Reason and Order: The Enlightenment and Neoclassicism
The Enlightenment (c. 1720-1770)
The Enlightenment was a European cultural movement spanning roughly from 1720 to 1770. Its roots lie in the empiricism and rationalism of 17th-century philosophers, subsequently spreading to France and Germany.
The Enlightenment was based on a strong belief in the power of reason to enable progress. It implied a strong critical spirit: everything was analyzed and discussed. Belief in the natural liberty of humankind also grew: the idea that all are born equal and free by nature.
For Enlightenment writers, literature primarily served a didactic and ideological function: spreading knowledge and their liberal ideas, opposing political absolutism and religious dogmatism. Key authors included Voltaire (philosophical tales), Rousseau (Emile), and Diderot.
The 18th century, the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ or ‘Century of Lights’, marked the triumph of reason over faith and metaphysics. Rationalism and positivism, supported by scientific discoveries, led to pervasive skepticism and a focus on moral balance.
Neoclassicism in 18th Century Europe
Aesthetically, the 18th century saw the continuation of Baroque styles, but the aesthetics of Neoclassicism, originating in late 17th-century France, gradually spread throughout Europe, along with French customs, fashion, and language prestige. Outside France, the term ‘Neoclassicism’ often describes the artistic period from around 1750 well into the 19th century. It sometimes overlaps with Pre-Romanticism.
Neoclassicism marked a return to classical standards. Literature primarily regained a didactic purpose, expressed mainly through theatre (comedies and tragedies adhering to the three unities: action, space, and time) and poetry, particularly didactic fables and satire.
Boileau’s Neoclassical Principles
Nicolas Boileau (1636–1711), a key theorist of French Neoclassicism, proposed rules balancing unity and the imitation of Greek and Latin models:
- Verisimilitude (Likelihood): Artwork should seek the general and archetypal, shying away from the fantasy and exaggeration of the Baroque.
- Decorum (Style): Contrasts, mixing of genres, and the sensationalism of the previous century should be avoided.
- Moral/Educational Purpose: Art must contain a lesson; literature should serve an instructive or exemplary function.
Catalan Culture in the 18th Century
Catalan literature during this century lagged behind broader European cultural developments. Many intellectuals were forced into exile after the War of the Spanish Succession. Later, the expulsion of the Jesuits deprived Catalonia and Valencia of many leading Enlightenment figures.
A significant repressive action was the symbolic closure of the University of Barcelona and other Catalan universities, replaced by a single royalist university in Cervera as punishment <<por haber, los que concurrían a ellas, fomentado muchas iniquidades>> (‘for those attending them having fomented much iniquity’).
Thus, while Europe experienced the Enlightenment, Catalonia faced obscurantism and rigid doctrinairism. Only in Menorca (Minorca) could some intellectuals follow Enlightenment ideas and embrace Neoclassicism, such as the Menorcan poet and playwright Joan Ramis i Ramis (Lucretia). His work followed the precepts of Neoclassical tragedy established by Racine in France.