Miracles of Our Lady

Miracles of Our Lady
Author: Gonzalo de Berceo
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0813181542

Miracle tales, in which people are rewarded for piety or punished for sin through the intervention of the Virgin Mary, were a popular literary form all through the Middle Ages. Milagros de Nuestra Sehora, a collection of such stories by the Spanish secular priest Gonzalo de Berceo, is a premier example of this genre; it is also regarded as one of the four most important texts of medieval Spain. Difficulties in translating this work have made it unavailable in English except in fragments; now Spanish-language scholars Richard Terry Mount and Annette Grant Cash have made the entire work accessible to English readers for the first time. Berceo's miracle tales use the verse form cuaderna via (fourfold way) of fully rhymed quatrains—which Berceo may even have invented—and are told in the language of the common man. They were written to be read aloud, most likely to an audience of pilgrims, and are an outstanding example of oral religious narrative. The total work comprises twenty-five miracles, preceded by a renowned Introduction that celebrates the Virgin in rich symbolic allegory. Mount and Cash's translation is highly readable, yet it retains the original meaning and captures Berceo's colloquial style and medieval nuances. An introduction placing the miracles in their medieval context and a bibliography complement the text.

The Evangelical Rhetoric of Ramon Llull

The Evangelical Rhetoric of Ramon Llull
Author: Mark D. Johnston
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 1996-02-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0195358201

Ramon Llull (1232-1316), born on Majorca, was one of the most remarkable lay intellectuals of the thirteenth century. He devoted much of his life to promoting missions among unbelievers, the reform of Western Christian society, and personal spiritual perfection. He wrote over 200 philosophical and theological works in Catalan, Latin, and Arabic. Many of these expound on his "Great Universal Art of Finding Truth," an idiosyncratic dialectical system that he thought capable of proving Catholic beliefs to non-believers. This study offers the first full-length analysis of his theories about rhetoric and preaching, which were central to his evangelizing activities. It explains how Llull attempted to synthesize commonplace advice about courtly speech and techniques of popular sermons into a single program for secular and sacred eloquence that would necessarily promote love of God and neighbor. Llull's work is a remarkable testimony to the diffusion of clerical culture among educated lay-people of his era, and to their enthusiasm for applying that knowledge in pursuit of learning and piety. This book should find a place on the shelf of every scholar of medieval history, religion, and rhetoric.

Dictionary of Mexican Literature

Dictionary of Mexican Literature
Author: Eladio Cortes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 815
Release: 1992-11-24
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0313368996

This volume features approximately 600 entries that represent the major writers, literary schools, and cultural movements in the history of Mexican literature. A collaborative effort by American, Mexican, and Hispanic scholars, the text contains bibliographical, biographical, and critical material--placing each work cited within its cultural and historical framework. Intended to enrich the English-speaking public's appreciation of the rich diversity of Mexican literature, works are selected on the basis of their contribution toward an understanding of this unique artistry. The dictionary contains entries keyed by author and works, the length of each entry determined by the relative significance of the writer or movement being discussed. Each biographical entry identifies the author's literary contribution by including facts about his or her life and works, a chronological list of works, a supplementary bibliography, and, when appropriate, critical notes. Authors are listed alphabetically and cross-referenced both within the text and the index to facilitate easy access to information. Selected bibliographical entries are also listed alphabetically by author and include both the original title and English translation, publisher, date and place of publication, and number of pages.

Creative Cognition and the Cultural Panorama of Twentieth-Century Spain

Creative Cognition and the Cultural Panorama of Twentieth-Century Spain
Author: C. Gala
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2015-05-20
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1137499869

This multidisciplinary study focuses on the creative state as the nucleus of the work of numerous poets, artists, and philosophers from twentieth-century Spain. Beginning with cognitive science, Gala explores the mental processes and structures that underline creative thinking, for poets like José María Hinojosa, Clara Janés, and Jorge Guillén.

Emperor of Culture

Emperor of Culture
Author: Robert I. Burns, S.J.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2015-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1512800953

Alfonso X of Castile (1252-1284) was a true philosopher-king, a medieval monarch whose contributions to science, music, historiography, poetry, fiction, and art have had lasting influence. His grand vision was to bring Castile into the mainstream of high civilization and to create a united artistic and religious people. To that end, he established Castilian as a proper language (it is now the fourth most spoken in the world) and wrote one of the most extensive and influential law codes in western history. After centuries of attention to the northern European countries, scholars increasingly are turning to Hispanic countries in general and to Alfonso's vast influence in particular. The contributors to this volume are all Alfonsine experts who offer the broadest and most comprehensive survey of the ruler's cultural influence. Their topics include Alfonso's role in the founding of Castilian, his patronage of art and theatre, his scientific projects, his rhetoric and chancery, his link to Dante, his achievements as historian and troubadour, and his contribution as the greatest lawgiver of his time. Emperor of Culture fills a gap in English language studies of Alfonso's vast influence. It will be valuable to all students and scholars of medieval Spain.

Desire Against the Law

Desire Against the Law
Author: James F. Burke
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1998
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780804729369

The churches and manuscripts of medieval Europe incessantly juxtapose imagery depicting sacred themes with likenesses of the crudest and basest nature. Drawing on the contrast between Bakhtin's concepts of the carnivalesque and the domain of the law, this book examines such opposites in six major works of pre-1350 Spanish literature.

Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Related Subjects

Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Related Subjects
Author: James A. Parr
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2004
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9781575910840

This is a study of major figures, texts, and periods in Spanish literature prior to 1700. It applies - and interrogates - modern critical theory. Contributing to its cohesiveness are the time span addressed (1330-1630) and the emphasis throughout on literary tradition and critical approaches. It is inspired partly by Ramiro de Maeztu's 1926 monograph, Don Quixote, Don Juan y la Celestina, devoted to the three characters Maeztu felt to be the most important in the Spanish literary canon. include Celestina. The volume is divided into three parts. The first of these deals with Don Quixote, the second centers around the Don Juan figure created by Tirso de Molina, while the third ventures farther back in time to treat the major texts of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, along with the problematic period concepts Renaissance and Baroque. James A. Parr is Professor of Spanish at the University of California, Riverside.

Medieval Rhetoric

Medieval Rhetoric
Author: James Jerome Murphy
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1989-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780802066596

The history of medieval rhetoric can be understood only as part of medieval efforts to understand the manifold uses of language.