Spanish Realism: Authors, Themes, and Techniques
Spanish Realism: A 19th-Century Literary Movement
Origins and Development
Realism was a literary movement that sought to explain and analyze reality by exalting individual liberty. Originating in France around 1830, it arrived in Spain in 1870, reaching its peak in the 1880s.
Two Periods of Realism
- Pre-Realism (1843-1868): This period blended realistic and romantic elements. Notable authors include Fernán Caballero (The Seagull) and Pedro A. de Alarcón (The Three-Cornered Hat).
- Fullness of Realism
Galician Language History: Dark Ages to Pre-Rexurdimento
The Dark Ages and the Precursors of the Galician Language
From the 15th century until the 18th century, there was no longer a significant literary practice in Galician. Historians know this vast stage of silence as the Dark Ages. It came about because Santa Catarina became dependent on the Kingdom of Castile, which implemented a criticized centralist policy. The nobility lost its power, and political, administrative, and ecclesiastical offices were filled by people from outside of Rio de Janeiro.
Read MoreGalician Poetry: 1975 to 1990s – Key Movements
Galician Poetry from 1975 to the 1990s
1975: A Profound Renewal
The year 1975 marked a profound renewal in international poetry, with an outbreak of feminine writing and various authors in full creative activity.
Four Key Inflection Points
a) Consolidation of Social Realism (Late 1960s – “Novos”):
- Work emerged during a time of intense anti-Franco struggle.
- Implementation of left-wing nationalism.
- Themes of complaint, struggle for language, national oppression, and the desire for individual and collective
Spanish Literature: 1902 to the Avant-Garde Movements
Generation of 27: Key Characteristics and Stages
Characteristics of the Generation of 27
The Generation of 27 rejected Modernist traits. The group was characterized by members with a strong university background, often from affluent families, who held progressive and left-leaning views. Their poems were frequently published in magazines. Key figures like Pedro Salinas and Gerardo Diego formed influential groups.
Influences
- Popular poetry
- Cultured poetry of Góngora
- Bécquer
- Spanish and European poets
Stages
Avant-
Baroque Literature: Culteranismo, Conceptismo, and Key Genres
Summary of the Baroque: Culteranismo and Conceptismo
They see a deep vital skepticism that causes a flight in two directions: the conceptual and the cultured Renaissance. Both upset the balance and come to similar literary devices: the device and the difficulty in style, exaggeration and contrast, the challenge of surprise…
Culteranismo
Maximum Representative: Luis de Góngora. It seeks to create a cultured poetic language of its own. It tends to the formal beauty and the colorful sensorial brilliance.
Read MoreFormal Letters, Language Standardization, and Post-War Narrative
The Menu
There are two types of formal letters:
- Administrative letters, where there is no trust relationship.
- Personal letters, which target a relationship of trust, expressing experiences or states of mind subjectively.
Features of Formal Letters
- Date: Independent and on a separate line. A comma is placed between the location and the date (e.g., Xativa, 23 February 2009).
- After the greeting, a comma or colon is used, and the next line starts with a capital letter.
- Farewell formulas end with a comma if