Literary Movements: Realism and Naturalism in Spain
Realism and Naturalism in 19th-Century Spanish Literature
Linguistic Terms
- Presets: Words and phrases taken from another language adapted to their pronunciation and spelling.
- Foreigners: Words or expressions borrowed from another language, conserving their pronunciation and spelling.
- Calco Lexicon: The formation of words or phrases using the literal translation of foreign terms.
Realism
Realism is a literary movement that appeared in the second half of the 19th century. It is manifested especially in the narrative genre, meant to reflect real life and the problems of society and the individuals who compose it, apart from fantasy and romantic sentimentality.
Political Framework
- Political struggle between absolutists and liberals.
- Appearance of the first anarchist and socialist movements.
Social-Development Framework
- Development of the Industrial Revolution.
- Rise of the proletariat and bourgeoisie.
Topics
- Political struggle between ideologies of absolutism.
- Conflicts caused by the need for money.
- Marital or romantic problems of the petite bourgeoisie.
- Religious issues.
Techniques
The realist novel, in which fundamental principles are verisimilitude, uses the technique of the omniscient narrator, free indirect style, and the monologue.
Realism in Spain
It began in 1870 with the novels of Fernán Caballero, Juan Valera, and José María de Pereda.
- Fernán Caballero (real name Cecilia Böhl de Faber) is considered a precursor of Realism, especially in her novel The Seagull, which introduced the custom.
- Juan Valera published his first and best work, Pepita Jiménez, in 1874. A psychological novel, he also wrote Juanita la Larga and Morsamor.
- José María de Pereda reflected the customs and people of Cantabria. Sotileza narrates the livelihood of fishermen and the arribadas of those who lived in the mountains.
Naturalism
Naturalism is a movement that can be viewed as Realism in the extreme. It emerged in the second half of the 19th century in France and spread to several European countries.
Themes
- Human beings are determined by their genetic inheritance and social environment.
- Naturalists have a materialist conception of the self.
- Accordingly, the naturalistic novel focuses on describing the degrading circumstances of life.
- Naturalism’s purpose is to denounce social injustices.
Narrative Techniques
Naturalists engage an object based on observation and documentation to describe settings and characters.
Naturalism in Spain
It is present in the novels of Pardo Bazán, Blasco Ibáñez, in a part of the work of Galdós, and Clarín’s novel, La Regenta.
- Emilia Pardo Bazán: Cultivated the essay, the novel, and the newspaper article.
- Vicente Blasco Ibáñez: Used naturalistic techniques to describe several areas of Valencian society of his time.
- Benito Pérez Galdós is the best 19th-century Spanish novelist and one of the greatest of all Spanish literature. His production can be divided into three periods:
- 1st: Thesis novels
- 2nd: Naturalistic novels
- 3rd: Spiritual novels
- Leopoldo Alas Clarín: Born in Zamora, he studied law in Oviedo. One of his most famous works is La Regenta. Clarín applies the principles of Naturalism to his characters.
Dialogue
Dialogue can interrupt the narrative, but sometimes the opposite occurs; it serves as a channel to the action of the novel, making it move forward.
Modernism
Modernism is a literary and cultural movement developed in Spain and Latin America between 1885 and 1916 as a reaction to the cultural, moral, and aesthetic values of the society of the time. Therefore, it is:
- The rejection of a vision of reality based on reason and experience.
- Disagreement with the model of bourgeois life, which values, above all, the overcoming of utilitarianism.
- The rejection of prosaism and vulgarity that had fallen into literature. Its main objective is the achievement of beauty by radical renewal of language.
Crisis of the Century
Spain at the end of the 19th century was mired in a profound crisis that was reflected in different areas. The country was shocked by the disaster of ’98.