Spanish Literature: 18th and 19th Century Authors and Movements
Spanish Literature: 18th and 19th Centuries
Key Authors and Their Works
This overview covers prominent authors and literary movements in Spain during the 18th and 19th centuries.
- Moratín: (Theater) El sí de las niñas, La comedia nueva o El café.
- Cadalso: (Prose) Cartas marruecas, Noches lúgubres.
- Espronceda: (Poetry) Canción del pirata, El estudiante de Salamanca, El diablo mundo.
- Duque de Rivas: (Drama) Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino.
- Zorrilla: (Theater) Don Juan Tenorio.
- Larra: (Prose) Artículos de costumbres (Vuelva usted mañana, El castellano viejo, Casarse pronto y mal), political articles, and literary criticism.
- Bécquer: (Poetry) Rimas; (Prose) Cartas desde mi celda, Leyendas.
- Rosalía de Castro: (Poetry) En las orillas del Sar.
- Galdós: (Prose) Episodios Nacionales, Fortunata y Jacinta, Miau; (Theater) El abuelo.
- Clarín: (Prose) Short stories and novellas (¡Adiós, Cordera!); Novels: La Regenta, Su único hijo.
18th-Century Literary Movements
The 18th century in Spanish literature was marked by several distinct movements:
- Postbarroquismo: A degeneration of the Baroque style, with authors mimicking the concepts and language of Culteranismo and Conceptismo, but with lower quality. Key Author: Torres Villaroel.
- Neoclassicism: Influenced by French rationalism and culture, emphasizing reason, good taste, and classical rules. The goal was to teach while delighting. Key Authors: Feijoo and Jovellanos; Iriarte and Samaniego (Fables). Predominantly philosophical and critical writings.
- Prerromanticism: A precursor to Romanticism, emphasizing sentiment over reason. Characteristics include sentimentality, emotion, the importance of the individual, and melancholia. Landscapes begin to appear in literature. Key Author: Cadalso (Noches lúgubres, Cartas marruecas).
Romantic Literature (19th Century)
Key Characteristics:
- A greater presence and affirmation of the self (individualism), and an exalted, troubled soul.
- A new sensitivity towards landscape and nature, often depicted as grim and unleashed.
- A higher appreciation of history and national literature, seeking lost values.
- A desire to escape in time or space.
Romantic Poetry (Espronceda)
- Increased subjectivity, expressing intimate feelings, emotions, and experiences.
- Nature and landscape reflect the poet’s soul.
- Varied use of meters and stanzas.
- Common themes: love, religion, history, death, etc.
Narrative Poetry
- Content: Poems inspired by earlier Spanish literature, focusing on historical events in the Middle Ages or the 16th century.
- Versification: Traditional romance as the strophic form.
- Style: Bright and colorful, with many images and poetic devices to strengthen the narrative expression or description of characters.
Romantic Theater
- Rejection of Neoclassical rules (unity of place, time, and action).
- Reflection of various social concerns.
- Predilection for historical and legendary drama.
- Mixing of comic and tragic elements.
- Playwrights looked to themes and characters from classical theater.
- Works divided into five acts.
- Romantic heroes and heroines are full of mystery and rebellion, longing for freedom, subject to strong feelings, and often marked by a tragic destiny.
- The same work can be written in prose and verse, with great metrical variety.
- Abundant use of burial or night settings.