Early 20th Century Hispanic Literature and Historical Context

Novel: Pío Baroja
Essay: Miguel de Unamuno and Azorín

Latin22 Mar 20262.8 KB

End of the Century Literature

Industrialization drove economic development but worsened the situation of the proletariat and social inequities.
The foundations of anarchism, socialism, and communism became decisive ideologies for the 1917 Revolution.
Economic development and colonization were primary causes of the First World War (1914–1918).

1898 Disaster: The loss of Spanish colonies (Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba).
1902: Alfonso XIII reaches the age of majority; he later supports the coup by General Primo de Rivera, who imposed a dictatorship until 1930.
1931: The Second Republic.
1936: The Spanish Civil War.

A period of literary splendor from the late 19th to the early 20th century:

An artistic and literary movement that developed throughout the Hispanic world in the early 20th century.

Origins: Born in Hispanic America with Rubén Darío.
Influences: Two poetic streams: Parnassianism (focusing on beauty and formal perfection) and Symbolism (suggesting the true reality of things through symbols).

Aestheticism: A claim for beauty in all forms, focusing on intense feelings and emotions.
Aristocratic Ideal: Rejection of vulgarity, often symbolized by the swan.
Escapism: Rejection of contemporary reality, leading to an escape into remote, exotic times and places.
Language Renewal: Incorporation of cultisms, focus on musicality (anaphora, parallelism, alliteration), and the recovery of classical verse alongside free verse.
Preferred Meters: Hendecasyllabic, dodecasyllabic, and Alexandrian.

Latin American Modernism: Rubén Darío (Songs of Life and Hope, Azul..., Prosas Profanas).
Spanish Modernism: Antonio Machado (Soledades, Campos de Castilla) and J.R. Jiménez (Platero and I, Diario de un poeta recién casado).