The Melancholy Void: Lyric and Masculinity in the Age of Gongora

In response to the rising prestige and commercial success of the epic, Spanish poets reinvented the lyric as a melancholy and masculinist discourse that sang of and perpetrated symbolic violence against the female beloved. Felipe Valencia's book "The Melancholy Void" examines this reconstruction in key texts from 1580 to 1620, addressing four understudied problems in the scholarship of early modern Spanish poetry. It argues that gender violence was used to construct the masculinity of the poetic speaker and explores the link between melancholy and male creativity.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 01 July 2021
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

At the dawn of the seventeenth century, a significant transformation occurred in Spanish lyric, giving rise to a melancholic and masculinist discourse that celebrated and perpetrated symbolic violence against the female beloved. This shift emerged in response to the escalating prominence and commercial success of the epic, fueled by the rich discourse on the connection between melancholy and creativity in men.

In his book, "The Melancholy Void: Gender Violence and the Reconstruction of the Lyric in Early Modern Spanish Poetry," Felipe Valencia delves into this reconstruction of the lyric in a selection of pivotal texts from 1580 to 1620. Through a comprehensive analysis of canonical and influential works, such as the major poems by Luis de Góngora and the epic of Alonso de Ercilla, as well as lesser-known texts by Miguel de Cervantes, "The Melancholy Void" addresses four understudied issues in the scholarship of early modern Spanish poetry. These include the use of gender violence in love poetry as a means to construct the masculinity of the poetic speaker, the exploration of the interplay between melancholy and male creativity in Spanish poetry, the impact of the epic on Spanish lyric, and the Spanish contribution to the emerging theory of the lyric.

By bringing poetry and lyric theory to the forefront, "The Melancholy Void" develops a novel argument about the essential role of gender violence in a prominent strand of early modern Spanish lyric that spanned from Garcilaso to Góngora and beyond. This book offers a fresh perspective on the complexities of early modern Spanish literature and its profound impact on the development of literary genres.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496221148