Modernism and the Generation of ’98: A Literary Analysis
Modernism and the Generation of ’98
Their themes and attitudes are consistent with those of poetry. The sensuality, the idealization, and stylization of reality are the basis of Valle-Inclán’s “Sonatas” and Juan Ramón Jiménez’s “Platero y yo,” peaks of modernist prose due to the accumulation of rhetorical devices and feelings, their escape from everyday reality, and their atmosphere of nostalgia and melancholy. The Generation of ’98 retains aspects such as the renewal of modernist language, impressionistic
Read MoreMachado’s Poetic Language: Style, Symbols & Philosophy
Poetry and Philosophy in Machado
Machado always saw a relationship between the poetic and the philosophical. Philosophers learned the art of metaphors from poets: Heraclitus’s river, Plato’s cave, Pythagoras’s lyre, etc. However, Machado perceived insurmountable barriers: the philosopher thinks outside of time, while the poet thinks within their own life in time. The philosopher uses logical thinking; the poet uses poetic thinking. The former captures essence. Machado stated the philosopher’s thought
Read MoreRomanticism: Key Themes, Poets, and Literary Works
Key Characteristics of Romanticism
Romanticism emphasized introspection, psychology, and melancholy, alongside a feeling of eternal discontent and the search for identity. A key characteristic was the ability to affect, giving importance to the concept of the sublime, and exploring themes of death, feelings, unattainable beauty, and nature.
Social Concerns in Romantic Poetry
Romanticism questioned societal norms, showing interest in and concern for outcasts such as tramps, beggars, obsessive characters,
Read MoreNature’s Role in American Literature: Transcendentalism vs. Naturalism
Nature’s Role in American Literature
In The Scarlet Letter, Nature stands in clear opposition to Puritan society. This opposition is symbolically manifested by the Prison Door and the Rosebush. The Prison, a place where criminals are punished for their sins, represents Puritan society. Prisoners, however, see a beautiful rosebush before entering the prison. The beauty of the rosebush is a reminder that Nature is sympathetic towards those people punished by Puritan society. This is even more clearly
Read MoreAesthetic Contrasts: Greek, Christian, and Romantic Views on Beauty
Aesthetic Differences: Greek, Christian, and Romantic Perspectives
Greek Aesthetic: Objective Harmony
For the Greeks, beauty was an objective property of reality, inherent in the harmony of natural forms. This harmony, according to Aristotle, was based on precise outlines and mathematical proportions, creating a graceful symmetry that imbued objects with fineness and lightness. This transcendental beauty was a property of any existing object.
Christian Aesthetic: Divine Creation
Christianity viewed
Read MoreHispano-American Modernism: Origins, Traits, and Influence
Hispano-American Modernism
Emerged as a subversive force in Latin America and an expression of resistance to the commercialism of the bourgeois cultural revolution.
After the independence wars of the nineteenth century, some Latin American countries achieved political stability, resulting in economic prosperity. Contacts with Europe, particularly France, increased through imports of luxury items by the moneyed classes. French lifestyles and thought were seen as “modern” and implied a rejection of
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