Guide to Modernismo: 9 Notable Modernismo Writers

Modernismo was a Latin American literary movement that took place during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Modernismo emphasized the perfection and beauty of language, culture, and poetry and was characterized by stylistic and rhythmic expression and strong patriotic rhetoric.

Modernismo should not be confused with the Western modernism movement in literature, or with Catalan modernism, which was a similar art nouveau movement in Spain.

Modernismo was one of the first uniquely Latin American literary movements that marked a major shift in style for Spanish language literature from the late 1880s until 1920.

• Beginnings: Modernismo was a rejection of naturalism, a popular literary movement that took its inspiration from natural science and would later lead to realism. The writers that would lead Modernismo were influenced by followers of the Parnassian school, who believed in art for art’s sake, and by French Symbolists, who sought to represent absolute truths through metaphor and symbolism.
• Azul: The publication of Rubén Darío’s widely successful collection of poetry Azul (1888) is often seen as the true beginning of Modernismo. Darío was considered the lead figure of the movement, and he traveled to Spain and throughout Latin America to promote it.
• Periodicals: The ideas of Modernismo were spread through periodicals such as La Revista Azul (1894–96) and La Revista Moderna (1898–1911), both published in Mexico.
• World War I: The Modernismo movement began to wane in popularity around the start of World War I (1914–1918) when violence and a volatile political climate made the aesthetics of the movement seem trivial. Its influence, however, can be seen throughout the literature of the twentieth century.

Modernismo was a major literary moment in Latin America, and the poetry and essays of the modernistas shared many common elements and beliefs.

1. 1. Cultural affinity: Modernismo writings aimed to capture Latin American culture and express a cultural maturity and awareness of the present. Writers expressed pride in their cultural identity and specifically emphasized the superiority of spiritualism over Western materialism.
2. 2. Formal experimentation: Modernismo was concerned with breaking free from formal traditions. Writers experimented with meter and rhythm and played with language and symbolism. Many poems used the Alexandrine verse form of French poetry: a line with twelve syllables with stresses on the sixth and the last syllable, as well as a secondary accent on each half-line.
3. 3. Perfection and beauty: Many writers, such as Rubén Darío, believed in the inherent beauty of poetry, and sought to perfect poetry with lyrical language and styles. This was often referred to as la voluntad de estilo, or the poet’s pure expression of style and identity.

The writers of the Modernismo period came from all over Latin America and, because the movement emphasized individual self-expression, their styles remained distinct.

1. 1. Rubén Darío: Considered the leader of Modernismo, Darío was a Nicaraguan poet whose collections Azul and Prosas Profanas y Otros Poemas introduced the lyrical vocabulary and heavy rhetoric of the style.
2. 2. José Martí: Martí was a Cuban poet and revolutionary who became a leader in the early Modernismo period with his powerful speeches and essays, including “Nuestra America,” which was originally published in New York. He published very few books, and his works were instead dispersed across journals, newspapers, and in speeches, some of which are lost forever.
3. 3. Leopoldo Lugones: Lugones was a writer from Argentina whose work came at the tail end of the Modernismo movement. His short stories represent some of the earliest science fiction and fantasy in Spanish literature.
4. 4. Juan Ramón Jiménez: Spanish poet Jiménez advocated the idea of “pure poetry,” which promoted the lyricism and spirit of the Modernismo style. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature and is best known for his works Poemas Mágicos y Dolientes and La soledad sonora.
5. 5. Julio Herrera y Reissig: Herrera y Reissig was a Uruguayan poet who began writing in the Romanticist style converting to Modernismo. He is best known for his poetry that innovated on both form and language and became a major influence on Spanish-American literature.
6. 6. José Asunción Silva: Colombian poet Silva was an early founder of the Modernismo movement known for his experimentation with verse, rhyme, and meter. He is best remembered for his anthology Gotas Amargas and his poem Nocturno.
7. 7. José Enrique Rodó: Rodó was a Uruguayan writer best known for his philosophies of self-reformation that helped unite Latin America. The strong patriotic and spiritual rhetoric in his essays influenced many of the ideas found in other Latin American Modernismo writings.
8. 8. Amado Nervo: Mexican journalist and poet Nervo was known for his use of metaphors and mysticism in his writings, most of which dealt with themes of religion and love. His most popular work was his poetry collection Místicas and he helped found the literary journal La Revista Moderna.
9. 9. Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera: Nájera was a Mexican writer who traded Romanticism for Modernismo and helped many other Latin American writers establish themselves. He used many pseudonyms during his career, and most of his work was never collected.

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