1. Summary.

In this article called La metamorfosis de la Tradicin Clsica, ayer y

hoy, the author reflects about what are the roots of the term classical Tradition. e
starts with the definition of both terms se!arately, to build, later, a more com!le"
definition. #nce we ha$e a clearer idea about the main conce!ts, he rehearses a re$iew
of its history and its methods till today.
%arcia &urado anali'es the !ast and !resent of classical tradition,
ma(in) a com!ilation of the main names on the matter and their theories, because they
not only theori'ed about classical tradition but they tin)ed it with their own theories,
doin) a chan)e on it.
*. Short descri!tion of contents.
+s )ood !rofessor, ,rancisco %arcia &urado structures his articles as it
were a lesson. e starts definin) the terms and concludes that, the ob-ect of classical
tradition is a tradition where . los moti$os y los as!ectos de la literatura anti)ua
transcienden a las len)uas modernas /%arcia &urado, *011.23. e !oints an interestin)
4uestion about if the idea of !ut to)ether both terms, was made to enrich the definition
addin) classical to tradition or, to restrict ideas, ma(in) a selection of the word
classical amon) all different (inds of traditions we could choose. So, as the author, we
can conclude that . la tradicin clsica confi)ura una le"5a com!le-a cuyo si)nificado
no e4ui$ale, ciertamente, a la mera suma de sus !artes /%arcia &urado *011.63. e
remar(s the three diferent sta)es that ha$e been !resent in his short history are.
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189*. :rimera eta!a. de la tradicin a la tradicin clsica
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1;2;. Se)unda eta!a. la tradicin clsica como relato
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1;9;. Tercera eta!a. la tradicin clsica )recolatina3 y la rece!cin
In the first sta)e, we ha$e to mention two names. <omenico Com!aretti
and =en>nde' :elayo. Com!aretti was the first author in to coin the term classical
tradition on his boo( ?ir)ilio nel medio e$o in 189*. The most im!ortant conce!t that
Com!aretti deals with is the term tradition understood as transmission. So we can
e"tract that. el estudio de la tradicin clsica ha de entenderse como a4uel 4ue
abarca de manera e"clusi$a el le)ado )recolatino /%arc5a &urado *011.93.
In S!ain, we can remar( the fi)ure of =en>nde' :elayo, who in his
istoria de los heterodo"os es!a@oles uses the term classical tradition for the first
time. Aut, e$en thou)h is the same term, in S!ain chan)e its meanin), and is refers to.
la historia de cada uno de los clsicos de Bs!a@a desde el !unto de $ista no slo de su
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traduccin, sino de la labor filol)ica y literaria /%arc5a &urado *011.93. The matter in
this case was to com!are between clasicos latinos and clasicos castellanos.
The second sta)e is mar(ed by %ilbert i)het, who wrote The classical
tradition. %ree( and Coman influences on western literature /1;2;3. This author too( his
main ideas from <omenico Com!aretti, the first one to tal( about classical tradition,
but i)het was the !erson who. asienta la conce!cin de la classical tradition en
t>rminos de influences en la western literature /%arc5a &urado *010.103. e defends
that. es !osible estudiar la relacin entre las literaturas anti)uas y modernas desde
!resu!uestos donde los autores modernos no son ya de!ositarios !asi$os de un le)ado,
sino !ersonas 4ue tienen tambi>n mucho 4ue decir acerca de los anti)uos, dada su
ca!acidad !ara reinter!retarlos /%arcia &urado *011.113
Claudio %uillen is the most rele$ant author we ha$e to 4uote in the third
sta)e. e starts the chan)e with an article called <e influencias y con$enciones, where
he chan)ed the $ision that the theorist had about classical tradition. +s %arcia &urado
says.
Claudio %uillen $ino a su!erar la $ie-a cuestin de las influenciasy los estudios de fientes
mediante la dinmica !olaridad entre el conce!to de influencia frentre a los m@as am!lios de
con$encin y de tradicin. La influencia tiene 4ue $er con el talento indi$idual frente a la
con$encin, cuyo carcter es com!artido !or los escritores de una )eneracin dada. /%arc5a
&urado *011.113
Is related with i)het the idea of classic tradition as a defense of occident and
its culture. In the te"t, the author ma(es a com!aration between i)het and another
!rofessor, Bdward Said, and both are the main names in !ostDcolonial literature. Aut
with the time, i)het chan)es his !osition and defends a eurocentrism in front of his
first defense of occident. In the conte"t where we can find this !osition, literature was
$ery tie to !olitical issues. la lectura 4ue el !ostcolonilismo hace de la tradicin clsica
confi)urar5a a >sta como un discurso de !oder 4ue ha mani!ulado la anti)Eedad desde
modernos referentes euroc>ntricos y !ro!ios de clases sociales su!eriores. /%arcia
&urado *011.**3
Is in that circumstances when a!!ears the necessity of s!ecify in the term of
classical tradition. Fith the arise of another tradition as modern or !o!ular, they
had to ma(e a difference more !recise into the locution. This was the reason therefore
they introduced the word )recoDlatin. So, from 1;2; to now, the locution chan)ed to
Tradicin clsica )recolatina.
:ersonal :oint of $iew.
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#nce I ha$e read the te"t widely, as I e"!ressed in !oint number two, i thin( we
can )uess 4uic(ly that the author is a !rofessor who usually teachs his !u!ils. e
structures the te"t as a lesson and e"!lains the conce!ts in a $ery $isual mode, so its
$ery easy to follow him and not to feel lost into the bi) amount of terms and names.
In my o!inion, i thin( he structures the te"t !ro!erly, because he starts
e"!lainin) what are the conce!ts he is )oin) to deal with in the article,to continue
definin) the terms, /to (now well what we are tal(in) about3, and finally he ma(es a bit
of history of the term, in a chronolo)ical order. The author mentions se$eral writers and
theirs wor(s, but he doesnGt do it in an e"tended mode, to ma(e easier the readin) of the
te"t.
1. #ther articles I (now.
Tryin) to enlar)e my (nowled)e about the author, I started to read the articles
that he hads !ublished on his blo). +nd I disco$er that he tal(s about the classical
matters but from a natural and informal tone, so I thin( is $ery easy to learn readin) this
blo).
+fterwards, readin) the article called H<e dnde !rocede la denominacin
Tradicin ClsicaI Ay %abriel La)una =ariscal, where the author reflects about the
ori)in of the classical tradition and he !oints that i)het used the term as own in his
wor( but is well (nown that he based his conclusions in ?ir)ilio nel medio e$o and he
wor(ed from an en)lish $ersion of this boo(. La)una =ariscal, in his article, )i$es us a
bi) amount of names and information, but he uses an attainable lan)ua)e, so its not
difficult to understand the !a!er li(e %arciaJs &urado wor(s, maybe because he is a
!rofessor too and the article is for the education s!here. #nce I had read this article, I
felt interested about this !rofessor, and I found his blo), where he writes about to!ics of
classical tradition from an informal /and attainable3 !ers!ecti$e.
2. Conclusion.
+ltou)h we thin( in clasical tradition as somethin) stron)ly settle in our
education system with a lon) tradition, is in KIKth century when it started to emer)e as
locution. Fe tends to use words /or locutions3 li(e clasical tradition without thin(
about where it come from, or who was behind it, we only use it. Aut now, I thin( to
myself that terms that we use e$eryday could ha$e a com!le" !rocess till become the
matters that we deal with nowadays. Fords are not somethin) casual.
Ay the way, I tried to (now better the fi)ure of i)het, because it seems
interestin) for me how the surround landsca!e could chan)e a theorist, how !olitic
issues could chan)e his way of thin(in) and why. +s I can see now, i)het is a main
author so i belie$e I am )oin) to (now better his wor(s this year.
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L. Aiblio)ra!hic references.
%+CCM+ &NC+<#, ,rancisco. O%ilbert i)het y Bdward Said. Tradicin Clsica y
#rientalismo. Olectoresaudaces.blo)s!ot.com.es. *00;. Precurso en lineaQ <is!onible
en. htt!.RRlectoresaudaces.blo)s!ot.com.esR*00;R08R)ilbertDhi)hetDyDedwardDsaidD
tradicion.html. PConsultado el 08 octubre *011.Q
%+CCM+ &NC+<#, ,rancisco. La metamorfosis de la Tradicin Clsica, ayer y hoy,
Nni$ersidad Com!lutense. *011.
%NILLST, Claudio. de influencias y con$enciones Precurso en lineaQ <is!onible en.
htt!.RR www.cer$antes$irtual.comRobraRdeDinfluenciasDyDcon$encionesD0R
PConsultado el 08 octubre *011.Q
I%BT, %ilbert. The Classical Tradition. %ree( and Coman influences on Festern
Literature, Plibro en lineaQ #"ford Nni$ersity :ress,1;8L. <is!onible en.
htt!.Rboo(s.)oo)le.esRboo(sidUVCbATe=;=*oCWl!)U:C*Wd4Uhi)hetX*0classical
X*0traditionWhlUesW!)U:+1Y$Uone!a)eW4WfUfalse Pconsultado el 08 de octubre de
*011Q
L+%NT+ =+CISC+L, %abriel. The ori)in of the OClassical TraditionODlabel
!ublicado 1* de diciembre *002. Precurso en lineaQ <is!onible en.
htt!.RRtradicionclasica.blo)s!ot.com.esR*002R1*Rori)inDofDclassicalDtraditionDlabel.html
PConsultado el 08 octubre *011.Q
L+%NT+ =+CISC+L, %abriel. H<e donde !rocede la denominacin Tradicin
ClsicaI Precurso en lineaQ <is!onible en.
htt!.RRhel$ia.uco.esR"mluiRbitstreamRhandleR101;6R*1;*RC,CL02021*0081+.!dfI
se4uenceU1 PConsultado el 08 octubre *011.Q
=BTST<BZ :BL+[#, =arcelino Ohistoria de los heterodo"os es!a@oles.Precurso en
lineaQ <is!onible en.
htt!.RRes.wi(i!edia.or)Rwi(iRistoria\de\los\heterodo"os\es!a@oles :ublicado el
*6 mayo *011. PConsultado el 08 octubre *011.Q
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