Spanish Authors
Spanish Authors
- Miguel de Cervantes
- Benito Jerónimo Feyjóo
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
- Antonio Machado Ruiz
- Federico García Lorca
- José Ortega y Gasset
- Gonzalo de Berceo
- Juan Ruiz
- José María de Pereda
- Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
- Pío Baroja
- Anonymous writers
Some of the most important works of the Spanish literature have been published anonymously. In the following, you will get to know two famous writings whose authors remain unknown.
El Cantar de mío Cid
El cantar de mío Cid or Poema del Cid (The Song of the Cid), composed around 1200, is no doubt the greatest epic of medieval Spain. It is a chronicle of the life of a national hero, Rodrigo (or Ruy) Diáz de Vivar, soldier and commander under King Alfonso VI of Castile, who is said to have lived in the 11th Century. Having fought firstly against the Moors and later against the Christians, this chivalric knight also conquered the Kingdom of Valencia, which he ruled to the end of his days.
His heroic figure inspired this anonymous epic poem, which exalted honour, glory, courage, generosity and loyalty. His title, El Cid Campeador was derived partly from Moorish and Spanish origins, Cid meaning "Lord" in Arabic (al sayyid) and Campeador meaning "Champion" in Spanish.
El Lazarillo de Tormes
In 1554, in Alcalá de Henares and Amberes in Spain, someone anonymously wrote and published a novel about the adventures, trials and tribulations of a small orphan boy, whose name was Lazarillo de Tormes. This famous novel was the founding literary work of a genre in literature called the "picaresque novel". The word derives from the Spanish "picaro" meaning rascal or rougue, and the novel depicts amusing situations while exposing social injustices of the time. A typical well known novel of this same genre would be Mark Twain's Huckleberry Fin.
Due to its references to the Church, the book was quite controversial for a long time and subsequently banned by the Spanish crown. Later the book was allowed to circulate but with some of the more sensitive 4 th and 5 th chapters left out. Only in the nineteenth century did the full version reappear. The book is widespread today, and has been translated into many different languages, including German, Dutch, French, English and Italian, among many others.