Spanish Literary Movements: Naturalism and Romanticism in 19th Century Authors

Emilia Pardo Bazán: Naturalism and Literary Impact

Emilia Pardo Bazán was a woman of great culture and an active intellectual, engaging as a journalist, fiction writer, and literary critic. Her work includes numerous articles and critical essays. She wrote eighteen novels, several short stories, and novellas.

Literary Contributions and Naturalism

In 1883, she published La Cuestión Palpitante (which originated from newspaper articles), where she analyzed and criticized Émile Zola's naturalism. Although Catholic, she rejected determinism but praised the method of observation.

Emilia Pardo Bazán's narrative incorporates naturalist elements: the influence of environment, violent and lurid descriptions, among others.

Among her novels, Los Pazos de Ulloa and La Madre Naturaleza especially stand out.

Analysis of Los Pazos de Ulloa

In Los Pazos de Ulloa, Galicia in the 19th century was depicted, a region characterized by significant ignorance and cruelty. The novel presents a confrontation between city and countryside, an opposition resolved in the civilization-barbarism dichotomy. Characters from the urban environment are often marginalized and destroyed.

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez: From Regionalism to Social Novels

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was a very important narrator who also wrote newspaper articles and historical works. His early works were thesis novels, incorporating feuilleton elements (like La Araña Negra). His regionalist novels recount the life cycle of people in underdeveloped areas. Naturalist features are observed in the social and biological determinism that shaped the lives of his characters. Notable works include Arroz y Tartana and Cañas y Barro.

Later, he entered a period where he rewrote thesis novels, but with a focus on social characteristics. He blended realism and adventure, sentimentality and exoticism to appeal to the general public. From this period, Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apocalipsis is a significant work.

Characteristics of Romanticism

• Liberty and Individualism: Romanticism exalted the importance of the individual and proposed liberty as a supreme value: moral freedom (the right to think and act without consequences), political liberty (the right of citizens as such), and artistic freedom (the creative right of imagination). These values are linked to Titanism and Satanism.
• Subjectivity and Sentimentalism: It claimed a subjective conception of reality, which in literary creation is manifested in the expression of the romantic inwardness of the self.
• Existential Angst: The romantic writer expresses his melancholy, despair, and existential angst. The opposition between the aspirations of society and the individual leads to a marginal interest in certain human types (e.g., the pirate).
• Historicism and Nationalism: Ancient history and works were exalted. Influenced by German Romanticism, works became associated with nationalism. This led to works being rooted in an idealized past, which provoked the revival of Galician and Catalan literature.
• Escape from Reality and Irrationalism: The past served as a stage for the expression of dreams and ideals. There was an interest in exotic and oriental cultures. Authors focused heavily on fantastic storytelling and terrifying, fantastical nightlife.