Spanish Realist Literature - Characteristics of Realism

Characteristics of Realism

In Spain, the best literary fruit of the second half of the 19th century was the novel, a consequence of the international blossoming of the genre as an expression of the middle class's rising political power, obtained through successive revolutions (1789, 1820, 1830, 1848). The values and inquietudes of the middle-class are reflected in the mirror of Realist literature: individualism, materialism, desire for social ascent, and esteem of daily and immutable things.

The fundamental themes of literary Realism are the contrast between traditional farming values and modern urban values, the exodus from the field to the city and inherent social and moral contrasts, the fight for social ascent and moral and economic success, women's dissatisfaction with restrictions against their working outside of the home, and middle-class independence and individualism. The themes of adultery and folletinesque and sentimental fantasy appear, as ways to escape the relentless Realism of the era. There are two main tendencies in Realism: the progressive and the conservative.

The Realist novel of this period is characterized by:

• Objective vision of reality through direct observation of customs or psychological characters, eliminating subjective aspects and fantastic events. According to Galdós and Clarín respectively, "The novel is the image of life," as well as "an artistic copy of reality."
• Defense of a thesis: the narrators write their works focusing reality through their moral conception, using an omniscient narrator. The defense of a thesis usually compromises the objectivity of the novel.
• Themes relevant to the reader, such as marital conflicts, infidelity, and defense of ideals.
• Colloquial and popular language, which acquire great importance because they locate characters firmly in the environment reflected in the text.