The Enlightenment and Romanticism: Key Literary Movements
The Enlightenment in the 18th Century
The Enlightenment was an ideological and cultural movement in the 18th century that championed reason. Its core features included rationalism, reformism, idealism, and didacticism. Cultural trends included:
- Posbarroquismo: Extravagant art lacking substance.
- Pre-romanticism: Values of fraternity and emotional expression.
- Neoclassical art: Adherence to established rules.
The encyclopedic spirit significantly impacted literature, emphasizing teaching and making essays a predominant genre. Key authors include:
Key Enlightenment Authors
- Feijoo: Known for Teatro Crítico Universal, a collection of essays on diverse subjects, written in a simple and natural style.
- Jovellanos: Dedicated to studying and addressing contemporary issues, writing reports on topics like national progress, politics, and cultural history.
- Cadalso: Famous for Cartas Marruecas (Moroccan Letters), which critiques the shortcomings of Spanish society.
Poetry and Theater
Poetry during this era emphasized reason, leading to the popularity of fables for their critical and didactic nature. Iriarte and Samaniego were prominent figures. Meléndez Valdés, a significant lyric poet, synthesized Anacreontic, philosophical, and social themes.
Plays predominantly had a didactic intent, adhering to standards like the three unities, plausible plots, genre consistency, and educational purposes. Moratín was a representative playwright, with his most important work being El sí de las niñas (The Maiden’s Consent), which fully embodies neoclassical principles and addresses arranged marriage with a clear moralizing aim.
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic movement of the early 19th century that championed the creative power of the spirit, imagination, feeling, and passion. Key characteristics of romantic poetry and prose include:
- Expression using a lexicon of melancholy, passion, and frustration.
- Exotic imagery.
- Popular use of metrical forms.
- Love and death as major themes.
Key Romantic Authors
- Espronceda: Notable for his long poems, El estudiante de Salamanca (The Student of Salamanca) and El diablo mundo (The Devil World), focusing on love and the exaltation of marginal figures (e.g., pirates).
- Bécquer: Characterized by a new sensibility and poetic vocabulary. His most important work, Rimas (Rhymes), deals with the idealization of women, the failure of love, and loneliness, marked by brevity, simplicity, and symbolism.
- Rosalía de Castro: Wrote in both Castilian and Galician, playing a crucial role in the revival of the Galician language. Her most famous poetry book is En las orillas del Sar (On the Banks of the Sar).
Romantic Drama
Romantic drama rejected Aristotelian rules, mixing genres and verse. Characters often included a romantic hero and a woman in love, struggling against fate with a tragic outcome. Representative works include Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino (Don Alvaro or the Force of Fate) by the Duke of Rivas and Don Juan Tenorio by Zorrilla.