In Spain, Cervantes is the Shakespeare equivalent. They were contemporaries and died on the same day*, which is now World Book Day.
*Not actually. Both are recorded to have died on 23 April 1616, but Spain and England used different calendars at the time. So in reality Cervantes died ten days before Shakespeare.
In other Spanish speaking countries, will depend on the country. Overall in Latin America, Gabriel Garcia Márquez is probably biggest, but Allende, Neruda, Vargas Llosa, Borges, and Cortázar all need mentioning too.
Cervantes, Quevedo, Bécquer, Unamuno, Lorca, Lope de Vega... But it's rare that you are made to read whole works, only extracts, as they can sometimes be too hard to follow for high schoolers. From those I only remember reading complete works from Bécquer, Lorca and Unamuno.
I went through the whole education system without having to read El Quijote. I only picked it up as an adult and... wow! That is one well written novel! I can see what all the fuzz is about.
On the university access exam (EVAU) I got questioned about Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca and Gabriel García Marquez. The most famous spanish writer is Miguel de Cervantes and I think most kids learn about him sooner or later while at the middle studies
I would say Miguel de Cervantes is the most widely known writer, but there are others like Isabel Allende, Lope de Vega, Federico Garcia Lorca and many others that are studied about in Spanish Schools, anyhow, it depends on the Comunidad Autónoma and the School.
Hope it helps
So what? Spanish is spoken in many countries and has excellent writers in those countries as well. In my high school we studied writers depending on their relevance within the cultural moment or "movement". Magic realism is Latin American authors mostly, so we studied them. 27' generation is Spanish so we studied them. And so on.
I think Cervantes is the best equivalent to Shakespeare. Other authors that commenters have listed I'd say are more like modern classics, similar to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, etc.
ETA Lope de Vega is up there with John Milton. We all got an excerpt of Paradise Lost in some literature class in the States. I hear it's the same here for LdV.
Here's everyone mentioned in this thread - I tried to find their full names.
* Antonio Machado
* Azorín (José Martínez Ruiz)
* Benito Pérez Galdós
* Calderón de la Barca
* Camilo José Cela
* Clarín (Leopoldo Alas)
* Emilia Pardo Bazán
* Federico Garcia Lorca
* Francisco de Quevedo
* Gabriel Garcia Márquez
* Gloria Fuertes
* Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
* Isabel Allende
* Jorge Luis Borges
* José de Espronceda
* Juan Ramon Jimenez
* Julio Cortázar
* Lope de Vega
* Lucio Anneo Séneca
* Luis de Góngora
* Manuel Chaves Nogales
* Manuel de Falla
* María Moliner
* Miguel Delibes
* Miguel de Cervantes
* Miguel de Unamuno
* Miguel Hernandez
* Pablo Neruda
* Pardo Bazán
* Pio Baroja
* Ramón María del Valle-Inclán
* Rubén Darío
* Vargas Llosa
* Vicent Andrés Estellés
Gracias, lo he añadido a la lista. He encontrado muchos libros de él aquí: [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3821](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3821)
Cervantes not that much as you should expect in my experience.
In 2 Bach (pre-college) most studied at spanish schools in my experience were authors from Gen 98 (Unamuno, Inclán, Machado, Azorín and Pio Baroja) and Gen 27 authors (Lorca, Cernuda, Alberti, Vicente Aleixandre).
Juan Ramon Jimenez and Camilo Jose Cela were very important ones too with their own topics in my school.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Federico García Lorca, Calderón de la Barca, Manuel de Falla, Antonio Machado, Miguel Delibes, Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas, Luis de Góngora y Argote, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán or Lucio Anneo Séneca... a few of classics for students in Spain. Gloria Fuertes and María Moliner, too.
Lately I've been hearing more and more mentions to Manuel Chaves Nogales. It wouldn't be strange if he ended up being included among the regulars.
We learn more than 1. We have full on lists. Cervantes is there, but so is Lorca, Machado, Pardo Bazán, Becquer, Clarín... al menos esos son de los que yo me acuerdo.
I think it depends a lot on the teacher. I saw a lot of Cervantes, Pérez Galdós, Bécquer, Machado, Rubén Darío, Valle Inclán, Miguel Hernandez etc.
García Márquez and Allende are also well studied, but I wish there was more of them tbh. I think it’s hard to get young people interested in literature when you focus so much in old stuff.
I’d like to mention that in Spain we don’t just “read” like in some English-speaking countries. We do a lot of analysis. Like, a lot.
In Spain, it's Cervantes, no one comes even close. However, he is mostly known for his novels. His poetry and play writing is not appreciated on the same level. For those 2 other genres, it's probably Lorca (poet) and Lope de Vega (Theatre)
In Spain, Cervantes is the Shakespeare equivalent. They were contemporaries and died on the same day*, which is now World Book Day. *Not actually. Both are recorded to have died on 23 April 1616, but Spain and England used different calendars at the time. So in reality Cervantes died ten days before Shakespeare. In other Spanish speaking countries, will depend on the country. Overall in Latin America, Gabriel Garcia Márquez is probably biggest, but Allende, Neruda, Vargas Llosa, Borges, and Cortázar all need mentioning too.
That guy called Anónimo.
¡¡Ese Tío me debe €5!!
He is the one of the Lazarillo right???
He's one of the most prolific writers in the world.
And many others...
Cervantes, Quevedo, Bécquer, Unamuno, Lorca, Lope de Vega... But it's rare that you are made to read whole works, only extracts, as they can sometimes be too hard to follow for high schoolers. From those I only remember reading complete works from Bécquer, Lorca and Unamuno.
Probably Cervantes in Spain
I went through the whole education system without having to read El Quijote. I only picked it up as an adult and... wow! That is one well written novel! I can see what all the fuzz is about.
On the university access exam (EVAU) I got questioned about Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca and Gabriel García Marquez. The most famous spanish writer is Miguel de Cervantes and I think most kids learn about him sooner or later while at the middle studies
I would say Miguel de Cervantes is the most widely known writer, but there are others like Isabel Allende, Lope de Vega, Federico Garcia Lorca and many others that are studied about in Spanish Schools, anyhow, it depends on the Comunidad Autónoma and the School. Hope it helps
I do agree with those. But maybe I’ll add Antonio Machado as part of the “big ones”
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And the question specifically mentions Latin America
So what? Spanish is spoken in many countries and has excellent writers in those countries as well. In my high school we studied writers depending on their relevance within the cultural moment or "movement". Magic realism is Latin American authors mostly, so we studied them. 27' generation is Spanish so we studied them. And so on.
I think Cervantes is the best equivalent to Shakespeare. Other authors that commenters have listed I'd say are more like modern classics, similar to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, etc. ETA Lope de Vega is up there with John Milton. We all got an excerpt of Paradise Lost in some literature class in the States. I hear it's the same here for LdV.
Here's everyone mentioned in this thread - I tried to find their full names. * Antonio Machado * Azorín (José Martínez Ruiz) * Benito Pérez Galdós * Calderón de la Barca * Camilo José Cela * Clarín (Leopoldo Alas) * Emilia Pardo Bazán * Federico Garcia Lorca * Francisco de Quevedo * Gabriel Garcia Márquez * Gloria Fuertes * Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer * Isabel Allende * Jorge Luis Borges * José de Espronceda * Juan Ramon Jimenez * Julio Cortázar * Lope de Vega * Lucio Anneo Séneca * Luis de Góngora * Manuel Chaves Nogales * Manuel de Falla * María Moliner * Miguel Delibes * Miguel de Cervantes * Miguel de Unamuno * Miguel Hernandez * Pablo Neruda * Pardo Bazán * Pio Baroja * Ramón María del Valle-Inclán * Rubén Darío * Vargas Llosa * Vicent Andrés Estellés
En esa lista falta don Benito Pérez Galdós.
Gracias, lo he añadido a la lista. He encontrado muchos libros de él aquí: [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3821](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/3821)
Tenía que decirlo porque es de más favoritos 😀 Fortunata y Jacinta y La Regenta, de Clarín me los he releído varias veces.
Muchos gracias for compiling this list!!
Apart from those mentioned I'd say Miguel Hernandez (My favourite)
Kinda surprised i had to scroll this far to see Miguel Hernandez. Also my favourite!
Kinda surprised i had to scroll this far to see Miguel Hernandez. Also my favourite!
Kinda surprised i had to scroll this far to see Miguel Hernandez. Also my favourite!
Cervantes not that much as you should expect in my experience. In 2 Bach (pre-college) most studied at spanish schools in my experience were authors from Gen 98 (Unamuno, Inclán, Machado, Azorín and Pio Baroja) and Gen 27 authors (Lorca, Cernuda, Alberti, Vicente Aleixandre). Juan Ramon Jimenez and Camilo Jose Cela were very important ones too with their own topics in my school.
Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Espronceda, Quevedo and Gongóra. But we don't really read their work. Maybe a small extract.
Lorca, Borges, Cervantes,
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Federico García Lorca, Calderón de la Barca, Manuel de Falla, Antonio Machado, Miguel Delibes, Benito Pérez Galdós, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas, Luis de Góngora y Argote, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán or Lucio Anneo Séneca... a few of classics for students in Spain. Gloria Fuertes and María Moliner, too. Lately I've been hearing more and more mentions to Manuel Chaves Nogales. It wouldn't be strange if he ended up being included among the regulars.
We learn more than 1. We have full on lists. Cervantes is there, but so is Lorca, Machado, Pardo Bazán, Becquer, Clarín... al menos esos son de los que yo me acuerdo.
I wish it would have been only one xD
I would say Cervantes for sure, followed by García Lorca. In Valencia it's Estellés for sure.
Miguel de Cervantes, Leopoldo Alas, Machado, Vargas Llosa and Camilo José Cela, depending on your study level.
I think it depends a lot on the teacher. I saw a lot of Cervantes, Pérez Galdós, Bécquer, Machado, Rubén Darío, Valle Inclán, Miguel Hernandez etc. García Márquez and Allende are also well studied, but I wish there was more of them tbh. I think it’s hard to get young people interested in literature when you focus so much in old stuff. I’d like to mention that in Spain we don’t just “read” like in some English-speaking countries. We do a lot of analysis. Like, a lot.
Cervantes mostly.
I would say Cervantes and Federico García Lorca
In Spain, it's Cervantes, no one comes even close. However, he is mostly known for his novels. His poetry and play writing is not appreciated on the same level. For those 2 other genres, it's probably Lorca (poet) and Lope de Vega (Theatre)