Kant’s Life and Thought in 18th-Century Prussia
Historical Context of Kant’s Philosophy
Throughout the eighteenth century, the so-called Old Regime – absolute monarchy and a class-based society under enlightened despotism – was on trial. All the powers of nations were subject to the authority of kings, who exerted control, exemplified by figures like Louis XIV of France. The burgeoning bourgeois class spearheaded the fight against this regime, culminating in the French Revolution, with its motto of “liberty, equality, and fraternity.”
Despite
Read MoreSpanish Literary Modernism: A Deep Dive
Spanish Literary Modernism
NEW: Hispano-American literary movement born in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and spread to Spain by Ruben Dario following the publication of *Profane Prose* (1896). Its splendor was short and can be considered exhausted by 1915, but its importance was crucial to the evolution of Spanish poetry, as it meant a total renewal. Poetic modernism was a movement, although novels, short stories, and drama were also growing.
Modern Revolution
The poetry of Ruben Dario
Read MoreRomanticism in Spain: Literature, Drama, Prose
Romanticism
Romanticism was a cultural and artistic movement that emerged in Germany and England at the beginning of modernity. Although diverse, it laid the foundations of the ideology of the liberal bourgeois state.
Characteristics of Romanticism
- Freedom: Defended individual freedom: moral, social, political, and artistic.
- Subjectivism: Emphasized the importance of the individual and their vision of the world. The opposition between the individual’s aspirations and the social environment created interest
19th-Century Spanish Realism and Naturalism: Authors and Novels
19th-Century Realism
Realism originated in France in the 19th century. Authors such as Balzac and Stendhal emerged, and the movement unfolded with Flaubert in the context of an urban, industrial society with an established middle class. In Spain, it emerged around 1870, after “The Glorious Revolution,” and its greatest success was in the 1880s, a time of access to power for the bourgeoisie. The emergence of this movement was influenced by the genres of romance and historical novels, articles on customs,
Read MoreSymbolism and Expressionism in Literature
Key Characteristics of Symbolism
Symbolism, a late 19th-century movement, prioritized suggestion and the evocation of emotions and ideas over direct representation. Key features include:
- Musicality of Verse: “Music before all things,” as poet Paul Verlaine stated. Symbolists believed music was uniquely capable of expressing the ineffable (what cannot be expressed in words). This resulted in a search for suggestive movement in poetic language, often using assonance instead of strict rhyme.
- Power of
Philology: A Historical Journey Through Language Studies
Ancient Greece
Philology is the study of language in terms of history.
Cratylus is a dialogue about the origins of language and the nature of meaning.
- Hermogenes argued that language originated as a product of convention. He believed the relationship between words and things is arbitrary, stating, “for nothing has its name by nature but only by usage and custom.”
- Cratylus posited that language came into being naturally, and therefore an intrinsic relationship exists between words and things.
Aristotle
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