Literary Movements: Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism

Romanticism

Romanticism was a cultural, artistic, and ideological movement of the mid-nineteenth century that defended the break with established rules and the expression of sentimientos. The most important characteristics of Romanticism are:

• Freedom
• Subjectivism and individualism
• Idealism
• Nature
• A return to the past
• A break from the everyday world
• Dynamism and nationalism

The most important Romantic authors are José de Espronceda, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rosalía de Castro, Mariano José de Larra, Ángel de Saavedra, and José Zorrilla.

Realism and Naturalism

Realism was a cultural and artistic movement that emerged in nineteenth-century Europe while Romanticism still lingered in literary life and politics. It defended the representation of reality as accurately as possible. Its features include:

• Analysis and observation
• Inclination for the contemporary novel
• Objectivity and social criticism

Naturalism argues that human beings are determined by the laws of heredity, as well as the social and historical moment, and are therefore not free. Its features include:

• Analysis of reality
• Searching for the root of problems
• Attempting to find solutions
• Bringing scientific concepts into literature

Important authors and works include:

• Pepita Jiménez by Juan Valera
• Juanita la Larga by Juan Valera
• Emilia Pardo Bazán with The Tribune and The Burning Question
• Benito Pérez Galdós with National Episodes and novels like Doña Perfecta and Nazarín
• Leopoldo Alas, Clarín, with La Regenta and ¡Adiós, Cordera!

Modernism

Modernism was a philosophical, religious, political, and artistic crisis caused by the development of bourgeois society in the late nineteenth century. Its main characteristics are:

• Development of irrationalism, leading to the "death of God"
• Commodification of bourgeois culture
• Rejection of the utilitarian spirit of bourgeois morality
• Roots in rebel romantic idealism
• Opposition to the bourgeois political system
• Anti-colonialism
• Artistic opposition to the national artistic forces of the time

The Poetry of Antonio Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez

Machado developed an original poetic style within Modernism, characterized by a variety of tones ranging from the lightness of his compositions on bohemian life and flirtation to the melancholy of his intimate religious poems. The poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez was characterized by the desire for "full nudity" in poetry, the weight of the biographical, the longing for eternity, and an aesthetic, ethical, and philosophical foundation. For him, poetry was not just a way to overcome the imperfection of the world, but a journey of self-knowledge and reality.