Spanish Romanticism: Core Tenets, Literature, and Key Authors

Characteristics of Romanticism

Romanticism is a cultural movement that opposes the principles of the Enlightenment.

• Rejection of reason in favor of imagination.
• An idealistic vision of humanity, driving the quest for freedom.
• A search for the exotic and distant as a form of escapism from reality.
• Interest in tradition and the recovery of legends.
• A turn towards the irrational and mysterious.

In Literature

• Rejection of neoclassical precepts.
• Defense of metric freedom and the mixing of characters and literary genres.

Literary Themes

• Desperate and impossible love.
• Ruins as a symbol of the passage of time.
• Anxiety and the desire for freedom from rules.
• Nature as a reflection of the poet's feelings.
• Death as an end to anguish.
• Disillusionment with ideals.
• Destiny and the obstacles faced by human beings.
• The concept of the 'pueblo' (people/nation) to strengthen its traditions.

José Mariano Larra

Born in Madrid in 1809, José Mariano Larra was exiled to France with his father and returned at the age of nine. He failed in his personal and political life, which made him the prototype of the tormented Romantic man. He was primarily dedicated to journalism but also cultivated poetry, the novel, and drama.

Articles of Customs (Artículos de Costumbres)

His articles are distinct and provide a perfect understanding of the society, politics, and letters of his time. In El castellano viejo (The Old Castilian), all the features of his style are present, employing caricature and ridicule to critique a society he dislikes.

Prose

Prose was used as a vehicle to disseminate the philosophical ideas of the movement and served as a mirror of the society and customs of the time.

Articles of Customs

These are brief compositions in a plain style, describing the virtues, vices, feelings, and ways of thinking of the people.

The Novel

Historical Novel

The historical background and landscape provide verisimilitude to the story, but the main protagonist is not a real historical figure.

Social Novel

This offers a critical view of society, showing the injustices and abuses of the upper class.

The Lyric Poetry of José de Espronceda

Born in 1808 in Badajoz, José de Espronceda is the most brilliant and representative poet of Spanish Romantic lyricism. He died at the age of 34, and his short life was marked by his hectic political activity as a liberal, which led to his banishment and arrest in his youth.

Song of the Pirate (Canción del pirata)

Considered the first Spanish Romantic poem, it is characterized by the simplicity of its vocabulary, its conciseness, its metaphors, and the perfection of its rhythm. Through this poem, Espronceda expresses his own feelings.