taste for the construction of literary enigmas, puzzles, labyrinths, and visual designs, all presented in an esoteric, Latinate style, led to cabalistic and occult exercises. Satire was used by those who wished to attack the dominant formalist…
Read More…the pervasiveness of Gongorism (gongorismo; see also culteranismo) in Portuguese poetry. This taste for the construction of literary enigmas, puzzles, labyrinths, and visual designs, all presented in an esoteric, Latinate style, led to cabalistic and occult exercises. Satire was used by those who wished to attack the dominant formalist…
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Spanish literatureCulteranismo and conceptismo…be known as Gongorism (gongorismo). The other stylistic movement, conceptismo, played on ideas as culteranismo did on language. Aiming at the semblance of profundity, conceptista style was concise, aphoristic, and epigrammatic and thus belonged primarily to prose, especially satire. Concerned with stripping appearances from reality, it had as its…
Read More…be known as Gongorism (gongorismo). The other stylistic movement, conceptismo, played on ideas as culteranismo did on language. Aiming at the semblance of profundity, conceptista style was concise, aphoristic, and epigrammatic and thus belonged primarily to prose, especially satire. Concerned with stripping appearances from reality, it had as its…
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