Nuevas y viejas reflexiones literarias en el ‘Discurso sobre la Poesía Castellana’ (1575) de Gonzalo Argote de Molina

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 1575, Gonzalo Argote de Molina published in Seville an edition of El conde Lucanor in which he includes as a colophon an interesting reflection on contemporary Castilian poetics, entitled ‘Discurso sobre la Poesía Castellana’. This short poetic treatise acquires a certain value by virtue of its publication precisely at the stage of Spanish poetics when the clash between the new Petrarchan literary trends and the old Castilian tradition was turning in favour of the Italians. A large part of this dispute between ‘castellanizantes’ and ‘italianizantes’ materialized in the use of metrics. In this duel, Argote de Molina still opts decisively for the traditional Castilian mode, although it was already more than three decades since the publication of works by Garcilaso de la Vega or Juan Boscán, which can be seen as leading examples of the new trends. The appearance of this discourse helps us to confirm the continuing attachment in Spain to the ‘vulgar cuenta’ as opposed to the ‘Italian way’. This work tries to revise the old poetic patterns, showing few new poetic nuances.