This course samples the rich tradition of Spanish-language verse from its beginnings to the 20th century. It is structured by three principal dialogues: the creative reception of Classical poets (Saint John of the Cross, Góngora, Quevedo, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others); by leading 20th-century poets from Spain and Latin America (Pablo Neruda, García Lorca, Jorge Guillén, Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, and Lezama Lima, among others); the interplay of poetry and essayistic reflection on poems, poets, and poetry by many of those same writers; and the crossing of linguistic, ethnic, religious, and gender boundaries that has been a hallmark of Spanish-language verse from its beginnings as love lyrics embedded in Hebrew and Arabic poems (JARCHAS) to 20th-century Latin American poets open to diverse Amerindian and African influences and contemporary Hispanic-American poets exploring bilingualism. We will read examples from epic, lyric, and burlesque verse on a wide variety of themes; reflect on how poetry can best be enjoyed and understood; and consider how poetry has been produced, heard, read, and used in its original contexts (oral performance by medieval minstrels and popular transmission of ballads, courtly patronage, Renaissance literary academies and manuscript circulation, private reading of printed texts and commodification, 20th-century singer-songwriter musical settings, and politics). Although no prior expertise in poetry is expected, a willingness to engage it closely (textually and historically) is essential. |