Literary Movements and Styles: From Neoclassicism to Avant-Garde
Neoclassicism
- Emphasis on simplicity and naturalness, eschewing fantasy.
- Focus on moral and social aspects of humanity.
- Adherence to rigorous rules, mimicking classic literature.
- Limited creativity for refined expression.
- Exaltation of simple pleasures.
- Predominance of reason over emotion.
- Knowledge acquisition through methodical work.
Neoclassicism emerged with the death of Louis XIV in 1715 and concluded with the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, coinciding with the Enlightenment period.
Realism
The essential elements of Realism are:
- Accurate and truthful depiction of reality.
- Detailed descriptions.
- Rejection of sentimentality, objective portrayal of individuals.
- Colloquial language and critical approach.
- Rejection of both sentimentality and spirituality.
- Depiction of the relationship between individuals and their socio-economic environment.
- Exploration of human existence issues.
- Discussion, portrayal, and denouncement of societal ills.
- Transmission of ideas in an accurate and objective manner.
- Overall, Realism aims to reflect reality as it is.
Realism originated in the social conditions of the second half of the 19th century. Its emergence is linked to the rise of the bourgeoisie and the new urban society formed as a result of industrial development. The middle class gained prominence as a social force and imposed its tastes on literature, as most readers belonged to this class.
Romanticism
1. Rejection of Neoclassicism
2. Subjectivism
Regardless of the genre, the author’s passionate soul pours into the work all their feelings of dissatisfaction with a world that restricts and hinders their aspirations, both in love and in life.
3. Attraction to the Nocturnal and Mysterious
Romantics express their melancholic and sorrowful feelings in mysterious settings like ruins, forests, and cemeteries. They are drawn to the supernatural, that which defies logic, such as miracles, apparitions, visions of the afterlife, the demonic, and witchcraft.
4. Escapism
The rejection of the bourgeois society they inhabit leads Romantics to escape their circumstances by imagining a past where their ideals prevailed or by seeking inspiration in exotic locales.
Authors
Corneille, Pierre – “Le Cid”, “Cinna”
Lamartine, Alphonse – “Histoire des Girondins”, “Graziella”
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques – “The Social Contract”, “Emile”
García Lorca, Federico – “Mariana Pineda”, “The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife”
Racine, Jean – “Bérénice”, “Alexandre le Grand”
Wilde, Oscar – “The Nightingale and the Rose”, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Alonso, Dámaso – “Hijos de la ira”, “Hombre y Dios”
Shaw, George Bernard – “Pygmalion”, “Saint Joan”, “Candida”
Cruz, Ramón de la – “El teatro por dentro”, “La Plaza Mayor por Navidad”, “Inesilla la de Pinto”
Moratín, Leandro Fernández de – “La mojigata”, “El sí de las niñas”
Kafka, Franz – “The Metamorphosis”, “The Trial”
Scott, Walter – “Ivanhoe”, “The Lady of the Lake”
Molière – “The Misanthrope”, “The Doctor in Spite of Himself”
Iriarte, Tomás de – “Fábulas literarias”
Machado, Manuel – “La Lola se va a los puertos”
Swift, Jonathan – “Gulliver’s Travels”
Jiménez, Juan Ramón – “Platero y yo”
Avant-Garde Movements
Neopopularism
Based on Romanticism, it persists into the 20th century with a neo-romantic focus on exotic, fantastical, and heroic themes.
Cubism
Initially linked to visual arts, its main representative is Guillaume Apollinaire. It emerged in France around the same time as Futurism.
Existentialism
A philosophical doctrine that emphasizes the human condition. Sartre rejects the future and the existence of God, asserting that everything must be created in the present moment.
Creationism
A Spanish movement influenced by French Dadaism, it sought to renew poetry and comprised European and American innovators.
Expressionism
Georg Trakl spearheaded its early manifestations. It emerged in Germany around 1910 as a reaction against Naturalism.
Impressionism
A movement reacting against Realism’s excesses, it focuses on the thought process when confronted with an external situation.
Neoromanticism
Emerging in the 19th century, it carries on Romantic themes into the 20th century with a focus on exotic, fantastical, and heroic subjects.
Generation of ’98
A group of writers who questioned Spain’s destiny after losing its overseas possessions. They sought the essence of Spanish identity and revalued its culture through landscape, daily life, and art, employing self-criticism in poetry, plays, novels, and essays.
Cosmopolitanism
This movement flourished in large cities, focusing on urban issues that varied across countries due to geographical and economic differences. Authors include Dos Passos, Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway, Wolfe, Caldwell, and Farrell.
Latin American Boom
This term refers to the Western world’s astonishment at the works of Rulfo, Fuentes, Cortázar, Paz, Vargas Llosa, Carpentier, and García Márquez. Their favored themes include the fusion of reality and fantasy, the urge to create a distinctive literature, and the exploration of moral, psychological, and social issues.
Realistic Painting
This style opposes idealistic and romantic trends, depicting objective reality and the present moment. Peasants and workers are portrayed alongside landscapes.