Galician Portuguese Medieval Poetry and the Iberian Interliterary System

• Published in: CLCWeb : Comparative literature and culture Vol. 13; no. 5
• Main Author: Garcia, Santiago Gutierrez
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ashland Purdue University 01.12.2011; Purdue University Press
• Subjects: Ambiguity; Comparative analysis; Comparative literature; Crítica literaria; Epic literature; Exegesis & hermeneutics; Folklore; Galician literature; Galician-Portuguese literature; History; Literary canon; Literary characters; Literary criticism; Literary influences; Literatura comparada; Literatura galaicoportuguesa; Literatura gallega; Literatura medieval; Literatura portuguesa; Literature; Literature, Comparative; Logic; Medieval literature; Medieval poetry; Narrative techniques; Poesía; Poetry; Poetry, Medieval; Portuguese literature; Symbols; Traditions; Portugal; Spain; Galicia Spain
• ISSN: 1481-4374; 1481-4374
• DOI: 10.7771/1481-4374.1907

In his article "Galician Portuguese Medieval Poetry and the Iberian Interliterary System" Santiago Gutiérrez García explores the notion that the possibility of carrying out a comparative study of Iberian literatures is determined by its interliterary system. Gutiérrez García postulates that the said interliterary system comprises a series of peripheral literatures which seek their self-affirmation through opposition to the hegemonic center, namely Castilian literature. He uses the example of Galician Portuguese medieval poetry and illustrates the problematic nature of his approach elaborating that despite the fact that this medieval poetic tradition is shared by both Galician and Portuguese literatures, as literary subsystems they carry out diverse strategies of symbolic appropriation in which a confrontation arises between two national literatures in asymmetric relation: the hegemonic Portuguese literature and the emergent Galician literature.