Spanish Literature: From the 18th Century to Realism
18th Century Spanish Literature
The 18th century in Spanish literature did not reach the brilliance of the previous Baroque century. However, it saw the emergence of pre-Romantic sensibilities and distinct literary environments.
- Posbarroco: Offered little novelty, continuing themes from the previous century.
- Neoclassicism: Flourished during the reign of Carlos III, with the rise of Enlightenment ideas, uniformity of style, and the predominance of reason.
- Preromanticism: Emerged towards the end of the century, emphasizing emotion.
18th Century Poetry
- Baroque Poetry: Diego Villarroel Torres followed the style of Quevedo.
- Neoclassical Poetry: Valdés focused on didactic poetry, fables, with Iriarte and Samaniego.
- Pre-Romantic Poetry: Valdés is a key figure.
18th Century Prose
- Essay: This genre became more developed with Feijoo and Jovellanos, using a more modern and simple language.
- Posbarroca Prose: Villarroel Torres employed an autobiographical tone, reminiscent of the picaresque novel, as seen in Life.
- Neoclassical Enlightenment Prose: Featured quality essays and critiques from Feijoo, Cadalso, and Jovellanos, such as Reimundo of Campazas, Fray.
- Pre-Romantic Prose: Cadalso and Jovellanos contributed to this style.
Feijoo
Feijoo wrote didactic essays, reflecting the intellectual climate of the time. His important and varied works aimed to modernize society, including Universal Theater Critic and Erudite and Curious Letters, which attacked superstitions and false beliefs. His language was concise and anti-Baroque, suited to a didactic purpose.
Jovellanos
Jovellanos’ essays explored economics, education, and agriculture from an enlightened perspective, aiming to modernize the country. Examples include: Memory on the Settlement of Police Shows, a reflection on forms of entertainment and society, defending the educational value of neoclassical theater; Report on Land Law, which studied the causes of backwardness in the field and proposed reforms such as the abolition of laws preventing the sale of property by churches, municipalities, and nobility; and Report on Public Education, which considered culture the origin of social prosperity and personal happiness.
18th Century Theater
- Posbarroco: Featured swashbuckling comedies and magic, achieving success with sacramental sketches (Ramón de la Cruz).
- Neoclassical: Primarily comedies and tragedies.
- Preromantic: Emphasized sentimentality, as seen in Jovellanos’ The Honest Offender.
Romanticism
- Individualism: A revolt against established norms, expressing the artist’s intimacy and a subjective vision of reality.
- Rejection: Allowed for escapism into fantastic worlds of imagination and past epochs, rebelling against the established order.
- Defense of Liberty: Constituted the basis of Romantic thought.
- Nature: Became important in art and landscape, adapting to the author’s state of mind, exalting the rough, desolate, and lonely, or death.
- Nationalism: Valued the unique features of the country.
Realism
Realism focused on showing reality based on social interest and observation of the outside world. The aim of art was to provide a chronicled view of the human social environment, incorporating themes and artistic verisimilitude. The theme centered on bourgeois society.
Naturalism
Naturalism incorporated deterministic methods, employing experimental documents and applied sciences. Determinism played a key role, representing sordid atmospheres and characters marked by heredity. It represented a critical complaint against social deprivation.
Esproceda
Esproceda was a liberal and, in some ways, a romantic prototype. His poems often dealt with social outcasts, such as in Composition of the Pirate. His style was bombastic and emphatic, with metric changes, exclamations, and rhetorical questions creating musicality.
Bécquer
Bécquer excelled in lyric poetry (Rhymes) but also wrote prose (Legends), fantastic stories set in the Middle Ages. His poetry was intimate, evoking subjective feelings with formal perfection and simplicity, influencing authors such as Machado and JRJ.
Rosalía de Castro
Rosalía de Castro’s work, such as At Sar Banks, features a simple and direct style, expressing feelings about love, loneliness, sadness, and injustice, often accompanied by descriptions of nature.
Larra
Larra’s articles can be categorized as:
- Articles of Habit: Reflected on the ways of society in a friendly, critical, and satirical tone, describing the environment and characters, and attempting to reform and modernize.
- Political Articles: Addressed the political landscape of the era, attacking Carlism and rejecting liberal politics.
- Literary Articles: Offered critical remarks on the literature of the time, particularly theater.
Larra employed a direct, personal style, adapting his language to the needs of journalism.