Modernism was an artistic and cultural movement between approximately 1880 and 1920. As far as literature is concerned, it was an essentially poetic current. It is characterized by a symbiosis of the new and transgressive, which can be seen in the renewed language, and also by the return to classicism. The aesthetics was main in the movement, so the sublime, aristocratic and refined in the content can be appreciated, as well as an affected tone. The result was a culturalist movement accessible only to a few.
It had a great push in Latin America, although it would also end up reaching Spain. For this reason, literary modernism It is a movement that was essentially written in Spanish. He was born in Nicaragua and his highest representative is Rubén Darío. His work Blue… (1888) is the maximum exponent of this current. But there were many who contributed to this exquisite and symbolist style. Here are some of the most important modernist authors.
Ruben Dario
He is the main figure of modernism and one of the most important Spanish-American writers of the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries.. He was born in Metapa (Nicaragua) in 1867 and took up poetry, journalism and worked as a diplomat. He soon began to write and interact with people from the literary and political fields of El Salvador and Chile, countries where he lived for a while in his youth. In fact, BLUE he published it in Chile in 1888. This collection of poems is extremely important for modernism because it initiates the literary style and paves the way for other modernist writers.
He spends a good part of his time collaborating for different journalistic media and will live in various countries in Latin America and Europe while continuing to explore his poetry. in 1892 He arrives in Madrid where he will make contact with the most renowned Spanish writers and politicians of the time.. With the influence that this will mean for the Spanish literature of the moment.
One of the most important characteristics of his poetry is the adaptation of the French Alexandrian verse to the Spanish metric.. The fundamental works of Rubén Darío are: Blue… (1888) Profane prose and other poems (1896), C.antomos de vida y esperanza, the cinemas and other poems (1905)
Leopold Lugones
Lugones is Argentine, and in addition to being a poet, he was an essayist, politician and journalist, although he also worked in very different occupations. In his land he was the most relevant modernist author. For his part, he had to live with an emotional instability that probably led him to commit suicide with cyanide. His most important modernist works are influenced by symbolism, a literary current that is very popular among modernist authors.; these are the mountains of gold (1897) and The garden twilights (1905). As a curiosity, he also cultivated the narrative and wrote fantasy as an initiator of science fiction.
José Martí
Despite his revolutionary character and participation in the organization of the Cuban war of independence, José Martí is another of the most important modernist authors. Yes ok modernism should be understood as an intellectual current in search of a literary renewal, and Martí was also able to develop a poetry that was more committed to society. In addition to being a poet, this Cuban-born writer was a journalist and philosopher, founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, dissolved in 1898. Along with Rubén Darío, he is considered the father of modernism.. His masterpiece is The Golden Age (1889)
Amado Nervo
Mexican journalist, poet and diplomat. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Language and on a trip to Paris he met great personalities of art and culture, such as Oscar Wilde, Leopoldo Lugones or Rubén Darío, with whom he would maintain a close friendship. Likewise, he resided in Madrid, Argentina and Uruguay. His work is difficult to classify in a unique movement due to its afflicted, melancholic or mystical character, especially in his last years.. Highlights black pearls (1898) Mystics (1898)
Manuel Gutierrez Najera
Gutiérrez Nájera is another Mexican author who also dedicated a good part of his work to the chronicle of Mexico City., portraying the movement and changes to which the great metropolis was subjected during the second half of the XNUMXth century. He was a modernist poet close to ancient romanticism, which is why he left a sensitive and refined imprint. As a journalist he was easily identified by the nickname of Duke Job. Gutiérrez Nájera died at the age of 35 due to a brain hemorrhage. Within his work stand out Duchess Job, Hamlet to Ophelia, short odes o Schubert's Serenade.
Jose Asuncion Silva
Not much of his work is preserved from this author because a good part was lost. After having experienced various misfortunes, he committed suicide when he was barely thirty years old. However, what remains of his texts is highly valued yeHe is one of the most important modernist poets in Colombia. Likewise, part of his literary work is framed within costumbrismo. The most significant surviving work by this author is the book of verses.
Delmira Agustini
This writer was quite an exception for her time. She can be counted among the very few modernist women thanks to the fact that she was born into a wealthy family that provided her with the necessary approval and support to forge a respected literary career. She was born in Montevideo (Uruguay) in 1886 into a family of Italian immigrants, although she was murdered by her husband at the age of 27. His work stands out for its erotic content and the most representative is empty chalices (1913).
Julio Herrera and Reissig
The other most important Uruguayan writer of modernism is Julio Herrera Reissig. He was also born in Montevideo and likewise died young since he was in fragile health. Despite having written essays and narratives, his most notable work belongs to poetry. His style developed from romanticism to surrealism and modernism.. Among his poetic work stands out The ecstasies of the mountain o The tower of the sphinxes.
Manuel Gonzalez Prada
He was a Peruvian poet and philosopher who had enormous influence in his country due to the essays he wrote, highly critical in the social and political sphere. He had a huge impact on Peruvian realism, as well as on the modernist movement. He started from romanticism and He reached modernism with an enormous talent for language, filling it with possibilities. His poetry is an authentic renewal of the lyric. Highlights Lowercase (1901) and Exotic (1911)
Most relevant Spanish authors linked to modernism
- Manuel Machado. His poetic work is very bulky; stand out Alma o The bad poem.
- Juan Ramon Jimenez. Famous poet who surprised with the work Platero and me (1914), worthy example of narrative modernism.
- Ramon del Valle-Inclan. Renowned playwright, novelist and poet. His most important modernist work is Legendary scents. Verses in praise of a hermit saint.
- Jacinto Benavente. Playwright who gave the Spanish theater an important renovation. Although he also wrote poetry, short stories and newspaper articles. Saturday night It is a work that exudes lyricism.