21DEC2014
Culturally, Spain is a Western
country. Because of the great strength of the Roman heritage in almost every
aspect of Spanish life, Spain is often described as a Latin country.
Nevertheless, there have been many influences on many aspects of Spanish life, from
art and architecture to cuisine and music, from many countries across Europe
and from around the Mediterranean, through its long history.
LITERATURE
The earliest recorded examples of
vernacular Romance-based literature date from the same time and location, the
rich mix of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures in Muslim Spain, in which
Maimonides, Averroes, and others worked, the Kharjas (Jarchas).
During the Reconquista, the epic
poem Cantar de Mio Cid was written about a real man—his battles, conquests, and
daily life.
Bronze statues of Don Quixote and
Sancho Panza, with Miguel de Cervantes, in the Plaza de España in Madrid.
Other major plays from the
medieval times were Mester de Juglaría, Mester de Clerecía, Coplas por la
muerte de su padre or El Libro de buen amor (The Book of Good Love).
During the Renaissance the major
plays are La Celestina and El Lazarillo de Tormes, while many religious
literature was created with poets as Luis de León, San Juan de la Cruz, Santa
Teresa de Jesús, etc.
The Baroque is the most important
period for Spanish culture. We are in the times of the Spanish Empire. The
famous Don Quijote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes was written in this
time. Other writers from the period are: Francisco de Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Calderón
de la Barca or Tirso de Molina.
During the Enlightenment we find
names such as Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Benito Jerónimo Feijóo, Gaspar
Melchor de Jovellanos or Leandro Fernández de Moratín.
During the Romanticism, José
Zorrilla created one of the most emblematic figures in European literature in
Don Juan Tenorio. Other writers from this period are Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer,
José de Espronceda, Rosalía de Castro or Mariano José de Larra.
In Realism we find names such as
Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Leopoldo Alas (Clarín) or Vicente
Blasco Ibáñez and Menéndez Pelayo. Realism offered depictions of contemporary
life and society ‘as they were’. In the spirit of general “Realism”, Realist
authors opted for depictions of everyday and banal activities and experiences,
instead of romanticized or stylized presentations.
The group that has become known
as the Generation of 1898 was marked by the destruction of Spain’s fleet in
Cuba by US gunboats in 1898, which provoked a cultural crisis in Spain. The
“Disaster” of 1898 led established writers to seek practical political,
economic, and social solutions in essays grouped under the literary heading of
Regeneracionismo. For a group of younger writers, among them Miguel de Unamuno,
Pío Baroja, and José Martínez Ruiz (Azorín), the Disaster and its cultural
repercussions inspired a deeper, more radical literary shift that affected both
form and content. These writers, along with Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Antonio
Machado, Ramiro de Maeztu, and Ángel Ganivet, came to be known as the
‘Generation of 98.’
Miguel de Unamuno, José Ortega y
Gasset and Federico García Lorca
The Generation of 1914 or
Novecentismo. The next supposed “generation” of Spanish writers following those
of ’98 already calls into question the value of such terminology. By the year
1914—the year of the outbreak of the First World War and of the publication of
the first major work of the generation’s leading voice, José Ortega y Gasset—a
number of slightly younger writers had established their own place within the
Spanish cultural field.
Leading voices include the poet
Juan Ramón Jiménez, the academics and essayists Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Gregorio
Marañón, Manuel Azaña, Maria Zambrano, Eugeni d’Ors, and Ortega y Gasset, and
the novelists Gabriel Miró, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna.
While still driven by the national and existential questions that obsessed the
writers of ´98, they approached these topics with a greater sense of distance
and objectivity. Salvador de Madariaga, another prominent intellectual and
writer, was one of the founders of the College of Europe and the composer of the
constitutive manifest of the Liberal International.
The Generation of 1927, where
poets Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre,
Dámaso Alonso. All were scholars of their national literary heritage, again
evidence of the impact of the calls of regeneracionistas and the Generation of
1898 for Spanish intelligence to turn at least partially inwards.
The two main writers in the
second half of the 20th century were the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate
Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes. Spain is one of the countries with the
most number of laureates with the Nobel Prize in Literature, and with Latin
American laureates they made the Spanish language literature one of the most
laureates of all. The Spanish writers are: José Echegaray, Jacinto Benavente,
Juan Ramón Jiménez, Vicente Aleixandre and Camilo José Cela. The Portuguese
writer José Saramago, also awarded with the prize, lived for many years in
Spain and spoke both Portuguese and Spanish. He was also well known by his Iberist
ideas.
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ART
Artists from Spain have been
highly influential in the development of various European artistic movements.
Due to historical, geographical and generational diversity, Spanish art has
known a great number of influences. The Moorish heritage in Spain, especially
in Andalusia, is still evident today and European influences include Italy,
Germany and France, especially during the Baroque and Neoclassical periods.
During the Golden Age we find
painters such as El Greco, José de Ribera and Francisco Zurbarán. Also inside
Baroque period Diego Velázquez created some of the most famous Spanish
portraits, like Las Meninas or Las Hilanderas.
Francisco Goya painted during a
historical period that includes the Spanish Independence War, the fights
between liberals and absolutists, and the raise of state-nations.
Joaquín Sorolla is a well-known impressionist
painter and there are many important Spanish painters belonging to the
modernism art movement, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Juan Gris and
Joan Miró.
CUISINE
Spanish cuisine consists of a
great variety of dishes which stem from differences in geography, culture and
climate. It is heavily influenced by seafood available from the waters that
surround the country, and reflects the country’s deep Mediterranean roots.
Spain’s extensive history with many cultural influences has led to a unique
cuisine. In particular, three main divisions are easily identified:
Mediterranean Spain – all such
coastal regions, from Catalonia to Andalusia: heavy use of seafood, such as
pescaíto frito; several cold soups like gazpacho; and many rice-based dishes
like paella from Valencia[181] and arròs negre (arroz negro) from Catalonia.
Inner Spain – Castile – hot,
thick soups such as the bread and garlic-based Castilian soup, along with
substantious stews such as cocido madrileño. Food is traditionally conserved by
salting, like Spanish ham, or immersed in olive oil, like Manchego cheese.
Atlantic Spain – the whole
Northern coast, including Asturian, Basque, Cantabrian and Galician cuisine:
vegetable and fish-based stews like caldo galego and marmitako. Also, the
lightly cured lacón ham. The best known cuisine of the northern countries often
rely on ocean seafood, like the Basque-style cod, albacore or anchovy or the
Galician octopus-based polbo á feira and shellfish dishes.
MUSIC AND DANCE
Spanish music is often considered
abroad to be synonymous with flamenco, a West Andalusian musical genre, which,
contrary to popular belief, is not widespread outside that region. Various
regional styles of folk music abound in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, Castile, the
Basque Country, Galicia and Asturias. Pop, rock, hip hop and heavy metal are
also popular.
In the field of classical music,
Spain has produced a number of noted composers such as Isaac Albéniz, Manuel
de Falla and Enrique Granados and
singers and performers such as Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat
Caballé, Alicia de Larrocha, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Casals, Ricardo Viñes, José
Iturbi, Pablo de Sarasate, Jordi Savall and Teresa Berganza. In Spain there are
over forty professional orchestras, including the Orquestra Simfònica de
Barcelona, Orquesta Nacional de España and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid.
Major opera houses include the Teatro Real,the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro
Arriaga and the El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
Thousands of music fans also
travel to Spain each year for internationally recognized summer music festivals
Sónar which often features the top up and coming pop and techno acts, and
Benicàssim which tends to feature alternative rock and dance acts. Both
festivals mark Spain as an international music presence and reflect the tastes
of young people in the country.
The most popular traditional
musical instrument, the guitar, originated in Spain.[180] Typical of the north
are the traditional bag pipers or gaiteros, mainly in Asturias and Galicia.
SPORT
While varieties of football had
been played in Spain as far back as Roman times, sport in Spain has been
dominated by English style association football since the early 20th century.
Real Madrid C.F. and FC Barcelona are two of the most successful football clubs
in the world. The country’s national football team won the UEFA European
Football Championship in 1964, 2008 and 2012 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010,
and is the first team to ever win three back-to-back international tournaments.
Basketball, tennis, cycling, handball, futsal, motorcycling and, lately, Formula One are also important due to the presence of Spanish champions in all these disciplines. Today, Spain is a major world sports powerhouse, especially since the 1992 Summer Olympics that were hosted in Barcelona, which stimulated a great deal of interest in sports in the country. The tourism industry has led to an improvement in sports infrastructure, especially for water sports, golf and skiing.
Rafael Nadal is the leading Spanish tennis player
and has won several Grand Slam titles including the Wimbledon 2010 men’s
singles. In north Spain, the game of pelota is very popular. Alberto Contador
is the leading Spanish cyclist and has won several Grand Tour titles including
two Tour de France titles.
