19th-Century Prose and Literature in Europe
19th-Century Prose: Romantic Fiction
Translations into Spanish of Walter Scott. The first Romantic novelists used Catalan, initially addressing historical issues.
The Historical Novel
Popularized by authors such as Alexander Dumas and Walter Scott, it responded to the Romantic historicist fashion.
The “Fullatonesca” Novel
A genre of sentimental fiction where characters, categorized as good or bad, experience dramatic situations. They emerge victorious due to their kindness or downfall. Each plotline concluded with a minor disruption to maintain reader interest, ultimately ending when interest waned.
Costumbrism
It signifies the discovery of seemingly insignificant reality as a subject for novels, while also advocating for the adoption of Catalan as the sole vehicle of expression. In the islands, costumbrism presents unique characteristics: attention to the city, and the use of a rich, dialectal language. Weekly publications and “L’Ignorància” by Roqueta appear.
Realistic and Naturalistic Novels
This narrative contrasts with the recreation of the past made by Romanticism. It aims to reproduce contemporary reality. This meant addressing changes caused by industrialization and the social ascension of the Catalan bourgeoisie, while preserving the description of picturesque and rural environments.
Narcís Oller: Works:
- La Papallona: An orphaned and poor girl is pursued, mirroring a butterfly abandoned by her social class.
- La Febre d’Or
- La Bogeria: Depicts the process of a disease, dementia, and its social consequences on the affected person.
- Pilar Prim: A young widow navigates her love life, loving a younger man, confronting the prejudices and social conditions of the time. A modernist work.
Realistic and Naturalistic Literature in Europe
Realism appeared in Europe in the mid-19th century as a response to Romanticism, coinciding with the era’s emphasis on scientific knowledge based on reason. Traits of Romanticism, such as subjectivism and idealism, are far removed from the intentions of Realism. Realism introduced a new concept of literary creation focused on known reality, which the author can describe with accuracy.
The novel offers a realistic picture of the contemporary reality in its entirety, encompassing all its perspectives: social organization, politics, etc. To achieve this, the author uses a methodical and meticulous observation of the reality they wish to describe. They were interested in all aspects of society, good or bad, and analyzed them with a critical and globalizing spirit.
Naturalism
It emerged in the context of a bourgeoisie enamored with scientific progress, a society that, as previously mentioned, centered human knowledge around science. Positivism assumed a worldview based on direct experimentation with reality, aiming to account for natural phenomena through direct observation and subsequent classification. Applying this experimental method, proponents established laws governing the universe, including human laws.
Unlike the Realist novel, Naturalism typically describes reality as an instrument of observation and experimentation of society and the individual, with the goal of improving social conditions.