Spanish Literary Movements: Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism
I. Romanticism: Characteristics and Key Authors
The Romantic Lyric
The Romantic genre cultivated the lyric because it was the ideal medium to express feelings. It is characterized by a break with neoclassical forms. Topics covered include:
- Love
- Life
- Freedom
Style and Metric Development
Romantic writers use a suggestive and resonant vocabulary, treating language as music and sound. They often employ rhetorical exclamations or question marks to express intense emotions.
Regarding metric, they use verses of varying length, focusing on rhyme, with the acute rhyme being very typical.
Key Lyrical Authors and Works
- Espronceda: El Estudiante de Salamanca and El Diablo Mundo.
- Bécquer: Rimas y Leyendas and El Sentido de la Poesía.
- Rosalía de Castro: En las orillas del Sar and Cantares Gallegos.
All these works are lyrical.
Articles of Manners (Artículos de Costumbres)
These are newspaper articles that critically analyze the customs of the time or simply entertain.
Larra is prominent among writers whose articles are characterized by:
- Irony and criticism
- Simple language
- Varied subjects
Romantic Drama
The most cultivated theatrical sub-genre was the Romantic Drama, characterized by its break with Neoclassical Theater. Features include varied settings, diverse characters, and a spooky ambiance.
Key authors and works include:
- José Zorrilla: Don Juan Tenorio.
- El Duque de Rivas: Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino.
- Also mentioned: Laguna and the disappointment of sleep.
II. Realism and Naturalism
Definition and Context
Realism and Naturalism are two literary trends emerging in opposition to Romantic idealism during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Objective and Preferred Genre
What is the main objective?
The main objective is to provide a detailed portrait of society.
What was the most cultivated genre?
The most cultivated genre was fiction (the novel), as it was the appropriate means for analyzing reality.
Narrative Elements
Characters
The author shows a strong interest in the psychology of the characters. Descriptions focus primarily on the bourgeoisie and the working class.
Narrator
The narrator is omniscient, knowing the thoughts of the characters and describing their surroundings.
Language
The language uses the typical linguistic register of every social condition. Dialogues are very important, reflecting the vulgar and colloquial expressions typical of the time.
Key Authors of Realism and Naturalism
Leopoldo Alas “Clarín”
Clarín’s most important work was La Regenta. Its main characters are Ana Ozores, Fermín de Pas, and Don Álvaro Mesía. Ana, the Regenta, is seduced by her confessor, Fermín de Pas, and eventually falls into the hands of the city’s deceiver, Don Álvaro Mesía.
Emilia Pardo Bazán
Pardo Bazán is important because she helped spread the Naturalistic movement in Spain, articulating a critical adaptation of French Naturalism.
Three of her notable works are:
- La Tribuna
- Madre Naturaleza
- Los Pazos de Ulloa
Juan Valera
Valera stands out as a novelist. His first and most important novel, Pepita Jiménez, is written in epistolary (letter) form.
III. Spanish Grammar: Subordinate and Coordinated Clauses
Coordinated Clauses (Proposiciones Coordinadas)
- Copulative: y, e, ni.
- Disjunctive: o, u.
- Adversative: pero, sino, mas.
- Distributive: ya… ya, bien… bien, ora… ora.
- Explanatory: es decir, esto es, o sea.
Adverbial Subordinate Clauses (Prop. Sub. Adv.)
- Place: donde
- Time: cuando
- Manner: como
- Causal: porque
- Final: para que
- Concessive: aunque
- Consecutive: por lo tanto
Substantive Subordinate Clauses (Prop. Sub. Sust.)
Without Preposition
Functions as Subject (Subj), Direct Object (CD – lo, la), or Attribute (Atr – lo with copulative verbs).
With Preposition
- Complement of Noun (CN): Noun + de + que
- Complement of Adjective (C. Adj): Adjective + de + que
- Complement of Verb/Regime (C. Reg): Verb + Preposition + que