Spanish LITERATURE of the 18th century: summary, authors and characteristics

What comes after reaching the top in a literary Golden Age? Maybe the century XVIII in Spain it is not the most loved - or even known - for what it does to its literature, but for this it does not deserve less attention.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we will focus on Spanish literature of the 18th century to make a general summary of all literary genres, the authors most prominent, and of course, the features that make the Spanish literature of the Enlightenment so special.

Index

1. Summary of eighteenth century Spanish literature
2. Prose of the 18th century: authors and characteristics
3. Poetry of the 18th century: authors and characteristics
4. 18th century theater: authors and characteristics

The 17th century in SpainIt was a century marked by the loss of power in the kingdom, the misery of the population, wars, new plague epidemics and social discontent. As we all know, when reality goes bad, many have no alternative but escapism. As a kind of Netflix therapy of its time, literature flourished dramatically in what is called the age of

But with the arrival of the Spanish literature of the 18th century they also arrived new currents of Europe that proposed changes beyond the literature: scientific innovation, critical thinking, predominance of reason, empiricism, or the questioning of preconceived ideas (such as religion), among others. This new movement, both cultural and intellectual and political, is known as the Illustration, or the Century of the lights.

And what did this mean for literature? After such a prosperous literary Golden Age, sadly, there is no Crystal Century or Diamond Century. The Age of Enlightenment in literature intended the arts to reflect the principles of the Enlightenment. This means that literature had to be primarily didactic and utilitarian, I had to "instruct delighting”- not just passing the time, but transmitting a useful or critical message to the viewer. Illustrated literature was at the service of the community, subordinated to politics, so it had to play a role. didactic, formative and useful function.

In Spain, the change from popular and entertaining literature from the Baroque to this new type of illustrated literature was much more difficult than in other European countries due to the strength of the Golden Age (and that it was still very Present). For this, not all the literature produced in the 18th century in this country was illustrated literature, and despite the attempts of the Bourbons to implant a neoclassical literature, more "to the French taste", and introduce European ideas in the Spanish literary world, the first decades of the century would still see a prevalence of the baroque.

With this in mind, we will now delve into each of the literary genres to better understand their characteristics and authors and works that marked the Spanish literature of the 18th century.

For the enlightened, prose fiction was of very little value. According to them, the verse was the literary expression par excellence, while the prose was the medium of the truth and history, so the great Spanish novels would have to wait for the nineteenth century to make their return.

This is not to say, however, that it was not written in prose, for the essay genre triumphed among the intellectuals for spread the ideas of the Enlightenment, whose value was not considered literary, but didactic and communication of reason and discussion on social reforms.

Also noteworthy is the letter format, or writing through letters. Both for fiction (epistolary novels) and for essay texts, the resource of the letter found its maximum expression in the 18th century. In order to bring his illustrated ideas to a wide audience, the language used was direct and clear, regardless of the rhetorical figures that had triumphed in the previous century.

Next, we discover you the authors and works of eighteenth century Spanish literature within prose.

Fray Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

Writing already at the beginning of the 18th century, Feijoo was one of the first intellectuals to develop a writing on enlightened thought before it took root completely in Spain. His writings focus on the promulgation of rational principles, defending the skepticism that allows questioning intellectual issues, empiricism, and critical freedom. His pleasant and clear style was intended to make his ideas reach the widest possible audience, and his success contributed to the introduction of enlightened ideas among the population.

• Universal critical theater: collection of essays in 9 volumes covering a wide variety of topics, from science to literature and social issues, always with a critical spirit against old customs ("to disappoint common errors"), and in favor of the dissemination of new ideas through a language simple.
• Scholarly and curious letters: Five volumes of essays in the form of letters also on very diverse subjects and in a style that frees itself from the artificiality of the Baroque.

Jose Cadalso

Writer, poet and illustrated military man. He stands out for his writing of the Moroccan letters, published posthumously, in 1789.

Moroccan letters: Inspired by the model of the Persian letters by the Frenchman Montesquieu, Cadalso uses a fictional framework (a fictional context and characters) to perform a critique of customs, questioning the situation of society, government, life and customs Spanish. The 90 letters are the fictitious correspondence between Gazel (a young Moroccan visiting Spain for the first time), Ben-Beley (also a Moroccan friend and teacher), and the Spanish Christian Nuño Núñez. The epistolary resource thus opens up the possibility of exposing different points of view and reflections on the subjects dealt with in the letters. The epistolary format allowed a more comfortable and enjoyable reading.

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos

One of the most representative intellectuals of the Enlightenment in Spain, Jovellanos held positions of responsibility as Minister of Justice in the government of Carlos IV and Manuel Godoy. His enlightened ideas and his will to reform clashed with a policy less and less open to change as a consequence of the reaction of the European powers to the French Revolution. In his writings, Jovellanos identifies the problems of the Spain of his time and proposes solutions and reforms to improve them. He especially highlights his work in the fields of economics and education. Some of the most important writings of him are the following:

• Report on the agrarian law: Jovellanos criticizes the traditional privileges on the land, writing in favor of a just distribution of the land, to stop the privileges of the Mesta, and the confiscation of communal and ecclesiastical assets, among others reforms.
• Pedagogical Memories, Plan of education of the nobility, and other writings dealing with reforms in teaching.

Other Spanish intellectuals influential in the enlightened ideas of the 18th century are Fray Martín Sarmiento, Ignacio de Luzán, Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanos, Antoni de Capmany and Juan Pablo Forner.

Image: Slideshare

As we have repeated several times in this lesson, eighteenth century Spanish literature was intended to be didactic and useful above all, doing a service to the community and spreading ideas derived from reason and critical thinking. Normally, we understand poetry as the literary genre of maximum personal and subjective expression, focusing on the feelings of the author, and you may be wondering how it is possible to reconcile such a literary genre with the rational and didactic will of the Illustration. Difficult mission, right?

First of all we must take into account the influence of the baroque style, loaded with rhetorical figures and puns, about still many poets of the beginning of the century, and also we must mention an evolution towards a pre-romanticism at the end of the century (growing importance of sentimentality).

But as regards strictly neoclassical and enlightened poetry, we can turn to the intellectual Ignatius of Luzán, who noticed the bases of illustrated literature in its Poetics. This work was very influential in the literature of the time and promulgates the following characteristics:

• A literary language based on naturalness (imitating nature) and utility.
• The clarity and brevity they are preferable to the excessive rhetorical figures of the Baroque. Rejection of baroque, which hinders the transmission and majority reception of the message.
• Poetry has the purpose of "making virtue lovable and vice abhorrent."
• “Instruct with delight, or delight with profit”, That is to say, combining the virtuous with the entertaining, the utility with the delight.
• Poetry subject to the rules of "good taste": an overflowing imagination is not worth it, and expressive simplicity and naturalness do not allow excesses.

In short, the ideals and values ​​of the Enlightenment, centered on progress and moral teaching, but making them enjoyable and entertaining to read to reach the wider audience possible.

This desire to make illustrated poetry coexisted with a neoclassical poetry which coincided with the enlightened ideals in its imitation of nature and the rejection of the exuberance of the baroque. There is no clear separation between this neoclassicism and the Enlightenment, but we can call the themes neoclassical more strictly amorous, mythological and bucolic poetry of the eighteenth century, while philosophical and political-social poetry clearly had a mission illustrated.

Having said all this, during the 18th century the same shapes and meters were cultivated as during the Golden Age. There are epics (since the epic was very well considered), but also sonnets, and traditional forms such as romance or the redondilla. The illustrated and neoclassical poets rejected the baroque, but they did They were inspired by Renaissance figures such as Garcilaso de la Vega and Fray Luis de León, in addition to classical authors such as Horacio.

Other authors and works of illustrated poetry in Spain

For reasons of local proximity, friendship, and participation in communal gatherings and gatherings, eighteenth-century Spanish poets are often divided into groups such as the "Salamanca School" and the "Sevillana School", sometimes including the “Madrid Group”. As this classification does not significantly affect his works, we present below some of the most outstanding poets of the century individually:

• Some authors of the transition: José Antonio Porcel, Alonso Verdugo de Castilla (rococo poetry)
• Juan Meléndez Valdés: A member of the Salamanca school, Meléndez Valdés was closely related to personalities such as Cadalso and Jovellanos (also poets in addition to their prose work). The poetry of Meléndez Valdés is extensive and varied, and therefore shows an evolution from his early works to those of his maturity. His young poetry is highly influenced by Rococo taste, but already with a preference for nature themes. His poetry evolves towards a more neoclassical position, centered on serenity, harmony and classical forms, with a pastoral theme such as that found in his renowned eclogue. Batilo. Finally, his contact with Jovellanos and his involvement in the ideas of the Enlightenment will make him adopt illustrated themes, such as those found in his epistles and odes. His poetry will also develop on certain occasions a more intimate character that anticipates the literature that would succeed him.
• Thomas of Iriarte, and Felix Maria Samaniego: Considering the didactic purpose that illustrated authors so sought, it is no surprise that the genre of fable - written in verse - enjoyed such popularity in the 18th century, and Iriarte and Samaniego are proof of this. Inspired by the model of the French La Fontaine and the classic fables of Aesop, these two authors were the most illustrious Spanish fabulists of the time. The fables of Samaniego they were mainly directed to a children's readership, with simple language and verses understandable by children, while the style of Go away it was more formal and literary. Although there was a strong feeling of rivalry between the two, his fables represent the ultimate essence of illustrated literature, intended to instruct and delight.
• Nicolás Fernández de Moratín: He is a member of the gathering at the Fonda de Sebastián, where personalities such as Cadalso and Iriarte also met. A great admirer of Garcilaso and the classical tradition, Nicolás Fernández de Moratín was one of the most important Spanish neoclassical poets of the century. Even so, Moratín also cultivated more popular themes, such as his Moorish and historical romances, in addition to being known for his bullfighting-themed poetry and festive atmosphere.

The Poetics by Luzán also had a strong impact on the theater. During the first decades of the 18th century, theatrical works of Baroque inspiration continued to be produced, such as comedies of entanglements or works influenced by the style of Calderón de La Barca. However, the illustrated ideas expounded by Luzán and in other speeches and discussions of the time such as the Speeches on Spanish tragedies expressed the need for a new type of theater, of neoclassical inspiration, which had already triumphed in France at the hands of authors such as Racine.

This theater was to be regulated (respecting the three units and other Aristotelian rules), according to the "good taste", and transmitter of a moral philosophy. Like the rest of illustrated literature, it had to offer a "profitable diversion" and moral instruction, important in a literary genre such as theater, which was often regarded as a source of indecency and moral corruption, and an example of bad Actions.

However, the implementation of a neoclassical theater it was not so simple. The theater, more than any other literary genre, enjoyed great popularity among the lower classes, who often did not know read, and the population preferred a theater more similar to that of the previous century, with a more clearly entertaining and escapist. This is why, in parallel to the neoclassical theater proposed by intellectuals and the upper classes, the 18th century also featured a popular theater - skits, satires, etc. Its popularity was such that in 1765 the autos sacramentales (of Baroque origin and very well received by the popular public) were banned.

Even so, the neoclassical theater also contributed novelties regarding its Greco-Latin inspirations or French, since his enlightened character seeking didacticism and usefulness for society meant also an efocus on rising classes like the bourgeoisie (who received a leading role as the aristocracy and divinities had done) and in their contemporary social problems. He thus promoted a bourgeois behavior synonymous with morality and correctness.

Authors and works of the illustrated theater

• Leandro Fernández de Moratín. Son of the also playwright and poet Nicolás Fernández de Moratín. Leandro Fernández de Moratín was the greatest exponent of the neoclassical theater of the 18th century. He was also a poet, but received a great reputation for his dramatic work, interested in exposing contemporary social problems and thus serving a didactic function. Some of his most important works are The yes of the girls: Comedy written in prose that deals with the problem of forced marriage between a young woman and a wealthy gentleman older than her. Using the argument of a love story between the girl and a young military man, Fernández de Moratín criticizes family oppression that forced girls into unequal marriages with a large difference of age. Moratín himself addressed this issue also in his satire The old man and the girl
• Ramón de la Cruz: Maximum exponent of popular theater 18th century. Very prolific playwright, he wrote sainetes and zarzuelas very popular with the public. His works have popular characters as protagonists and usually portray the Madrid of his time and the customs of the people. One of the most popular sainetes of him is Manolo.

If you want to read more articles similar to Spanish literature of the 18th century: summary, authors and characteristics, we recommend that you enter our category of History of Literature.

• Mujica, B. and Florensa, E. (2008). Anthology of Spanish Literature: 18th and 19th Centuries. Resource Publications.
• Palacios Fernández, E. (2003). Evolution of poetry in the 18th century. Alicante: Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library.
• Egido, A., Laplana, J.E. (eds.) (2010). The light of reason. Literature and Culture of the 18th century. In memory of Ernest Lluch. Zaragoza: IFC.