Spanish Literature: Novecentismo and Modernism
Novecentismo
The term Novecentismo refers to a period of Spanish literature at the end of the 19th century and the avant-garde. A group of writers, including novelists, poets, and essayists, proposed ending the aesthetic ideals that had dominated in the 19th century.
Key Characteristics of Novecentismo
Strong Intellectual and Scientific Training
Many members of the group were educated in European universities and possessed an intellectual preparation that allowed them to face reality with rigor and objectivity.
Intellectualism
The new intellectuals rejected the sentimentality and passion of the fin-de-siècle authors. Their work was dominated by the exposition of ideas, which is why the essay was the predominant genre.
Cosmopolitanism
Their works manifested a universal taste, rejecting local expressions and any form of traditionalism.
Concern for Spain
Heirs of the Noucentistes and Krausismo intellectuals, they proposed active involvement in the political life of Spain to modernize it through culture and science.
Defense of Pure Art
They understood that the purpose of art is primarily aesthetic. Art can create its own autonomous reality and can be considered a simple game.
Formal Concerns
There is an effort to achieve a well-crafted work. This concern leads them to take extreme care of the formal and aesthetic aspects of their creations.
Modernism
Modernism was developed by a group of American poets who can be considered pre-modernists (José Martí, Julián del Casal, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera) and especially thanks to the creative impulse of Rubén Darío, who spread it in Spain. The aforementioned influences gave rise to the thematic and formal renewal carried out by this movement, of which Rubén Darío was its greatest exponent. Although narrative and theater also found modernist expression, it was in lyric poetry that the pursuit of beauty through imagination achieved its greatest achievements.
Modernism in Spain and the Generation of ’98
Generations of the late 19th century in Spain picked up the influences of the main foreign authors cited, converging with the Spanish literary tradition.
From the Latin-speaking voices came a search for new forms of expression. The syncretism of these elements emerged from the crisis of values at the turn of the century. Modernism, in general, is not only a designation of a movement but also of a time and an attitude. Among the most relevant Spanish authors are the poet Manuel Machado and Valle-Inclán in his facet as a novelist.
Some Spanish authors added to the modernist aesthetic renovation a critical consciousness of the moral misery and Spanish decline represented by the date of the disaster of 1898. These authors are criticized by the name of the group or Generation of ’98. They mainly include essayists and novelists Miguel de Unamuno and Pío Baroja, and the poet Azorín (Antonio Machado).
Among critics, there are three different considerations about Modernism:
Some see Modernism and the Generation of ’98 as two opposing movements and stress their differences.
Others believe that the particularities of some authors do not justify the existence of two different labels.
Finally, a conciliatory stance considers Modernism and the Generation of ’98 as two complementary aesthetics that actually share the same movement, emphasizing aesthetic renovation and breaking with some features and not others in each case.