Spanish Literature from Romanticism to Modernism
Romantic Poetry
Authors
Freed from the rigid Neoclassical expression, Romantic poetry maintained characteristic themes and introduced new developments regarding style: symbolic language, melancholy, impossible love.
Lyric Poetry
Authors express subjectivism in two stages:
- 1st half of the 19th century: patriotic and addressed social issues (Espronceda)
- 2nd half of the 19th century: poetry becomes more intimate (Bécquer and Rosalía)
Narrative Poetry
Reached its peak in the 1st half of the 19th century. Poems differ between:
- Long: historical poem, medieval poem, symbolic-philosophical poem
- Brief: romance, legend
José de Espronceda
One of the most representative authors. His poetry presents a wide variety: social protest, loss of youth, vital disappointment. His style is characterized by adjectives, frequent rhetorical questions, sensory and evocative lexicon. Among his works are: “Pirate’s Song,” “The Devil World,” “Student of Salamanca.”
Bécquer
Influenced the later works of authors like Juan Ramón Jiménez and Luis Cernuda. His new framework and rhymes (Book of Sparrows) present structures that deal with:
- Poetry and inspiration
- The hopeful theme of love
- Pain and anguish
His poetry is characterized by simplicity and formal perfection. Short verse compositions and heptasyllabic verse.
Rosalía de Castro
Galician writer tied to her land in the 1st half of the 19th century. She wrote works in Spanish and Galician. Her most famous works are Galician Songs and On the Banks of the Sar.
Romantic Prose
In the 19th century, the journalistic boom joined a new form of literature published in journals: stories, articles of customs, political pieces, etc.
Historical Novel
Product of Romantic frustration and its attempt to revive the past.
Costumbrismo
Detailed scenes of the speech and customs of the lower classes, with humor and a moralizing tone. Different trends can be appreciated: pure costumbrismo, satirical, and political.
Mariano José de Larra
Founded several newspapers and participated in politics. His disappointment led him to suicide. His articles acquired the reputation that has come to our days. They were about customs, politics, and literature.
Romantic Theater
Renewed the theatrical atmosphere of the time. The keys to success are:
- Acts increased from 3 to 5
- Mix of prose with verse, with the tragicomedy
- Development of colloquial language
- Spectacular scenery
- Breaking the rule of 3 units
- Fixed patterns: hero, etc.
- Themes: love, fate, and revenge (“Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino,” “Don Juan Tenorio”)
Realism
This cultural and artistic movement emerged in Europe in the 19th century and defended the representation of reality in the truest and most accurate way possible.
Characteristics:
- Analysis and observation
- Novel as the main genre
- Contextualization
- Objectivity
- Contemporary social criticism
Naturalism
The rise of scientific progress, as well as the influence of positivism, led Realism to evolve into Naturalism. Naturalists defended that humans are determined by the laws of heredity, social environment, and historical time, and are therefore not free.
Main features:
- Analysis of reality
- Search for the root of the problem
- Approach to philosophical concepts
Realistic Novel Features
- Verisimilitude
- Real characters
- Social themes
- Spatial and temporal framework
- Narrative style: contrasts, use of 1st and 3rd person
Costumbrist Novel
Considered a transitional novel between Romanticism and Realism. From the 2nd half of the 19th century, it grew as an independent genre. It is characterized by:
- Presentation of picturesque and colorful characters
- Use of everyday language
Realistic Fiction Authors
Juan Valera
Adopts an aesthetic stance, seeking beauty, but his novels are an accurate reflection of the society of his time. His realism is evident in the psychological analysis of the characters. The Andalusian environment is inseparable from his work. Novels: Pepita Jiménez and Juanita la Larga.
Benito Pérez Galdós
Includes his own features based on realist precepts. Characteristics: “Galdosian” themes: social criticism, political analysis, psychological portraits of his characters, masterful and exhaustive description of environments, and expressive and agile language. Extensive documentation. “National Episodes”: portrays the 19th century. Novels: Fortunata and Jacinta (Jacinta is married to Juanito, but Fortunata is his lover; uses irony).
Leopoldo Alas “Clarín”
Professor of law, critical, liberal, republican, and anticlerical. He wrote novels, short stories, and journalistic articles. La Regenta, set in Vetusta (Oviedo), serves to criticize the society of the time. Ana, wife of the former mayor Víctor, lives in a decrepit environment due to the corruption around her. She succumbs to Don Álvaro, and this leads to her being judged by the entire city.
Modernism: Influences
Modernism was born referencing 19th-century French movements such as Parnassianism and Symbolism. The main figure of Parnassianism was Gautier, who spread the motto of “art for art’s sake.”
Characteristics:
- Cult of formal perfection
- Poetry with a strong metric, very musical and sensory
- Mythological and biblical themes, exotic characters, symbolism
Symbolism began with Baudelaire and continued with Verlaine.
- Less rigid and more psychological metrics
- Network of secret symbols and hidden realities
Modernism
Born in Latin America, it was a demonstration of the political, religious, and artistic crisis at the end of the 19th century, which generated a new vision of the world. It represented a rebellious force against different aspects of society.
Literary Modernism
Characteristics:
- The aesthetics of change in relation to its constant renewal of literary language
- Evasion, exoticism, and cosmopolitanism
- Inclination for the past and the restoration of distant lands
- Versification: foreign words, Americanisms, archaisms, and neologisms