Mysterious Realms: Functions of Imagery in Traditional Spanish Lyric and Balladry

Abstract

Mysterious Realms: Functions of Imagery in Traditional Spanish Lyric and Balladry. By Elizabeth Boretz. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, 1998. 178 pages. Mysterious Realms: Functions of Imagery in Traditional Spanish Lyric and Balladry examines confluence of lyric and narrative elements in twenty-two ballads from oral tradition. The main aim of book is to review ways in which scholars have defined lyric and narrative genres and to determine validity of these scholars' assumptions regarding similarities and differences among and between genres. The book's central concern is role of imagery, which it finds instrumental in discovering to what degree genres overlap. Imagery is characterized as relatively instantaneous visual, tactile and auditory impressions created through nouns and adjectives (77. These impressions are said not to vary from lyric to narrative, although their overall effect may sometimes differ. Thus, for example, figurative meanings of images in lyric as well as narrative such as and rosas, in phrases coger manzanas, coger olivas, and coger rosas are all said to convey loss of virginity in a woman, despite difference in color among them. The book concludes that lyricism is an essential quality in both lyric and narrative poetry of Spanish middle ages, and that it is lyricism, further refined as the tension between oppositions of a psychological, sentimental nature (70), that allows both bodies of works to continue to enchant and transcend confines of everyday reality (170). The book makes a number of important and provocative points. It is for instance, quite correct to insist on fallacy of marking off ballad from lyric in a formal way even though this view will surely bring distress to some university syllabi. It is also right to insist on lyricism of a tradition whose rich imagery has often been overlooked in favor of a focus on lexical economy. Moreover, conviction with which these views are projected is refreshing. There are also several elegant analyses- one that is particularly notable relating to symbolism of fruit and fruit trees in both poetic traditions. However, for a study guided from start to finish by theories of various scholars, book is curiously lacking in reference to relevant, contemporary publications. Indeed, there are only three citations of works published within last decade and all of these date from 1989. Much has been written since that time, and a proper accounting of these more recent studies would have benefited book's arguments and its conclusion. The last word on meaning and effect of verbal tense manipulation in ballad, for example, appears to be Joseph Szertics' 1967 study. Formulaic expression is tied to Ruth House Webber's 1951 study-a clearly seminal piece of scholarship, but one that has spawned many interesting reconsiderations. Paul Zumthor's 1983 work on oral poetry is termed recent. …