gongorist
Noun: A writer or poet who adopts or imitates the complex, ornate, and often obscure literary style characterized by elaborate metaphors, Latinate vocabulary, and intricate syntax, as practiced by the Spanish poet Luis de Góngora y Argote (1561-1627). The term often carries a connotation of affectation or excessive artificiality.
The word "gongorist" is used to classify a writer or to critique a style of writing. It is a specialized literary term. * It is typically used as a countable noun. * It often appears in literary criticism, historical analysis of literature, and academic discussions of Baroque poetry.
- The 17th-century poet was a devoted gongorist, filling his verses with mythological allusions and difficult syntax.
- Literary scholars debate whether certain poets were true gongorists or merely influenced by the style.
- His prose was so convoluted that critics dismissed him as a mere gongorist.
- The term can be used adjectivally in the form "Gongoristic" to describe the style itself, rather than the practitioner.
- The poem's Gongoristic imagery made it nearly impenetrable to the average reader.
- Gongorism (noun): The affected, elegant style itself, characterized by obscurity, mythological references, and Latinized diction.
- The movement was known for its extreme Gongorism.
- Culteranismo (noun): The Spanish literary term for this style, synonymous with Gongorism.
- Conceptismo (noun): A contrasting Baroque style that focused on witty, concise conceits and wordplay, often associated with Francisco de Quevedo.
- Euphuist: A practitioner of an excessively ornate and antithesis-filled style in English literature (after John Lyly's ).
- Marinist: A follower of the elaborate, conceit-heavy style of the Italian poet Giambattista Marino.
- Plain stylist
- Proponent of clarity
"Gongorist" is a highly specific term rooted in literary history. Its usage outside academic or critical discussions of Spanish Golden Age poetry or Baroque style is rare. The word inherently critiques the style as being overly artificial.
- a practitioner of the affected elegant style of the Spanish poet Gongora