por What is the Spanish epic?
The spanish epic It is a poetic genre of a narrative nature that deals with telling events, events, deeds and lives of the heroes from a fictional point of view. The first epic poems of this type date from the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries.
While this epic is fictional, some do reflect a certain historical verisimilitude. In fact, there is a consensus among scholars that these epic stories have abundant historical content, although not always.
Over the years, the investigations carried out on this genre have revealed a greater fidelity to the historical reality of Spain, than what is found in French history in the epics of France, for example.
This has led to the fact that, not infrequently, greater attention is paid to the historical data contained in works of this type, than to their literary qualities. In the same way, it is noted that the use of the supernatural and factual exaggeration is avoided.
Context of the Spanish epic
Epic poetry appears in the heroic ages of the peoples, that historical moment in which a national identity is forged.
Being a society led by warriors who seek fame with their military prowess, this narrative arises to fuel the heroic spirit, exalt military victories and create an ideal role model.
Epic poems were often sung before a battle to boost morale and cheer up the combatants. A reminiscence of this tradition can be seen in the mottos that are usually recited in the barracks during physical training or before combat.
The plot that encloses revenge is a theme that appears in the Spanish epics. Likewise, the trip is the backdrop for the development of the plot.
Unlike the epic of other latitudes, the Spanish one addresses legal or ethical-political conflicts between social groups.
Another characteristic of this genre to highlight is that, generally, the works that compose it are written in verses that are distinguished by their polymetry, although the real eighth with consonant rhyme was frequently used.
It could be said that the Spanish epic found its model to follow in the Latin classics and the Italian authors became the obligatory reference.
To locate this narrative in a period of time, one would have to refer to the Middle Ages, from the 8th or 9th century to the 15th, with the expulsion of the Arabs and the Jews, the trips to America and the publication of the first Castilian grammarby Antonio de Nebrija.
That was the same time in which it is considered that the Spanish language was born, with the writing of the Sing of my Cidamong other poems, around 1200. Castilian was the language spoken in Castile.
Important oral features of the tradition, transmitted from generation to generation, underlie the epic texts. Epic poems were also called epic songs.
The people who dedicated themselves to recounting these feats to the public were called minstrels, and they used to refine the language used to facilitate the memorization of the verses and to «polish» the version of the story they recounted.
Some important and contemporary epic songs of the Sing of my Cid (because it belongs to the Spanish epic) are the sing of Rolandoin France, the Song of the Nibelungsin Germany, or the Sing of the hosts of Igorin Russia.
But, in comparison with other countries, in Spain the epic songs have survived in the old Ballads, and even in some towns one can hear couplets that come directly from the epic.
Other notable and common aspects of Spanish epic poems would be:
– Some of its lines are preserved by chronicles and ballads from the 13th to the 16th century.
– A group of poems refers to the events around the counts of Castile and another group about the feats of El Cid.
– There is no proven evidence that there are poems about events before the middle of the 10th century.
Characteristics of the Spanish epic
The most distinctive features of the medieval Spanish epic could be:
– Nationalism.
– Realism.
– Verisimilitude of facts and characters / historical character.
– Tradition.
– Religious sense.
– Versification.
– Humanization of the heroes.
– Vengeful and domineering female characters.
– Actions during a trip.
– Roots in oral tradition.
Examples of works of the Spanish epic
– He Sing of my Cid
– He Song of Roncesvalles
– The Rodrigo’s youth
– He Song of the seven infants of Lara
– He Song by Bernardo del Carpio
– He Song of Sancho II
– He Romance of the Infante Garcia
To understand a little better what the epic is about, it is convenient to describe two of his most representative works in broad strokes:
He Sing of my Cid
This epic poem narrates the exploits of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, and his efforts to regain the confidence of King Alfonso VI, who had banished him. It is a long poem whose theme revolves around the last years of El Cid.
It manifests the triumph of the nobility of soul against the nobility of blood, personified by the infantes of Carrión, founded on effort, merit and a certain optimism.
It is the first extensive poetic work of Spanish literature and the only one preserved almost in its entirety.
He Romance of the Infante Garcia
It is one of the most faithful poems to historical reality, even when it is subordinated to fiction in order to support a plot that encloses revenge at its center as the engine of forceful actions in history.
In response to that characteristic that alludes to the cult of monastic tombs, this poem speaks of the burial of the last count of Castile, García Sánchez, murdered in Oña, with an epitaph inscribed with the story of the murder, which occurred in 1028.
References
Deyermond, A. Medieval Spanish epic cycles: observations on their formation and development. Recovered from cervantesvirtual.com.
Pincerati, W. Castilian language or Spanish language: A production movement of the homogenizing effect. Retrieved from unicamp.br.
Yoshida, A. Epic. Literary genre. Recovered from britannica.com.