Classicism corresponds to a scientific, artistic and cultural movement that took place during the Renaissance period in Europe (from the 15th century onwards).
The name of the movement that marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age refers to classical Greco-Roman models. The term is used to describe the works of Ancient Greece and Rome or the works that were later inspired by them.
The cultural horizon of the Renaissance was Classical Antiquity. Ancient Greece is considered the birthplace of Western thought that directly influenced the culture of the Romans. The return to classical forms was the aesthetic purpose of the Renaissance. Classicism has its genesis in Italy, at the end of the thirteenth century, with the emergence of humanist thought.
Historical context
Classicism occurred in the 16th century and emerged in Italy along with the Renaissance movement. In Portuguese Literature, it begins with the arrival of the Portuguese writer Francisco Sá de Miranda to Portugal, in 1537. Sá de Miranda returned from Italy bringing with him new models, above all, the sonnets, which were introduced in Literature and became known as Dolce stil nuevo (Sweet new style). The sonnet is a fixed poetic form, formed by two quartets (four-line stanzas) and two tercets (three-line stanzas).
In the Middle Ages, a period that lasted ten centuries (V to XV), a time dominated by religion, whose motto was the dogmas and precepts of the Catholic Church. People who were against or questioned these dogmas were excommunicated, in addition to suffering jettisoning from society, or in the last case, death.
Humanism, which emerged from the 15th century in Europe, began to question various themes based on the scientism that emerged in Europe. Many scholars proposed new ways of analyzing the world and life, beyond the divine and anchored in anthropocentrism.
The West was leaving behind the social, political and philosophical order of the Middle Ages, marked by religion and the Church's control over the feudal system. This break was called the Renaissance, in the sense that classical Western culture was reborn. In the French Enlightenment, whose great symbol was the French Revolution of 1789, the monarchy of the aristocracy was deposed and the first republican government was founded.
The republic consecrated the universal rights of the human being under the slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity. The Enlightenment reflected the transfer of faith, as humanity's supreme value, to reason. In addition, it was crucial to oppose the Greco-Roman tradition to the Christian one.
While wealth in the Middle Ages was related to land ownership and tradition, the commercial exchanges that were established with mercantilism turned money into great source of power. The exchange with civilizations in Asia and Africa, especially with peoples of Arab origin, opened new horizons for Europeans, such as the development of mathematics and navigational instruments, such as the astrolabe. The geographic spaces, during the Great Navigations, were opened with the discovery of other routes by sea that led to the territories of the great American continent.
All this was possible thanks to the Renaissance. Dodging the Church's ideological censorship, thinkers and scientists developed new theories and inventions. Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the Universe, Galileo Galilei discovered the laws that govern the fall of bodies; Johann Gutenberg invented movable type to print books, a task previously delegated to copyist monks.
The Golden Age of the movement took place among the mid to late 18th century. Its first representatives wrote in Latin and later in their own European languages.
Classicism began to triumph at the end of the 16th century, and a clear example of this is the essay Poetics by the Frenchman Nicolás Boileau (1636-1711), whose title already reveals the links with Aristotle and his classic Poetics. The text defended a Literature that reached the emotions through the language of the intellect. This resulted in the predominance of Aristotelian forms in dramaturgy, of Alexandrian verse in poetry and in the recovery of some classical forms, such as the fable, the eclogue and the elegy.
The Aeginnings in ancient Greece and Rome
Classicism, both as a style of art and as the ancient Greeks defined an early theory of art, imitated by the Romans, and continued to appear in various forms over the centuries. Historically, the periods most associated with Classicism are the 5th and 4th centuries BC. In Greece with writers like Aristotle and Sophocles; the first century BC and the first century AD. in Rome with writers like Cicero and Virgil; in late seventeenth-century French drama; and in the 18th century, especially in France, during the Enlightenment, with writers such as Voltaire and Condorcet.
Classicism asserts the superiority of balance and rationality over impulse and emotion. It aspires to formal precision, declares order and avoids ambiguity, flights of the imagination or lack of resolution. It also ratifies the importance of totality and unity as the work of art is coherent without extraneous elements or open conclusions.
Both ancient Greek and ancient Roman writers emphasized restraint and narrow aim, reason reflected in theme and structure, and a unity of purpose and outline. In his Poetics, Aristotle emphasized the units of time, place, and action. Perhaps basing his theory of drama on Sophocles' plays, Aristotle asserted that the action of one place must take place within 24 hours, with all events occurring at one location, and each event causing the next event. Following these restrictions would produce a pleasantly cohesive drama. The ancients believed that art was a vehicle for communicating the reason and intelligence that permeate the world and human affairs when people act rationally and in accordance with moral precept.
Classicism in Literature
Literary Classicism began during the Enlightenment in Europe, a time that glorified reason and intellectualism. In the 16th century, there was the rediscovery of Aristotle's Poetics (4th century BC) by Giorgio Valla, Francesco Robortello, Ludovico Castelvetro and other Italian humanists. From the mid-1600s to the 1700s, authors expounded these concepts in the form of the epic poetry of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In particular, JC Scaliger's dogmatic interpretation of dramatic units in his Poetics (1561) profoundly affected the course of French drama.
In fact, 17th century French writers were the first to align themselves with classical standards as part of an organized literary movement. This appreciation of the ideals of antiquity began when classical translations became widely available during the Renaissance.
Literary Classicism then expanded from drama to poetry during the Enlightenment and to prose during the Augustan era of 18th century English Literature. From about 1700 to 1750, the movement gained popularity particularly in England. The Englishman Alexander Pope translated Homer's ancient works and later imitated this style in his own poetry.
Also called Renaissance Literature, Classicism consciously imitated the forms and themes of classical antiquity, especially its mythological tradition. In it, there was a loss of importance of the Christian religious imagery, whose theme focused on classical epic feats and on the representation of the feelings and concerns of Humanism.
The main assumption was that the ancient authors had already reached perfection. Therefore, the basic task of the modern author was to imitate them: the imitation of nature and the imitation of the ancients were the same thing.
Greek masters such as Aeschylus and Sophocles, for example, inspired dramatic works. These sought to embody the three Aristotelian units: a single plot, a single location, and a compressed time span. On the other hand, in addition to Aristotle's theory of poetry and its classification of genres, the principles of the Roman poet Horace dominated the classicist view of Literature.
The authors of literary Classicism followed their aesthetic principles and critical precepts from the Greco-Roman period. In particular, Aristotle’s Poetics, Horace’s Poetic Art and Longinus’ On the Sublime, reproducing Greco-Roman forms, guided them: epic, eclogue, elegy, ode, satire, tragedy and comedy.
The movement began to triumph at the end of the 16th century, and a clear example of this is the essay Poetic by the Frenchman Nicolás Boileau (1636-1711), whose title already reveals the links with Aristotle and his classic Poetics. The text defended a Literature that reached the emotions through the language of the intellect. This resulted in the predominance of Aristotelian forms in dramaturgy, of Alexandrian verse in poetry and in the recovery of some classical forms, such as the fable, the eclogue and the elegy.
During the 20th century, Classicism can be seen in the literary works and critical theory of TS Eliot, for example, and in the use of mythology in several works, one of which is Eugene O'Neill's 1931 trilogy Mourning Becomes Electra, which is based on Aeschylus' Oresteia.
Features of Classicism
The language of Classicism is classical, formal, objective, balanced and rational. The authors prioritized cultured language and aesthetic rigor. It was contemporary with Mannerism, and later with Baroque and Rococo, and remained the dominant trend throughout the 19th century. Its main features are:
֎ Appreciation of the ideals of antiquity and Greco-Roman mythology. Use of Literary Theory in Aristotle's Poetics. Compressed time. New interest in writing epics. Notion of the Greek ideal of beauty, also guided by proportion and balance of forms. Adoption of textual forms from Classical Antiquity, predominantly dramaturgy and the genres of tragedy and comedy, and poetry, in the lyrical and epic genres.
֎ Focuses on poetry and prose over the novel. Textual genres do not mix. Lyric poetry has its own method and characteristics that are not to be confused with those of epic poetry, or dramaturgy.
֎ Formal rigor. Each form used in the classic text must follow its own set of rules. Well-ordered structures. Accurate and believable content. Search for balance, proportion, objectivity and transparency. Mimetic work as a reflection of a nature that follows universal laws, the work as a harmonic concert. Decorum, that is, the style must be adapted to the theme.
֎ Restraint of subjectivity, of the impulses of interiority. What counts is the work, not what the author feels or thinks. He must disappear before the work. Valuing rationality in opposition to sentimentality and the universal to the detriment of the particular. Valuing common sense and clarity;
֎ Anthropocentrism, the centrality of human existence in relation to the Universe and what composes it;
֎ Humanism. Work as a carrier of truths and teachings that allow the human soul to be perfected;
֎ Universalism, rationalism and scientism.
Prose in Classicism
The concept of prose Literature is post-antiquity, so there is no explicit classicist tradition in fiction that corresponds to those of drama and poetry. However, since the first novels appeared at a time when classical Literature was highly appreciated, novelists have consciously adopted many of its characteristics.
These included Aristotle's insistence on moral courage, Greek playwrights' use of divine intervention, and epic poetry's focus on the hero's journey.
Classicism in Portugal
In Portugal, Classicism comprises the literary period of the 16th century (between 1537 and 1580). Although Classicism had insinuated itself in Italy in the mid-13th century, it was only in 1527, with Francisco Sá de Miranda, that the movement began in Portugal. Influenced by the dolce stil nuovo (sweet new style), which he had learned in Italy, Sá de Miranda introduces to Literature the genre of the decasyllable sonnet, which would become known as “new measure”, as opposed to the “old measure”, that of the rounds (five or seven metric syllables).
The theme of Neoplatonism was predominant in Portuguese Classicism, a philosophical school that resumed the love philosophy of Plato, treating love not from the point of view of sensuality, but through its philosophical and religious bias. In addition, the poets of the period especially valued the great national achievements, the achievements of the Portuguese people, subject of epic poetry. It can be understood, therefore, that Classicism in Portugal turned to two main themes: love and bravery.
Camões, the most important Portuguese-language poet
Luís Vaz de Camões (1524/1525-1580). The birthplace of Camões is uncertain: probably Lisbon, probably in 1524 or 1525, but the cities of Coimbra, Santarém and Alenquer also claim to be the place where the poet was born. Of noble origin, Camões had a solid education and was knowledgeable in history, geography and Literature. He started the Theology course at the University of Coimbra, which he abandoned for leading a life incompatible with religious precepts. Conqueror, Camões had many passions and his verses were very prestigious by the ladies of the court. He engaged in duels and made enmities, which led him to enlist and embark, as a soldier, to Ceuta, fighting the Moors and losing his right eye in combat.
Now at liberty, he embarked for India in 1554, and lived in Macau. He was saved from a shipwreck in 1556, taking with him the originals of his most famous work, the epic poem Os Lusíadas.
Camões is considered the most important poet in the Portuguese language and one of the greatest in universal Literature. His literary production is multiple and includes both erudite and popular forms, of troves, inspired by old medieval songs. Camões' work can be divided into two main axes: lyrical and epic poetry.
The Camonian lyric is composed mainly of love themes, heavily influenced by Neoplatonism, which coexists with sensual themes, usually establishing a contradiction. The antitheses of presence-absence, spiritual love-carnal love, life-death, and dream-reality are present in his poems, which makes him an anticipator of the Mannerist movement.
He composed in the so-called “old measure”, the rounds, linked to popular tradition, and in the “new measure”, the decasyllable poem, the preferred form for exposing complex themes and feelings.
Os Lusíadas - the mythical voyage of Vasco da Gama
Camões was well known for his work as a sonnetist, but his greatest work was Os Lusíadas (1572), an epic poem of a nationalist nature that exalts the period of the Great Portuguese Navigations. Inspired by Virgilio and Homer by form and theme, Camões also uses Greco-Roman mythology to weave the epic: Bacchus would have turned against the Portuguese, for owning the Indian territories, and Venus, for liking the Lusitanian people, would be in your favor. Thus, the real voyage of Vasco da Gama blends into this mythological narrative.
Written in 10 cantos with eight stanzas each, Os Lusíadas is a work of cultured and elevated language, according to the characteristic of epic poetry, and heroically sings of Portuguese kings and nobles from the conquest of new territories, also adding other glorious episodes of the history of Portugal. However, it was from Luís de Camões, one of the greatest Portuguese poets and world Literature, that Portuguese Literature gained notoriety.
Classicism in Portugal remained until 1580. This is the year of the death of Camões and of the Union of Iberian Crowns, an alliance established until 1640 between Spain and Portugal. In Brazil, this literary period became known as Quinhentismo (500).
Major European authors and their works
France
Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) - He was considered the father of French classical tragedy. His masterpiece, El Cid (1636) broke with the strict adherence to the three Aristotelian units. However, he developed a dramatic form according to the standards of classical tragedy and comedy. Among his extensive work are Melita (1630), Clitandro or The Persecuted Innocence (1631), The Widow (1632), The Palace Gallery (1633), The Next (1634), The Royal Square (1634) and Medea (1635).
Jean Racine (1639-1699). Playwright known for his 5-act play Andromache (1667) about the Trojan War and was successfully presented for the first time before the court of Louis XIV. Other dramatic works include works such as La Tebaida (1664), Alexander the Great (1665), Los Litigantes (1668), Británico (1669), Berenice (1670), Bayezid (1672) and Mithridates (1673).
Jean-Baptiste Molière (1622-1673). He was a renowned playwright, poet and actor. In his works Tartuffe (1664) and The Misanthrope (1666), he especially demonstrated his mastery of classical comedy. In addition, some titles of his extensive work are The Passionate Doctor (1658), The Precious Ridiculous (1659), The Husbands' School (1661), The Women's School (1662) and The Forced Marriage (1663).
Spain
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) with his most notable work Don Quixote (1605).
Portugal
Francisco de Sá de Miranda (Coimbra, 1481 – Amares, 1558). Forerunner of Portuguese Classicism, he was responsible for introducing the decasyllable verse in Portugal. He had some poetry published in the Cancioneiro geral (General songbook) (1516), an anthological compilation of humanist poetry. He also introduced, in Portuguese, the forms of the sextina song and productions in tercets and octaves, being responsible for the formation of Portuguese poets, having a great influence on the Literature that developed in the period. Moral, philosophical and political reflection were part of his themes, as well as love lyricism. He also wrote dramaturgical texts and letters in verse form.
Bernardim Ribeiro (1482-1552), with his novel Menina e Moça (Child and girl) (1554). António Ferreira (1528-1569), with his tragedy A Castro (1587).
In America, authors such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were influenced by Classicism. Works like Common Sense are good American examples.
Used and suggested links
Professor Noslen ֎ Vá ler um livro ֎ Litera
What is Classicism ֎ Classicism
Qué es Clasicismo ֎ Tiempo de leer
