18th and 19th Century Spanish Literature: Essays and Realism
1. 18th Century Spanish Literature: The Rise of the Essay
1.1. Historical and Cultural Context: The Enlightenment
In 1700, Spain ushered in a new era with Philip V of Anjou, initiating the Bourbon dynasty and facilitating the influx of Enlightenment ideals. The Enlightenment, a cultural and intellectual movement, championed reason, equality, and free criticism, challenging traditional authority and hierarchy. This secular movement aimed to separate church and state, with figures like Diderot and d’Alembert and their Encyclopedia playing key roles in disseminating these ideas across Europe. Enlightened despotism, characterized by the principle of “everything for the people, but without the people,” emerged as a prominent political philosophy.
The Enlightenment’s arrival in Spain was gradual and cautious. It promoted the study of science and the arts, leading to educational reforms and critical analysis of Spain’s societal landscape. Institutions like the National Library, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), and the Royal Academy of History (RAH) were established, reflecting the didactic focus of the era and the prominence of the essay genre.
1.2. The Essay: A New Literary Form
The essay, a concise prose genre, provides a platform for expressing personal opinions on specific topics with an informative purpose. Originating from Montaigne’s Essais, essays are characterized by precision, clarity, didacticism, and a variable length. They offer comprehensive coverage of subjects, often with an unsystematic development and an open structure. Essays blend creative criticism with subjectivity, showcasing aesthetic intentionality and a focus on exposition and argumentation.
1.3. Key Essayists of the 18th Century: Feijoo, Cadalso, and Jovellanos
The essay gained recognition as a literary genre in early 18th-century Spain. Spanish Enlightenment essays played a crucial role in disseminating new European cultural ideas, critiquing societal norms, and proposing governmental reforms. These essays often employed a neoclassical style emphasizing clarity and simplicity.
1.3.1. Benito Jerónimo Feijoo
Feijoo dedicated himself to popularizing European cultural achievements and dispelling errors and misconceptions stemming from ignorance. His primary objective was to eradicate superstition, false beliefs, and common mistakes. His notable work includes eight volumes of Teatro Crítico Universal and five volumes of Cartas Eruditas y Curiosas, characterized by a simple and natural style.
1.3.2. José Cadalso
Cadalso, known for his plays and poetry, is particularly esteemed for his prose works, which incorporated innovative elements from contemporary European literature. His significant works include Cartas Marruecas and Noches Lúgubres. In Cartas Marruecas, ninety letters exchanged between Gazel (a Moroccan traveler in Spain), Ben Beley (the recipient), and Nuno (Gazel’s guide) offer diverse perspectives on Spanish society, providing a critique of the country’s situation.
1.3.3. Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Jovellanos, born in Gijón to a noble but impoverished family, flourished intellectually and politically during the reign of Charles III. He opposed the Napoleonic invasion, rejecting a position offered by Joseph I. His integrity and reformist ideas often clashed with conservative resistance. His notable works include:
- Informe sobre la Ley Agraria: This work examines Spain’s agricultural backwardness and proposes solutions like irrigation and land redistribution based on economic liberalism.
- Memoria sobre espectáculos públicos: This study explores the history and customs of various forms of entertainment and suggests reforms, advocating for neoclassical theater as a means of public education.
- Informe sobre la educación pública: This report presents progressive pedagogical ideas, emphasizing education as the foundation of economic prosperity and individual happiness. Jovellanos proposed a national education system accessible to all and guaranteed by the state, integrating theoretical knowledge with vocational training, a model successfully implemented in his institute in Gijón.
2. 19th Century Spanish Literature: Realism and the Narrative of Innovation
2.1. The Rise of Realism
In literature, “realism” broadly refers to works that portray life authentically. However, 19th-century realism specifically denotes writers who rejected romantic melodrama in favor of objectively reflecting social, political, and cultural realities. Realism flourished in Europe as the bourgeoisie gained power and became more conservative. Authors depicted this bourgeois society, the individual’s struggles against dominant social structures, and the marginalization of those who resisted conformity. The novel emerged as the ideal genre for portraying social reality, experiencing significant quantitative and qualitative development.
Realism in the novel originated in France with Balzac and Stendhal in the 1830s and 1840s, reaching its peak in Europe during the latter half of the century. In Spain, it began with the 1868 revolution (Galdós’s La Fontana de Oro) and reached its pinnacle in the 1880s (La de Bringas, Fortunata y Jacinta). While some naturalist influences were present, they were less pronounced than in France. Key authors include Juan Valera, José María de Pereda, Benito Pérez Galdós, Leopoldo Alas “Clarín,” Emilia Pardo Bazán, and Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (the latter two considered naturalists).
2.2. Characteristics of the Realist Novel
- Observation of Reality: Spanish bourgeois society served as the central theme and inspiration, with a focus on urban life. These novels generally avoided depicting working-class or peasant conflicts. The bourgeoisie and their circumstances took center stage, portrayed through rigorous, objective observation.
- Aesthetic Requirements: Realist novels adhered to strict aesthetic standards, emphasizing meticulous development of literary technique and stylistic refinement. The style was typically sober and simple, reflecting a conscious effort toward clarity.
- Narrator and Narrative: An omniscient narrator, possessing complete knowledge of the characters’ inner lives, guided the narrative, often interjecting judgments on their actions. Third-person narration with direct-style dialogues became the characteristic formula of realism. Monologues were also employed, allowing characters to analyze and reveal their innermost thoughts.
- Descriptions: Detailed descriptions played a prominent role in realist novels, aiming to faithfully reproduce reality. These descriptions, sometimes extensive, provided rich portrayals of settings and characters. Galdós often employed a selective descriptive technique, using isolated details to create an almost impressionistic effect.
- Characters: Realist novels featured well-rounded characters with complex psychologies, evolving in response to their circumstances. The narrative typically revolved around a protagonist caught in a conflict between personal aspirations and social norms, often resulting in the protagonist’s defeat. Numerous secondary characters populated these novels, adding depth and complexity to the social landscape.
- Language: Language mirrored everyday reality, employing two distinct modes: the narrator’s voice, characterized by a cultivated and sometimes rhetorical style, and the characters’ speech, reflecting their sociocultural backgrounds. Galdós is considered a master of this technique.
2.3. Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920)
2.3.1. Life and Works
Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Galdós abandoned his law studies to pursue literature as his vocation and livelihood. His progressive ideology, though discreetly expressed, impacted his literary career. He was elected to the Royal Spanish Academy but later faced boycotts from conservative sectors during his Nobel Prize candidacy.
Galdós’s extensive body of work includes:
- Episodios Nacionales: This series of 46 novels, grouped into five sets of ten volumes (except the last, which contains six), offers a fictionalized yet meticulously researched account of Spanish history from Trafalgar to the Restoration. It provides a comprehensive reconstruction of the turbulent 19th century, with Galdós adopting a patriotic stance in narrating the Napoleonic invasion and a progressive attitude in depicting the conflict between the “two Spains.”
- Novels of the First Period (1870s): Works like La Fontana de Oro, Doña Perfecta, and La familia de León Roch address the ideological confrontations of the time, with characters divided along liberal and progressive lines. Galdós often sides with the latter.
- Contemporary Novels (1880s): These novels, including La desheredada, Tormento, Miau, and Fortunata y Jacinta, offer a panoramic portrait of Spanish society, encompassing all social classes but with particular emphasis on the middle class. Galdós demonstrates mastery of realistic techniques, achieving greater objectivity and depth.
- Spiritual Novels (1890s): This period reveals a growing interest in moral and religious themes, exemplified by works like Ángel Guerra, Misericordia, and Nazarín.
2.3.2. Evaluation
The scope, variety, and depth of Galdós’s work secure his prominent place in Spanish and European literature. He stands as the only 19th-century Spanish writer to create such a comprehensive picture of Spanish society while providing a coherent and nuanced history of Spain.