The literary Romanticism is the era of literary production carried out between the end of the eighteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth century in various parts of Europe. This literary manifestation was subject to aestheticisms that were totally opposed to the cosmopolitan and extreme approaches of the French Enlightenment.

( Romanticism ) from which it derives its name. The authors who followed their forms sought to counteract the capitalism generated by the Industrial Revolution, which at that time was developed by the Gauls and spread throughout Europe.

The literature of Romanticism proposed to rescue the essence of things. The work of the writer was to bring people closer to transcendence through letters. Formalism and intellectualism were seen as obstacles in the creative process.

Contrary to popular belief, the term “romanticism” does not refer to “love”, as it is currently perceived. In the seventeenth century, the “romantic” was everything that described the melancholy that nature arouses, the wild and everything that was related to this.

At that time the word “romantic”, by synonymy, was associated with the improbable, incredible and fantastic. In contrast, this adjective, by antonymy, was an antagonism of the Greco-Latin and the classical, such as medieval literature .

Characteristics of Romanticism

Enhancement of the popular, natural and indigenous

A marked characteristic of this literary trend is that longing for the origins, for the identity of the peoples, for the preservation of culture. A deep interest is perceived in that the man returns to the field, takes the reins of the crop and moves away from the mechanical and its derivatives.

It is palpable in literary works how traditions reach a great degree of importance because they are the mark that defines different cultures.

The man and his freedoms

The creative subject is also vindicated. It advocates the freedom of creation and thought of beings, without patterns or stereotypes .

Man’s direct relationship with God

Another key aspect of Romanticism is the rescue of man’s relationship with the supreme being without intermediaries, without so much religiosity or formalities. TO

It is in vogue for a bilateral and one-person relationship, and considers that the church with its structuring came to break the thread between God and men.

Creation more for its use than for its value

It respects the value of created things, but puts the practicality of the object and the benefit it can generate to others above the monetary. He considers creation a non-artistic event for mere economic reasons.

The value of nationalism

The homeland is a key theme in Romanticism. The love for the land, its boundaries and its people predominate in the romantic work.

Fate awaits for all

In the romantic work there is a mystical and divine appreciation of destiny: everything is written. Quite contrary to what is stated by the followers of the Enlightenment, who state that man’s destiny is marked by the works he does.

Main representatives of Romanticism and their works

Below are several significant authors and three of their most prominent works:

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

(Germany)

Plays:

• – Clavijo  (1774).
• – The black forest  (1789).
• – Faust, First Part , (1807).

Lord byron

(England)

Plays:

• – Darkness  (1816).
• – Cain  (1821).
• – The island  (1823).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(France)

Plays:

• – Dissertation sur la musique moderne (1743).
• – Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse (1761).
• – Pygmalion (1771).

Giácomo Leopardi

Plays:

(Italy)

Plays:

• – Versi (1826).
• – Canti (1831).
• – Moral booklets  (1827).

Alexandr pushkin

(Russia)

Plays:

• – The Prisoner of the Caucasus  (1821).
• – Tale of the dead princess and the seven knights  (1833).
• – The story of the Pugachov mutiny (1834).

Edgar Allan Poe

(USA)

Plays:

• – The narration of Arthur Gordon Pym  (1838).
• – “The crimes of Morgue Street” (1841).
• – “The Raven” (1845).

Esteban Echeverria

(Argentina)

Plays:

• – Elvira or the girlfriend of Plata  (1832).
• – Don Juan (1833).
• – Hymn of pain (1834).

Rafael pigeon

(Colombia)

Plays:

• – The hour of darkness (1855).
• – Painted stories for children  (1867).
• – Moral tales for formal children (1869).

Manuel Acuna

(Mexico)

Plays:

• – Free thinker texts (1870).
• – The past (1872).
• – Complete poems  (post mortem 1911).

Jose Marti

(Cuba)

Plays:

• – Ismaelillo  (1882).
• – Simple verses  (1891).
• – Flowers of exile  (1878-1895).

Alberto Blest Wins

(Chili)

Plays:

• – The first love (1858).
• – The arithmetic of love  (1860).
• – Mariluán (1562).

Juan Antonio Pérez Bonalde

(Venezuela)

Plays:

• – Stanzas (1877).
• – Rhythms (1879).
• – Gloria in Excelsis (1883).