19th Century Aesthetics: Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism
Romanticism:
- Characteristics: Individualism is revealed against all objects, expressing the artist’s intimacy and a subjective view of reality.
- Denial of Reality: The world imposes limits, producing romantic frustration. The reaction to reality is evasion or rebellion.
- Defense of Freedom: Freedom of thought is the basis of Romanticism, considered essential, rejecting neoclassical rules.
- Nature: The natural world acquires importance in art. Landscapes are intricate, harsh, or desolate, reflecting the
Types of Narrative Worlds in Fiction
Everyday World Narratives
When the reality depicted in a narrative closely resembles our own, representing facts and daily life as accurately as possible, it creates a familiar and realistic effect on the reader.
Key features include: detailed descriptions of landscapes, people, events, and characters, along with objectivity.
Caution: Narratives set in an everyday world adapt to the specific time period they depict. Therefore, just because the events in a work don’t align with our current reality doesn’
Read MorePoetics in Antiquity: Key Concepts and Thinkers
Poetics: Creation and Imitation
Poiesis is akin to creation. Poets exist because they are creators. The idea persists that God created the world through words, leading to the belief that words possess creative power.
The Power of Words in Creation
Some believe words hold magical power over reality, citing examples like:
- Mantra: A series of syllables with religious meaning, believed to cause effects in reality if pronounced correctly.
- Wen: A rhythmic pattern found both in poetry and potentially in the
Inclán, Modernism, and the Generation of ’98: Key Themes & Authors
Inclán: A Varied Production
Inclán’s production is varied, passing through an elegant modernist critical position. His work has two stages. The first, modernist, includes sonatas in 1902: Estío (Summer), Otoño (Autumn), 1903: Primavera (Spring), 1904: Invierno (Winter) in 1905. The Marquis de Bradomín exalts them in a decaying world. Plays include Barbara Forman by: Eagle of Heraldry, 1907, Romance of Wolves 1908, and Silver Face 1922.
The Esperpento Period (1920s)
The esperpento period, exemplified
Read MoreModernism 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
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