The Enlightenment: Intellectual Reform and Cultural Impact

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a reform movement that spread from France throughout Europe during the eighteenth century, gaining significant importance through the Encyclopédie led by Diderot and d'Alembert, which attempted to summarize all human knowledge. Key features include:

• Reliance on reason as the primary means of achieving progress and happiness. The eighteenth century is known as the Age of Enlightenment.
• Observation and experience as the foundation of science.
• Tolerance regarding religious trends and diverse currents of thought.
• Enlightened Despotism: Politically, monarchs practiced a form of government aimed at improving the lives of the people. While supporting the absolute power of kings, the goal was to educate the populace and improve their living conditions.

The Enlightenment in Spain

In Spain, enlightened reformers faced significant difficulty in spreading their ideas due to opposition from the clergy, the nobility, and traditionalist factions. New enlightened thought entered Spain primarily through the translation of French books, travel, and connections with reformist European bourgeoisie.

Spanish Literature and Neoclassicism

Literature served as a vehicle for the themes and ideas of the Enlightenment. It was primarily critical and didactic, introducing new literary genres such as the essay and the newspaper article.

Poetry in the Eighteenth Century

New aesthetic theories, rationalism, and the focus on explanation did not favor the cultivation of lyric poetry. One of the most cultivated forms was the fable.

Prose in the Eighteenth Century

The main characteristic of prose in this century is didacticism. Key genres include the essay and social critique.

• José Cadalso: Author of Cartas marruecas (Moroccan Letters), a work that offers a sharp criticism of life at that time.
• Jovellanos: A prominent figure in Spanish Enlightenment thought.
• José de Viera y Clavijo: The most relevant enlightened figure from the Canary Islands. His knowledge is reflected in the Dictionary of Natural History of the Canary Islands and General History of the Canary Islands.

Theater in the Eighteenth Century

Features include:

• Adherence to the three unities.
• Works must serve an educational purpose.
• The plot must be credible.
• The most important author of this period is Leandro Fernández de Moratín.

Grammar and Syntax

Coordinated Clauses

• Copulative: and (y/e), nor (ni).
• Adversative: but (pero, mas, sino, sin embargo, no obstante).
• Disjunctive: or (o/u).

Subordinate Clauses

• Substantive: Function as nouns.
• Adjectival: Introduced by a relative pronoun.

Adverbial Clauses

• Time: when, while, as soon as.
• Place: where.
• Manner: how, according to.
• Purpose: for that purpose.
• Cause: because, since.
• Consecutive: therefore, consequently.
• Conditional: if, on condition that.
• Concessive: although, despite that.
• Comparative: as, such as, unless.