The Architecture of the Margins

This work examines the contradictions in Góngora s
representation of the bucolic landscape in the
Baroque masterpiece of the Soledades. The analysis
focuses on a fundamental disjunction noted frequently
by Gongorine scholars between the form of the poem
and its purported theme. Many critics have
questioned the incongruity between the poem s
elaborate language its recurrent metaphors based on
architectural configurations characteristic of the
highly artificial Baroque court and city and the
underlying theme of the simple life of the pastoral
world. This book argues that the apparent
contradiction between form and content that divides
the poem is in fact an essential process in Góngora s
creation of an original and dynamic style. Although
Góngora s style subverts the traditional Renaissance
pastoral (Alabanza de aldea / menosprecio de corte),
it creates a paradoxical pastoral that should be
understood as a powerful manifestation of the
complexities of Baroque literary art.

Autorentext
Maria Robertson-Justiniano has a PhD from Princeton University in Spanish Golden Age Literature. She also holds a Masters from the University of Western Ontario in Spanish Golden Age Literature and a Masters from Princeton University in Spanish Golden Age Literature. She presently works as a part-time Lecturer at the University of Chicago.

Klappentext
This work examines the contradictions in Góngora's representation of the bucolic landscape in the Baroque masterpiece of the Soledades. The analysis focuses on a fundamental disjunction noted frequently by Gongorine scholars between the form of the poem and its purported theme. Many critics have questioned the incongruity between the poem's elaborate language-its recurrent metaphors based on architectural configurations characteristic of the highly artificial Baroque court and city-and the underlying theme of the simple life of the pastoral world. This book argues that the apparent contradiction between form and content that divides the poem is in fact an essential process in Góngora's creation of an original and dynamic style. Although Góngora's style subverts the traditional Renaissance pastoral (Alabanza de aldea / menosprecio de corte), it creates a paradoxical pastoral that should be understood as a powerful manifestation of the complexities of Baroque literary art.