Evolution of Spanish Literature: From Baroque to Modernity

Baroque

Designates the irregular, complicated, or messy. Opposed to idealism, the Renaissance conception of nature, and the Aristotelian aesthetics of mimesis (imitation). A satirical attitude reported the most degraded aspects of reality. Reality and nature are seen as misleading images, contrasting with the artificial beauty of classical culture.

Culteranismo: Luis de Góngora

Aims to move away from common language by embellishing poetic expression through the accumulation of rhetorical devices.

Conceptismo: Francisco de Quevedo

Focuses on hiding multiple meanings (concepts) within words to stimulate thinking, humor, or mockery.

Romanticism: José de Espronceda and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Prioritizes subjectivity and the writer's freedom against the social norms of neoclassical literature. It was inspired by the ballads and drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Transition to the Twentieth Century: Antonio Machado

Literature should express reality subjectively to reveal the moods and subtle perceptions of the writer.

Modernism: Rubén Darío

Accounted for the renewal of poetry. It emphasized ornamental, lyrical, and musical language, using phonetic contrasts and symbolic imagery.

Novecento and Twentieth-Century Poetry: Juan Ramón Jiménez

Vanguards were artistic and literary movements that defended full creative freedom, including Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Creationism. In Spain, Ultraísmo was particularly significant.

Juan Ramón Jiménez: Three Stages

• Sensitive: Describing nature.
• Intellectual: Identifying feelings with nature.
• Sufficient: Merging with nature to achieve perfection.