Here is a 500-word essay on the importance of public opinion and how it can be recognized in cultural life: Public opinion plays an important role in any democratic society. It represents the collective voice of the people and influences political decisions, cultural trends, and social norms. Understanding public opinion allows leaders and decision-makers to be more responsive to the needs and desires of citizens. It also gives citizens a sense that their views matter and can shape the direction of their community. In Montenegro, there are several ways we can recognize the influence of public opinion on cultural life. One is through the popularity of certain cultural events, activities, or art forms. When something resonates widely with people's interests and values, it often gains broader acceptance

1. Controversial Narrative: The Rise of
Political Consciousness in the Golden
Age Spain

2. Fernando de Rojas
Garcilaso de la Vega
Francisco de Quevedo
Lope de Vega
Calderón de la Barca
Miguel de Cervantes

3.  We live, while we see the sun,
Where life and dreams are as one;
And living has taught me this,
Man dreams the life that is his,
Until his living is done.
The king dreams he is king, and he
lives
In the deceit of a king,
Commanding and governing;
And all the praise he receives
Is written in wind, and leaves
A little dust on the way
When death ends all with a breath.
Where then is the gain of a throne,
That shall perish and not be known
In the other dream that is death?
Dreams the rich man of riches and
fears,
The fears that his riches breed;
The poor man dreams of his need,
And all his sorrows and tears;
Dreams he that prospers with years,
Dreams he that feigns and foregoes,
Dreams he that rails on his foes;
And in all the world, I see,
Man dreams whatever he be,
And his own dream no man knows.
And I too dream and behold,
I dream I am bound with chains,
And I dreamed that these present
pains
Were fortunate ways of old.
What is life? a tale that is told;
What is life? a frenzy extreme,
A shadow of things that seem;
And the greatest good is but small,
That all life is a dream to all,
And that dreams themselves are a
dream.
 (Segimundo's monologue, from Life
is a Dream, Calderón de la Barca)

4.  Trade and shipping routes significantly
increase.
 Economic boom of the empire towards the
middle of the 16th century, followed by long-
lasting decline.
 The Contrarreforma, the answer to Protestant
reform.
 The complete transformation to capitalism.
 The incorporation of Portugal to the Spanish
empire.
 The theater (Theatrum Mundi) and literature, as
mass distribution and marketing.
 Valimiento / favourite system.

5.  Major wars (especially the Netherlands,
France from 1635, Portugal and Catalonia).
 The loss of Portugal.
 Written manifestation of the reality (prose,
poetry and theater).
 Conde Duque de Olivares rise and fall.
 Spanish Golden Age.
 The Peace of Westphalia, the end of the
Eighty Years' War.

6.  Strong depopulation.
 Investment in kingdom’s debt instead of
investing in industrial activity and trade.
 Disproportionate cost of war.
 Exploitation of the Spanish economy by the
office of asentistas (money lenders, notably
the Genoese).
 The withdrawal of gold and silver of the
kingdom.
 High inflation due to the desperate monetary
policy.
 Labor shortage.

7. An act of empathy.
Contributes to culture; a
cultural reference.
Communicate and share
the complexity of human
experience.
Interconnecting the
Individual with the
Universal.

8. Ban on gold and precious metals out of the
country.
Distribution rather than production of
wealth.
Decline in labor force.
Unreasonable spendings of noble and
royal family

10.  Aristotle
Essentialist
Teleological perspectives
Punto de vista Organicista
 Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus –
The Annals (full title Annalium ab excessu
divi Augusti libri (Books of annals since the
death of the Divine Augustus); Dialogus de
oratoribus (Dialogue speakers),
 Gaius Caecilius Cilo, known as Pliny the
Younger (61 – c. 113) - Letters
 Suetonius - The Twelve Caesars (De vita
Caesarum)

11. Fernando Pérez de Sousa on the work of Trajano
Boccalini:
"This is the only author among those who have written
on this genre of mix, according to Horace, the
usefulness political precepts [principles] with the
tasteful and entertaining of the invention, He truly
had the upper hand."
[«Este autor es el que solo entre cuantos han escrito
en este género de mezclar, según Horacio, el útil de
los preceptos políticos con lo gustoso y
entretenido de la invención, llevó verdaderamente
la palma»]

12.  Niccolò Machiavelli - Discourses on Livy (1513-
1519), Il Principe (c. 1513), , published in 1531-2)
 Erasmo de Rótterdam - Institutio principis
Christiani 'Education of a Christian Prince' (1516),
advice to Carlos V.
 Traiano Boccalini - The Political Discourse and
Announcements of Parnasso de Boccalini.
 Giovanni Botero - Reason of State (1589)
 Vittorio Siri
 Virgilio Malvezzi – Ritratto del privado político
cristiano (1635)
 Justo Lipsio
 Jean Bodin - The six books of the Republic (Les six
livres de la République, 1576).
 George Buchanan - De iure regni apud Scotos (1579)
 Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan (1650)

13.  Pedro de Rivadeneira - Tratado de la Religión y Virtudes que deve
tener el Príncipe Christiano, para gobernar y conservar sus estados.
Contra lo que Nicolás Maquiavelo y los Políticos deste tiempo
enseñan, (1595)
 Juan de Mariana - De rege et regis institutione, (1599)
 Juan Márquez - El Governador Christiano. Deducido de las vidas de
Moysés y Josué, Príncipes del pueblo de Dios, (1612)
 Juan de Santa María - Tratado de República y Policía Christiana para
Reyes y Príncipe, y para los que en el govierno tienen sus vezes,
(1615)
 Juan de Salazar - Política Española. Contiene un discurso cerca de
su Monarquía, materias de Estado, aumento y perpetuidad. Al
Príncipe nuestro Señor, (1619)
 Francisco de Quevedo - Discurso de Privado, Política de Dios,
gobierno de Cristo, (1626 y 1655)
 Claudio Clemente - El Machiavelismo Degollado, por la Christiana
Sabiduría de España y de Austria. Discurso Christiano-Político a la
Catholica Magestad de Philippo IV, Rey de las Españas, (1628)

14.  Fernando Alvia de Castro - Verdadera Razón
de Estado. Discurso político, (1616)
 Antonio de Herrera - Discurso sobre que
Tácito excede a todos los historiadores
antiguos y el fruto que se saca de sus escritos.
 Baltasar Alamos de Barrientos
 Juan Pablo Mártir Rizo
 Joaquín Setanti
 Benito Arias Montano - Aphorismos
sacados de la Historia de Publio Cornelio Tácito
 Diego de Saavedra Fajardo – Cien empresas
 Fadrique Furió Ceriol

15. Didactic
Advisory
Moralizing / Sermonizing / preachy
Pedagogic
Instructive / disciplinary
Strategical
And at rare times… enlightening

16. «La politica, di cui intendiamo ragionare, la divideremo in due parti:
l’una in speculative, in cui trattaremo de’ principia universali,
generi, forme de’ governi et alter cose spettanti a la natura di quelle;
l’altra in politica prattica, ne la quale s’esporrà in teatro come I
principi e Stati s’habbiano a reggere e governare I popoli con le
massime proprie spettanti al bon governo. E acciò procediamo con
chiarezza e non caminiamo in tenebre, fa di bisogno che diamo
principio da la sua definizione. La política, dunque, ella vien difinita
in cotal modo: ella è un habito che informa l’animi et costumi
dell’huomini acciò vivano in una comunità fra di loro, bene e
felicemente. La mia intenzione egli è di trattare con brevità (lasciate
in disparte le questioni filosofiche, quanto più sia possibile), a la
moderna e da cortegiano), le massime di bon governo ne’ principi e
potentati […]»

17. The politics is divided into two parts: one in
a speculative way, the universal principle,
styles and forms of Government, the nature
of things; the other is practical politics. How
princes and states rule. But it is necessary
to give a definition to this principle.
Therefore, politics is defined: it is a habit
forming the soul and the customs of
mankind, so that they can live in a
community with each other, in welfare and
happiness.

18. "The common political precept that teaches, it is
necessary to rule certainly have the subjects
killed, is as true as misunderstood, and
tyrannically practiced by many princes, who by
their insatiable greed say the best judgments
political interpretations, resulting in more useful to
them."

19. “A prince should learn to be able not to be
good”
Public opinion controls our political and
economical life from its very foundation.

20.  Deliberated Propaganda
“it is always beneficial to be attentive to the
voice of the people”.
 A mix of political concepts and the passive
choice of the people, sponsors theater plays
of political nature, not only sword and
knighthood, love, work and death, but
intrigues, wars, political decisions of the king
and government and interaction among
ministers during armed conflicts .

21. Ideological manipulation?

22.  “The Spanish theater is, above all, a political and
social instrument and it does not respond to a
concern or ethical purpose and even the part that
deals with religious themes is minimal. True, the
Church was also interested in the polemics and
weapon of propaganda that could be the theater
and there is a religious on that is auto sacramental
[...]. But Lope deals in his plays with passions of
the world and social clashes, problems of the world
and only in very small proportion, of religious
subjects, including the hagiographic, often for
purely political reasons.“ Maravall

23.  Political Theory / Narrative Theory /
Narrativity
 Up until recently (50 years or so) Narrative
was used predominantly in literary context
describing books, stories and literary work of
any sort. This changed in the 60’s and 70’s
with the rise of the study of Identity with all its
components. Narrative slowly transcended
into Narrativity and was used to interpret
cultural and social based sciences (political
philosophy, psychology, cultural theory,
anthropology, sociology…).

24. Narrativity as our modern thought and
understanding that can be approached
from the ambiguous perspective of
ficticious and historical context.
From the theory of how to enact Politics to
the discontent expression of the opposition
in the form of satire and popular
pamphlets.

25. The San Plácido episode.
Don Julián
The henhouse:
That was an henhouse in plain,
if you imagine the palace today.
So even count tyrant,
They treat him as a hen.

27. Choose one of the following tasks:
2 - Write a satirical poem on any subject
related to the politics and economics of
today (in Montenegro).
1 – Write a short essay (500 words) about
the importance of public opinion and how
we can recognize it in the cultural life of
Montenegro.