lunes, 25 de junio de 2012

100+ More Reading Recommendations for Spanish Lit Month

Cantar de Mio Cid

OK, since a couple of you have expressed an interest in reading about some of the greatest hits in Spanish-language literature from a more historical perspective than the contemporary one I shared last week, here's one more list for you before my typing arm falls off.  Please note that all titles below are Triple Crown winners: unanimous selections culled from the grad reading lists at Brown, Penn, and Yale respectively (Harvard's list, another fun one, seems to have disappeared from the web since the last time I looked for it, but I think I have a hard copy of it somewhere in case anybody's interested in seeing who the Quadruple Crown winners are--just kidding).  This means that many prohibitive favorites didn't make the final cut because only two of the Spanish departments were willing to vouch for them as either required or recommended reading at this time.  Also note that I had to doctor the period categories in red to account for the differences in how each university treats elastic concepts like "Siglos de Oros" (plural, Brown), "modernidad temprana" ["early modern"] (Penn), "Renaissance and Golden Age" (Yale), etc., and that errors in the publication dates listed are quite likely since the further you go back in time, the more probable it is that you'll encounter discrepancies between the time of writing and the time of publication of a work.  Although I chose not to worry about that for now, one thing I might regret later is leaving off all the criticism works also recommended by the various programs--interesting stuff.  In any event, I hope this list will prove to be a good resource for anybody looking for a Spanish Lit Month read or just looking for some insight into what some of the "must-reads" are for current grad students in Spanish at the three universities in question.  Please let me know if you spot any mistakes I made or know of any translations I missed while transcribing the lists, and I'll update the post accordingly.  One last thing: Thanks to Tom of Wuthering Expectations for reminding me last week that Obooki of Obooki's Obloquy had put out a related post on the Spanish canon way back in January 2008--well worth a look and a full four years earlier than this one!

Medieval Spanish Literature
Anonymous.  Cantar de Mio Cid [The Song of the Cid: A Dual Language Edition with Parallel Text] (c. 1200).
_____.  Libro de Alexandre [Book of Alexander] (c. 1178-c. 1250).
Alfonso X.  Cantigas de Santa María [Songs of Holy Mary of Alfonso X, the Wise: A Translation of the Cantigas de Santa María] (c. 1250-c. 1284).
_____.  Estoria de España (c. 1272-c. 1284).
Berceo, Gonzalo de.  Milagros de Nuestra Señora [The Collected Works of Gonzalo de Berceo in English Translation] (c. 1260).
Manrique, Jorge.  "Coplas por la muerte de su padre" [See Edith Grossman's The Golden Age: Poems of the Spanish Renaissance] (c. 1476).
Manuel, Don Juan.  El Conde Lucanor [The Book of Count Lucanor and Patronio: A Translation of Don Juan Manuel's El conde Lucanor] (c. 1335).
Martínez de Toledo, Alfonso.  Arcipreste de Talavera o el Corbacho (1438).
Mena, Juan de.  Laberinto de Fortuna (1444).
Rojas, Fernando de.  La Celestina [Celestina] (1499).
Ruiz, Juan.  Libro de buen amor [The Book of Good Love] (c. 1343).
San Pedro, Diego de.  Cárcel de amor (1492).
Tob, Sem.  Proverbios morales (c. 1350).

Siglo de Oro
Anonymous.  Lazarillo de Tormes [The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes] (1554).
Alemán, Mateo. Guzmán de Alfarache [The Rogue: or, The Life of Guzman de Alfarache] (1599 & 1604).
Calderón de la Barca, Pedro.  La vida es sueño [Life's a Dream] (c. 1635).
_____.  El médico de su honra [The Physician of His Honour] (1637).
_____.  El alcalde de Zalamea [Eight Dramas of Calderón] (1651).
_____.  El gran teatro del mundo [Four Great Plays of the Golden Age] (1656).
Cervantes, Miguel de.  Don Quijote [Don Quixote] (1605 & 1615).
_____.  Novelas ejemplares [Exemplary Stories] (1613).
Encina, Juan del.  Representaciones o Teatro completo (c. 1492-c. 1534).
Gracián, Baltasar. Arte y agudeza de ingenio (1648).
_____.  El Criticón (1651-1657).
Herrera, Fernando de.  Poesías (c. 1555-c. 1595).
Juan de la Cruz, San.  Poesías (c. 1563-c. 1591).
León, Fray Luis de.  De los nombres de Cristo [The Names of Christ] (1583-1585).
_____.  Poesías completas (c. 1550-c. 1590).
Molina, Tirso de.  El burlador de Sevilla [The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest] (c. 1630).
Montemayor, Jorge de.  Los siete libros de la Diana [The Diana] (c. 1559).
Moreto, Agustín.  El desdén con el désden (c. 1650).
Quevedo, Francisco de.  La vida del Buscón [Two Spanish Picaresque Novels: Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler] (1626).
_____.  Los sueños [Dreams and Discourses] (1627).
Rodríguez de Montalvo, Garci.  Amadís de Gaula [Amadis of Gaul] (1508).
Rueda, Lope de.  Pasos (c. 1560).
Teresa de Jésus, Santa.  Libro de su vida [The Book of Her Life] (c. 1565).
Valdés, Juan de.  Diálogo de la lengua (1533).
Vega, Garcilaso de la.  Obra poética y textos en prosa or Poesías completas (c. 1520-c. 1536).
Vega, Lope de.  El arte nuevo de hacer comedias (1609).
_____.  Fuenteovejuna [Three Major Plays] (1619).
_____.  El caballero de Olmedo [Three Major Plays] (c. 1620).
_____.  La Dorotea [La Dorotea] (1632).
_____.  El castigo sin venganza [Three Major Plays] (1634).
Vicente, Gil.  Auto de la sibila Casandra [The Sibyl Cassandra: A Christmas Play with the Insanity and Sanctity of Five Centuries Past] (1503).

Modern Spanish Literature (18th, 19th & 20th Centuries)
Alas, Leopoldo ("Clarín").  La Regenta [La Regenta] (1884).
Baroja, Pío.  El árbol de la ciencia [The Tree of Knowledge] (1911).
Bécquer, Gustavo Adolfo.  Rimas [Collected Poems (Rimas)] (c.1858-c. 1870).
_____.  Leyendas [Legends and Letters] (1871).
Cadalso, José.  Noches lúgubres [Lugubrious Nights: An Eighteenth-Century Spanish Romance] (1789-1790).
Cela, Camilo José.  La familia de Pascual Duarte [The Family of Pascual Duarte] (1942).
_____.  La colmena [The Hive] (1951).
Espronceda, José de.  El estudiante de Salamanca [The Student of Salamanca] (1837-1840).
Feijoo, Benito Jerónimo.  "Amor de la patria y pasión nacional" & "El no sé qué" & "Voz del pueblo" (c.1750).
García Lorca, Federico.  Romancero gitano [Gypsy Ballads] (1928).
_____.  La casa de Bernarda Alba [The House of Bernarda Alba: A Drama of Women in the Villages of Spain] (1936).
Goytisolo, Juan.  La reivindicaión del conde Don Julián [Count Julian] (1970).
Guillén, Jorge.  Cántico (1928-1950).
Martin-Santos, Luis.  Tiempo de silencio [Time of Silence] (1962).
Ortega y Gasset, José.  La deshumanización del arte [The Dehumanization of Art and Other Essays on Art, Culture, and Literature] (1925).
Pérez Galdós, Benito.  La desheredada [The Disinherited] (1881).
_____.  Fortunata y Jacinta [Fortunata and Jacinta] (1887).
Rivas, Ángel de Saavedra, duque de.  Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino [Don Álvaro, or, The Force of Fate: A Play by Ángel de  Saavedra, Duke of Rivas] (1835).
Sánchez Ferlosio, R.  El jarama [The River] (1955).
Sender, Ramón.  Réquiem por un campesino español [Requiem for a Spanish Peasant] (1960).
Torres Villarroel, Diego de.  Vida [The Remarkable Life of Don Diego: Being the Autobiography of Diego de Torres Villarroel] (1743).
Unamuno, Miguel de.  Del sentimiento trágico de la vida [The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and Nations] (1912).
_____.  Niebla [Mist] (1914).
_____.  San Manuel Bueno, mártir (1930).
Zorilla, Jose de.  Don Juan Tenorio [A Translation of José Zorrilla's Don Juan Tenorio] (1844).

Colonial Latin American Literature
Balbuena, Bernardo de.  La grandeza mexicana (1604).
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez.  Naufragios [Chronicle of the Narváez Expedition] (1542 & 1555).
Carrió de la Vandera, Alonso.  El Lazarillo de ciegos caminantes (c. 1775).
Casas, Bartolomé de las.  Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias [A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies] (1552).
Cortés, Hernán.  Cartas de relación [Letters from Mexico] (1519-1526).
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal.  Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España [The Conquest of New Spain] (1551-1584).
Ercilla y Zúñiga, Alonso de.  La Araucana [The Araucaniad] (1569-1589).
Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca.  Comentarios reales de los Incas [Royal Commentaries of the Incas] (c. 1617).
Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe.  El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno [The First New Chronicle and Good Government: On the History of the World and the Incas Up to 1615] (c. 1615).
Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor.  Obras completas (c. 1671-c. 1691).
_____.  "Respuesta de la poetisa a la muy ilustre Sor Filotea de la Cruz" (1691).
Pané, Fray Ramón.  Relación acerca de las antigüedades de los indios [An Account of the Antiquities of the Indians: Chronicles of the New World Encounter] (c. 1498).
Sigüenza y Góngora, Carlos de.  Infortunios de Alonso Ramírez [The Misadventures of Alonso Ramírez] (1690).

Modern Latin American Literature (18th, 19th & 20th Centuries)
Arguedas, José María.  Los ríos profundos [Deep Rivers] (1958).
Azuela, Mariano.  Los de abajo [The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution] (1915).
Bello, Andrés.  "Oda a la agricultura de la zona tórrida" (1826).
Bolívar, Simón.  "Carta de Jamaica" ["Reply of a South American to a Gentleman of This Island"] (1815).
Borges, Jorge Luis.  Ficciones [Collected Fictions] (1944).
_____.  El aleph [Collected Fictions] (1949).
_____.  Otras inquisiciones [Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952] (1952).
Cabrera Infante, Guillermo.  Tres tristes tigres [Three Trapped Tigers] (1967).
Carpentier, Alejo.  El reino de este mundo [The Kingdom of This World] (1949).
Cortázar, Julio.  Rayuela [Hopscotch] (1963).
Darío, Rúben.  Cantos de vida y esperanza [Songs of Life and Hope] (1905).
Donoso, José.  El obsceno pájaro de la noche [The Obscene Bird of Night] (1970).
Echeverría, Esteban.  "El matadero" [See Roberto González Echevarría's The Oxford Book of Latin American Short Stories] (1839).
Fuentes, Carlos.  La muerte de Artemio Cruz [The Death of Artemio Cruz] (1962).
Gallegos, Rómulo.  Doña Bárbara [Doña Barbara] (1929).
García Márquez, Gabriel.  Cien años de la soledad [One Hundred Years of Solitude] (1967).
Gómez de Avellaneda, Gertrudis.  Sab (1841).
Guillén, Nicolás.  Motivos del son (1930) or El son entero (1947).
Heredia, José María.  Poesías (c. 1832) or Poesías completas (c. 1839).
Hernández, José.  Martín Fierro [The Gaucho Martín Fierro] (1872-1879).
Isaacs, Jorge.  María [María, a South American Romance] (c. 1867).
Lezama Lima, José.  La expresión americana y otros ensayos (1969).
Mariátegui, José Carlos.  Siete ensayos de interpretación de la realidad peruana [Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality] (1928).
Neruda, Pablo.  Residencia en la tierra [Residence on Earth] (1933-1947).
Parra, Nicanor.  Poemas y antipoemas [Poems & Antipoems] (1954).
Parra, Teresa de la.  Memorias de Mamá Blanca [Mama Blanca's Memoirs] (1929).
Paz, Octavio.  El laberinto de la soledad [The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings] (1950).
Picón Salas, Mariano.  De la conquista a la independencia [A Cultural History of Spanish America: From Conquest to Independence] (1944).
Rodó, José Enrique.  Ariel (1900).
Rulfo, Juan.  El llano en llamas [The Burning Plain and Other Stories] (1953).
_____.  Pedro Páramo [Pedro Páramo] (1955).
Sánchez, Luis Rafael.  La guaracha del Macho Camacho [Macho Camacho's Beat] (1976).
Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino.  Facundo [Facundo: or, Civilization and Barbarism] (1845).
Usigli, Rodolfo.  El gesticulador [The Impostor: A Play for Demagogues] (1938).

10 comentarios:

  1. Thanks, Richard for all the work. Now this one contains quite a lot of plays, if I'm not msitaken.
    I've already downloaded El burlador de Sevilla (bilingual to be on the safe side) as I have never read anything in Spanish that dated this far back. The beginning was quite accessible.

    ResponderBorrar
    Respuestas
    1. You're very welcome, Caroline! Yes, lots of plays, esp. in the Siglo de Oro section. I myself bought that Burlador de Sevilla play over the weekend, but I'm not sure if I'll get to it in July because I'm thinking of doing some kind of a medieval poetry project during the month instead. I'm very tempted, though, and hope the period Spanish continues to be accessible for you.

      Borrar
  2. Fascinating for ten different reasons. A glance, for example, reveals that becoming a Colonial Latin American specialist is una olla muy diferente than doing the Siglo de Oro.

    The title alone of that Gil Vicente play is a masterpiece.

    If anyone is interested in Manrique's "Coplas" in English, also a masterpiece, as good as Grossman's version is the Longfellow translation is even better - a better poem, yet quite accurate. Grossman's book is admittedly much easier to find and much better than "good enough." But Longfellow's translation may be the best thing he ever wrote.

    ResponderBorrar
    Respuestas
    1. One of the many interesting things about the Lat Am/Siglo de Oro divide for me is thinking about how many Spaniards and "ex-Spaniards" wrote so many of the Lat Am colonial classics and how many "Mexicans" contributed to the Siglo de Oro era poetry movements' final period of greatness--OK, only one really, Sor Juana, but what a writer to symbolize that moment when Lat Am lit could compete on an equal footing with peninsular Spanish lit. And that Gil Vicente translation title is a crack-up, isn't it? Thanks for the reminder about the Longfellow translation of Manrique, by the way--I remember you having raved about it before, but I tend to forget these things all too easily. I was rereading the Manrique in Spanish over the weekend: what a fabulous poem/poet. I should try writing about it next month.

      Borrar
  3. Now we've got enough ideas for a Spanish Literature Decade!

    ResponderBorrar
    Respuestas
    1. OK, you're all signed up then, Séamus. I'll let everybody else know that, thanks to you, participation in the longer event is now mandatory!

      Borrar
  4. Thank you so much, Richard! I've dug through Medieval & Siglo de Oro lists, but haven't been sure where to start with 18th & 19th century lit. (It never occurred to me to find university lists online...) I will definitely be looking through this more closely.

    ResponderBorrar
    Respuestas
    1. You're quite welcome, Amanda, and once again I'm happy to hear that this list might be of use to you! I should add that while I look at these kinds of lists fairly often (for Catalan, French and Italian reading ideas as well), I was surprised by the number of consensus choices I had never even remembered reading about. So many apparent "must-reads" out there no matter which criteria you use to find them!

      Borrar
  5. Great selection co host ,I would highly recommend three trapped tigers a Wonderful book you can feel the jazz and cuban way of life slip of the page ,all the best stu

    ResponderBorrar
    Respuestas
    1. Stu, glad to be reminded of your fondness for that book. Sounds great! Finally decided on most of my first week's reading choices--just in time now that it's less than a day away, eh? Cheers, mate!

      Borrar