Modernism is a literary movement that arises as a reaction against the culture and literature of the nineteenth century, showing the dissatisfaction of the writer with the world around him. In Spain, the desire for renewal occurs in the midst of political and cultural decadence. Modernism has a marked anti-bourgeois sign, although it was born in the bosom of the bourgeoisie and rose up against what was judged as prosaic literature immediately before it. Modernists are young writers devoted to aesthetic renewal, who have adopted the name of modernists with a provocative attitude towards their enemies, who originally called them that. 

Hispanic modernism is a synthesis of the literary styles of Parnassianism and Symbolism, coming from French poetry of the second half of the 19th century. Parnassianism establishes the cult of formal perfection, under the ideal of a serene, balanced, and impassive poetry, framed in pure and sculptural lines. Symbolism, somewhat later, is a current of poetic idealism that has its origins in the French poet Baudelaire. They move away from the academicism into which the Parnassians fell. The cult of external beauty does not satisfy them and they want to go beyond mere appearances. For them, the sensible world is only a reflection, or symbol, of the hidden realities, being the poet's mission to discover them.

Modernists borrow from Parnasianism the conception of poetry as a marble block, exotic themes, and an emphasis on sensory values. From Symbolism, they take the art of suggesting and the varied musicality. Although there is a sector of its theme that focuses on the intimacy of the poet, above all Modernism, is characterized by the search for beauty, both in theme and style. Favorite themes are those of evasion into the distant place in time, hence his taste for the classic and mythology, injecting poetry with a pagan atmosphere. Other places of escape are medieval stories and legends, as well as exotic places, such as the  Orient and the Nordic countries.

Modernism supposes a profound renewal of language, with an astonishing expansion of expressive resources. This takes place in two directions, in the brilliance of the great effects and splendorous evocations and in the intense sense of the delicate, with tones in accordance with the expression of intimacy. Modernist authors have a prodigious command of the language, being masters in the use of phonic resources, such as imitative harmony or alliteration. They dominate a vast lexicon, with a predominance of cultured and evocative terms. Poetry in the Castilian language came out of Modernism completely different from what it had been previously, setting an example of artistic concern and creative freedom through language.

Modernism

Rubén Darío publishes Azul, a collection writings of revolutionionary  poetic structure. 

José Martí publishes his collection of poems, Versos libres, written between 1878 and 1882.

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Modernism

1888

1913

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