Showing papers in "Hispania in 1956"

"Raquel e Vidas" and the Cid

Abstract: Martin Antolinez enters Burgos in search of Raquel and Vidas; significantly, he finds them counting their profits: "Raquel e Vidas en uno estavan amos,/en cuenta de sus averes, de los que avien ganados." (100-101) The Cid's messenger greets Raquel and Vidas in his most friendly and beguiling manner. In secret he explains the purpose of his mission and promises them great wealth in return for their help. Raquel and Vidas deliberate and decide that they will profit financially by cooperating with the Cid. They ask about the terms. Martin Antolinez requests 600 marcos against the security of two chests "filled with gold." The moneylenders agree at once, but when Martin asks for the money then and there, they point out that one does not do business in that

A Comparison of the Sound Systems of English and Spanish

Abstract: I have been comparing foreign languages and English for nine years now and have benefited greatly in the preparation of tests and teaching materials in English, as you may know.* It is a very real pleasure to have this opportunity of comparing English and Spanish as an aid to the teaching of Spanish. Because of time and space considerations I will have to limit myself to some of the problems, leaving others for a longer paper that may appear later. The variety of Spanish treated is Castillian as described by TomAs Navarro TomBs in Manual de pronunciacidn espaiola.1 The variety of English assumed for the students is Standard Mid West American English. In cases of doubt I consulted Kenyon and Knott, A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English.2 My decision to use specific dialects is based on the fact that the student proceeds in that fashion; he goes from his own specific dialect to a specific dialect of the foreign language, usually that of his teacher or teachers. In addition, the comparison of specific dialects can be presented more neatly than a complex of dialects; and adaptations to other dialects are relatively simple if we have the data for them. We know now that not all the sound differences that are heard in a language are of equal importance in communication. The difference between [s] as in eso, casa, osa and [z] as in desde, mismo, isla is clearly audible to us, and we can describe it accurately, but this difference is never used in Spanish to distinguish any two words. Desde with [z] and desde with [s] are one and the same word in Spanish. In English, on the other hand, the very same difference between [s] and [z] is constantly used to distinguish words like zip and sip, eyes and ice, racing and raising. In English we call that difference phonemic. A phonemic difference is one that can operate as the only distinction between two words in a language. In Spanish, on the other hand, we will call that difference sub-phonemic because it cannot of itself distinguish any two words. Phonemic differences are more important in communication than subphonemic differences. We know now that a speaker of one language tends to transfer the entire system of his language to the foreign language; the speaker of English tends to transfer the system of English to Spanish. He tends to transfer his sound system, including the phonemes, the positional variants of the phonemes, and the restrictions on distribution. He tends to transfer his syllable patterns, his word patterns, and his intonation patterns, as well, Because the student transfers the habits of his English system to Spanish there will be a problem when the sound systems of English and Spanish differ. Sometimes the difference will be phonemic, with the result that the student may say a word he does not intend to say, or he may hear a word that was not spoken to him. Other times the difference will be sub-phonemic, so that the distortion results in a foreign effect but not in a different word. I assume as a matter of course that the

A Comparison of the Intonation Patterns of English and Spanish

Abstract: The analysis of intonation in Spanish has been handled in the past, on those relatively rare occasions when anything at all was said about it, in terms of contours.* These were only vaguely defined changes in pitch level, without a definite notion of what the pitches were, or exactly where the changes occurred. Indeed, the number of significantly different pitch levels was not even determined so that

Humor in the Autos of Calderon

Abstract: In the autos sacramentales before the time of Calder6n there is considerable humor of a rough and ready variety. For the most part it is generated by peasants who "horse around," making cheap jokes, usually about being hungry, and griping about their troubles. These humorous characters are pretty much of a piece, with little or no originality, and few, if any, distinctive characteristics. It is really surprising that Lope de Vega, who reveals a keen sense of humor in his comedias and in them creates genuinely funny characters, should manifest so little of this quality when he wrote autos. One of his comic characters in the autos is Apetito, "vestido de loco," who makes cracks, for example, in Las bodas entre el alma y el amor divino about vegetables and fish. In other autos La Gula similarly jokes about food. La Locura, in spite of his name, does not do, or say, very crazy things. Lope's most notable effort in the direction of humor is a la-

Baldomero Lillo and Modernism

Abstract: No history of Chilean literature could omit the name of Baldomero Lillo, a short story writer who without being prolific left literary works of the first magnitude. His importance cannot be denied. He was the first writer in Chile to show understanding in his short stories of the social problems of the coal miners and at the same time to fit his plot into the proper national background. "Lillo di6 al cuento una dimensi6n humana desconocida en Chile. Lo amas6 con los pingajos humanos, amontonados en una zona de la vida chilena, en la que nadie habia penetrado y a la que, por supuesto, no se habia asomado, ni una sola vez, la pupila compasiva de un escritor."' His stories dealing with the miners are not mere idealized descriptions of the romantic type, but human and realistic accounts of the miserable life of those obscure and forgotten men of his time. Yet, in these stories, in spite of their crudeness, one does not find bitterness or political propaganda, but understanding and hope for a better future. Lillo lived a sad life. He was born on January 6, 1867, in Lota, a southern port and the center of the coal mining region of Chile. At an early age he suffered from whooping-cough and later tuberculosis, which he fought until the end of his life. Because of his health, he was unable to play like other boys and during the winter he had to remain in bed. He used to read as an escape for his fertile mind. For the most part he lived in a world of his own, but when he grew up not even his imagination could keep him from reacting to the suffering of the workers with whom he associated when he was a clerk in one of the mines. In 1898 he went to Santiago where he obtained a clerical position at the University of Chile. While in the capital he attended the literary gatherings organized by his brother Samuel, a poet. On one occasion he read to the group one of his own short stories based on first hand information he had obtained while working at the mine. His realistic description of the miners' living and workg conditions offended some of the members, but several socially-conscious friends encouraged him to continue writing. In 1904, Sub-Terra, his first collection of short stories about the lives of the coal miners, was published. "En estos cuentos los obreros no luchan contra sus opresores, no toman en sus manos el problema de su propia liberaci6n, sino que se limita a describir la inhumana miseria y explotaci6n a la que estaban sometidos."2 The popularity of this book was immediate. In 1907, Sub-Sole, his second book, containing stories about the sea and life in the country, appeared. Among these stories are four: Irredencidn, El Oro, Las Nieves Eternas, and El Rapto del sol, which are also known as "cuentos imaginistas." In them Lillo, whose prose had been generally characterized as being colorless, for the first time showed the marked influence of the techniques of Modernism. In 1888 the publication of Rub6n Dario's Azul started a movement of reaction against the abuses of the romantic school and aimed at renovating the literary quality and techniques used, especially in poetry. This movement, known as Modernism, quickly expanded through all the Spanish-speaking countries. The most important innovations brought about by Modernism were the use of the sensations of smell, color,

Perspectivismo en un capitulo del Quijote

Abstract: Jean Cassou, entre otros,' ha subrayado la importancia del perspectivismo en el Quijote, como expresi6n de la ambigiledad, complicaci6n y multiplicaci6n de puntos de vista de la 6poca renacentista. El hombre de la 6poca empieza a aduefiarse del planeta, a escudrifiar los secretos de la naturaleza, a sentirse independiente del rigido orden medieval: "pero la raz6n es especifica, y la experiencia, limitada. Debido a un curioso movimiento de

Problems in the Comparison of the Morphemic Systems of English and Spanish

Abstract: The present paper attempts to indicate some of the problems involved in the comparison of the systematic analyses of two languages, in this case English and Spanish.* Before discussing the feasibility of such a comparison, it may be well to repeat some of the assumptions of structural linguistics, particularly as they apply to the problem of foreign-language teaching. It should be made clear that these as-

Two Poetic Techniques: Lorca's "Romance de la luna, luna" and Goethe's "Erlkonig"

Abstract: The year following Lorca's death, Vicente Aleixandre published a moving tribute to his friend and fellow poet in which he noted a certain limited affinity between Goethe's and Lorca's genius.' Mindful of that affinity to which Aleixandre made allusion, this writer will try in the pages that follow to explicate Lorca's "Romance de la luna, luna" by comparing it, to the extent that comparison seems instructive, with Goethe's "Erlkinig," a ballad of similar theme.2 The German poem will be discussed first, since it is the earlier work, but the Spanish poem will be analyzed in greater detail, because it is the less easily understood. Little need be said of the form of the "Erlk-nig," since the beauties of Goethe's composition are readily perceptible. The poem is made up of eight four-lined stanzas. Each line contains four stresses, and both the first and second and the third and fourth lines rhyme. The skillful use of language in the work is noteworthy. The alliteration in "Gar schdne spiele spiel' ich mit dir!" is characteristic of Goethe's artistry; the successive sibilants suggest admirably the Erlk6nig's whisperings. Another happy technical accomplishment in the poem is the introduction of elements of the first stanza in the last stanza; such a reminder that the father is still carrying the child in his arms gives structural form to the whole touching account of a tragedy that takes place in the course of a swift night ride. The factual basis of the "Erlk-nig" is extremely clear except for one matter: The poet never says whether the child is ill. Readers generally assume that the child's visions are attributable to delirium, but Goethe's silence on that subject is the source of a certain poetic ambiguity that gives the poem an air of mystery. In the analysis of the "Erlk-nig" that lies ahead, as in the later analysis of the "Romance de la luna, luna," comment will, as a matter of efficiency, be combined with a summary of the contents of the poem, but it is to be hoped that those who read these lines will have copies of both poems beside them, for any attempt to summarize true poetry is inevitably an act of violence. In the "Erlk-nig" a father is riding through a windy night tenderly carrying his child in his arms. The child soon hides his face in fear and states that he has seen the Erlk6nig, a goblin king inviting him to share a rich and marvelous life, but the father says that the spectre is only a bit of fog. The child next sees the Erlk*nig's daughters, who are ready to lull, dance, and sing him to sleep, but the father tells him that they are merely a clump of gray willows. Then the Erlkinig tells the child that he loves him and that if he refuses to come with him willingly, he will promptly spirit him away; immediately afterward the child cries out that the Erlkinig has seized him and done him harm. The frightened father rides swiftly on with his groaning child, but when he reaches his destination, the child is dead. In contrast with the rich beauty of the language used to describe the child's visions, the poem ends with a stark statement of the catastrophe in monosyllables: "Das Kind war tot."

La fecha de composicion del Poema de Mio Cid

Abstract: El problema de la fecha de composici6n del Poema de Mio Cid fu6 hasta principios de siglo t6pico favorito de medievalistas. Se presentaron opiniones diversas, las que fueron rebatidas por Ram6n Men6ndez Pidal en sus magistrales estudios. Qued6 desde entonces sentado el axioma de que el poema se debi6 de haber escrito hacia 1140 y de que es sin lugar a dudas la obra literaria mas antigua del idioma que se conserva. Sin embargo, las conclusiones de Men6ndez Pidal se basaban en ciertas premisas que han sido a su vez combatidas y las que ha abandonado el propio maestro mas tarde. Queda entonces por decidirse si la fecha dada entonces puede subsistir a pesar de la reinterpretaci6n de los dltimos afios que nos ha dado una nueva valoraci6n del poema. Junto con el problema de la fecha de composici6n se debieron tener en cuenta al menos dos puntos que han sido tema de debate y que estan hoy resueltos casi completamente. Y estos son el problema de la unidad de autor del Poema de Mio Cid y de su historicidad. Las dudas suscitadas en el siglo diecinueve acerca de la uniformidad de la obra fueron reanudadas mis tarde por E. C. Hills.' Como respuesta sefial6 Hermenegildo Corbat6 un m6todo posible de probar que el poema es todo la obra de un juglar.2 Si afiadimos a este estudio de la sinonimia en el poema los argumentos sobre la unidad tematica ofrecidos por Leo Spitzer3 y Gustavo Correa4 recientemente y ademas el estudio sobre los refinamientos artisticos del estilo de Dimaso Alonso5 y otros, nos parece fuera de duda que el poema ha sido escrito en su totalidad por el mismo autor. Al mismo tiempo se ha determinado ya que la pretendida historicidad del poema no es mas que de detalle, lo central es ficticio. El estudio de Spitzer sobre la historicidad del poema y la respuesta del maestro Pidal, aceptando casi en su totalidad las conclusiones de Spitzer, parecen ser ya definitivos.6 Falta afiadir quiza que la causa misma de la controversia es una cualidad de la tdcnica del poeta. Lo que se habia interpretado como historicidad y que llama Pidal el "verismo" del Cid es en realidad una inclinaci6n a la descripci6n por acumulaci6n de detalles, lo que llamariamos el "detallismo" del juglar, que no es mas que una caracteristica de la mente medieval, muy clara en la pintura, y que se puede estudiar en las obras de los hermanos Van Eyck. Como resultado de estas investigaciones, mayormente las de estructura y estilistica de Spitzer, Alonso y Correa, podemos acabar por afirmar que el poema es una obra de arte, mitica y ficticia, con una remota base hist6rica. El Cid Campeador del poema es un h6roe mitico, emblema del caballero ideal del medievo, y asimismo los personajes secundarios son a veces creaciones del juglar sin base hist6rica, a veces ampliaciones y trasformaciones artisticas de personajes hist6ricos. Tal es el caso de las hijas del Cid que cambian de nombre-dofia Maria y dofia Cristina se convierten en dofia Elvira y dofia Sol-y cuyas primeras bodas, ultrajes y segundas bodas forman el cuerpo ficticio del poema. De estos nuevos conceptos que resumimos ripidamente aqui se desprende inmediatamente la necesidad de un periodo largo de trasformaci6n e ideali-

Comentario a la poesia de Garcia Lorca "Romance de la luna luna"

Abstract: Siendo yo estudiante en una universidad americana, de cuyo nombre no quiero recordarme, of a uno de mis profesores hablar repetidas veces de la dificultad de interpretar la poesia de Garcfa Lorca. Por una atracci6n hacia lo dificil, me vi impulsada a estudiar algunos romances del poeta gitano. He aquf el comentario sobre "Romance de la Luna, Luna," que puede servir de estfmulo a los j6venes que se inician en el estudio de la literatura espafiola. La rima de este fino romance es la tfpica del romance Ifrico y popular, o sea de rima asonante y alterna: ab-ab en la primera estrofa; pero luego los versos primero y cuarto quedan libres. El ritmo de esta poesia es muy marcado y nos sugiere el compis de los golpes dados en la fragua, aunque aqu6llos no son duros y secos, sino que hay una serie de accidentes que suavizan el ambiente: "polis6n de nardos," "el aire conmovido," y sobre todo "los senos de la luna de duro estafio," en donde la idea de dureza es muy relativa. Ademis, el que est6 en la fragua es un nifio (tema infantil, tfpico del modernismo al estilo de Juan Ram6n Jim6nez), gitano, probablemente que no puede dar los golpes de un Vulcano. Es una bonita figura la de la venida de la luna a la fragua, que puede concebirse en el mundo de la subsconciencia s61o con el brillo de un rayo de luna sobre el yunque. Las emes y erres del principio de la poesia dan una musicalidad acariciadora de suefio y muerte. Recuerdo que Edgar Allan Poe con los mismos motivos de suefio y muerte usa tambi6n estas consonantes sobre todo en sus poemas "The Raven" y "Annabel Lee." El esqueleto del romance es simplemente la muerte de un gitanillo, que trabaja para los gitanos en la fragua, quienes al volver una noche de luna, se lo encuentran muerto sobre el yunque. Pero alrededor de este tema surge el mundo surrealista que ve brazos en la luna que se Ileva al nitio de la mano. Las repeticiones son un rasgo muy popular del romancero espafiol: "Luna, Luna," "El nifio la mira mira-el nifio la estA mirando," "Huye luna, luna, luna," "El aire la vela vela,--el aire la est6 velando." Parece que Garcfa Lorca quiere dar la idea de que el nifio estA enamorado de la luna, como ocurre en muchisimos cantares es-

The Meaning of Civilizacion and Barbarie in Dona Barbara

Abstract: "1D6 qud serviria acabar con el cacicazgo de dofia Barbara en el Arauca? Reapareceria mas alla bajo otro nombre."', Unfortunately cacicazgo is not the only phenomenon which pops up elsewhere under a different name. "Civilization," "civilized," "the civilizing force," and "barbarity," "savage," and "Nature" are also words whose meaning is at best elusive. In Doia Bdrbara R6mulo Gallegos portrays a struggle between civilizacion and barbarie. This paper represents an effort to reflect the words which he