Rexurdimento
Encyclopedia
The Rexurdimento was a period in the History of Galicia
during the 19th century. Its central feature was the revitalization of the Galician language
as a vehicle of social and cultural expression after the so-called séculos escuros ("dark centuries"), in which the dominance of Castilian Spanish
was nearly complete. The Galician Rexurdimento coincides with the Catalan
Renaixença
.
Romanticism
led to a revival of regionalism in the Iberian Peninsula
. Languages besides the official Castilian Spanish were reevaluated. In contrast to the universalizing Age of Enlightenment
, a positive value was placed on regional traditions, languages, and dialects. In Galicia, Castilian Spanish had become the language of the cities and of the bourgeoisie
, while Galician had become a largely rural language without a live literary tradition. This created some degree of diglossia
, with Castilian Spanish dominating literary and business use, and Galician being strictly a language of daily life.
of 1846. The first phase involved a rather diffuse revival of the Galician language; the second is more concentrated, including the first new Galician-language works in centuries to gain acclaim.
From 1840 onward, groups of intellectuals saw Galicia as a backward region whose advancement was dependent on the formation of a regional or national identity. This provincialist movement centered at the University of Santiago de Compostela
; its most prominent figure was Antolín Faraldo Asorey.
The failed Solís Uprising of 1846, an uprising against centralism, ended with the summary execution of the so-called Martyrs of Carral. This political and military defeat nonetheless awoke Galician literary consciousness. Authors who shared the idea of Galicia as their fatherland published in magazines such as El Centinela de Galicia ("The Galician Sentinel") and La Aurora de Galicia. Benito Viceto published a History of Galicia (1865–1866) a heroic narrative of Galician history in six volumes. Important works from this period include the Proezas de Galicia ("Prowess of Galicia") by Fernández Neira, A gaita gallega ("The Galician Bagpipes") by Juan Manuel Pintos (1853), the founding of the Juegos Florales de Galicia ("Floral Games of Galicia") in A Coruña
(1861), as well as publications such as El álbum de la caridad ("The Charity Album") and newspapers that published fragments of Galician-language novels and plays.
The two foremost Galician-language genres from this time were political writings and the revival of Galician as a literary language. The first of the political writings were linked to the Peninsular War
, viewed throughout Spain as a war of independence against Napoleonic
France: Un labrador que foi sarxento ("A farmer who was a sergeant", 1808) and several dialogues, the first of them being Proezas de Galicia explicadas baxo la conversación rústica de los dos compadres Chinto y Mingote ("Prowess of Galicia explained through the rustic conversation of two comrades Chinto and Mingote") by José Fernández de Neira (1812). Later, pamphlets and newspapers published polemics on both sides in the struggle between absolutism
and liberalism
, and other polemics critical of the administrative situation of the region. On the literary front were villancico
s (intended to be sung), one play (A casamenteira by Antonio Benito Fandiño, published in 1849 and centered on arranged marriage
), satirical sonnet
s, two books of poetry by Nicomedes Pastor Díaz, and various other works. Francisco Añón was another author relevant in this period.
Professor Dolores Vilavedra, while cautious in drawing conclusions, sees this phase of the Prerrexurdimento as basically a Galician form of artistic and political Romanticism. Some institutions developed during this period, such as an Academia Literaria de Santiago with its official organ El Idólatra de Galicia, and magazines such as Revista de Galicia. However, many of these institutions were repressed after the 1846 Solís Uprising.
The intellectual heirs of this thwarted movement were a group of young people, among them Manuel Murguía
, Eduardo Pondal
, and Rosalía de Castro
. Their gathering in 1856 at the Banquete de Conxo ("Banquet of Conxo") marks the founding of the Liceo de la Juventud as a gathering place and a base for cultural activism.
's book of poems Cantares Gallegos in 1863. Nonetheless, there is no sharp break from the Prerrexurdimento to the Rexurdimento, and there were no other significant publications in Galician for over a decade after the Cantares Gallegos, a period that includes Spain's Glorious Revolution
and the subsequent liberal era.
However, beginning in 1875 more works were published in Galician, including, again, newspapers, the most famous of which was O Tío Marcos da Portela ("Uncle Marcos from Portela", 1876–1889). The Biblioteca Gallega ("Galician Library") published 52 works beginning in 1885, including such prominent works as Aires da miña terra ("Airs of My Land") by Manuel Curros Enríquez
and Queixumes dos Pinos ("Moans of the Pines") by Eduardo Pondal.
1880 was a particularly outstanding year, with the publication of Follas Novas ("New Leaves") by Rosalía de Castro, Aires da miña terra by Curros Enríquez, and Espiñas, follas e frores. Ramiño primeiro ("Spines, Leaves, and Fronds. First Sprigs") by Valentín Lamas Carvajal.
In 1886, for the first time, a literary contest was held, confined to Galician-language works. Poetry was particularly prominent, and anthologies of Galician poetry began to appear. In a more political vein, that year saw the publication of Los precursores ("The Precursors") by Manuel Murguía.
These years also saw the publication of many grammar books, dictionaries, and critical literary studies, and further history books, including another History of Galicia by Manuel Murguía. Furthermore, there was a recovery of the splendid works in Galician by medieval troubadour
s ), the Cantigas. The first such work to be published was the Cancionero de la Vaticana (1875), followed by Colocci Brancuti (1889), Cantigas de Alfonso X El Sabio (1889), and Cancionero de Ajuda (1904).
The first significant published prose fiction in Galician was by Marcial Valladares Núñez. His Maxina ou a filla espúrea ("Maxina or A Spurious Daughter") appeared in the 1880s in a series of inserts in a magazine; the manuscript dates from 1870). The book is particularly unusual in its mix of Galician and Castilian Spanish to suggest the bifurcated lives of its characters.
The canon
Antonio López Ferreiro is considered the true father of the Galician nove. He wrote three novels, the best known of which is A tecedeira de Bonabal ("The Weaver of Bonabal"), published in installments in Galician newspapers. These realistic works with aspects of the historical novel
are set at different points in Galician history.
Costumbrismo, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, was also active in Galicia, as it was elsewhere in Spain. However, in Galicia it focused almost entirely on rural life. Urban narratives in Galician began to appear only toward the end of the 19th century, as in the work of Francisco Álvarez de Novoa, urban, bourgeois, and psychological. This was a prelude to the innovative writers of the Irmandades da fala
.
There were very few theatrical works associated with the Rexurdimento.
History of Galicia
The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by modern humans.-Megalithic culture:Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias, western León, and Zamora formed a single megalithic area since the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages, around 4500–1500...
during the 19th century. Its central feature was the revitalization of the Galician language
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
as a vehicle of social and cultural expression after the so-called séculos escuros ("dark centuries"), in which the dominance of Castilian Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
was nearly complete. The Galician Rexurdimento coincides with the Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
Renaixença
Renaixença
The Renaixença was an early 19th century late romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture, akin to the Galician Rexurdimento or the Occitan Félibrige movements. The first stimuli of the movement date of the 1830s and 1840s, but the Renaixença stretches up into the 1880s, until it...
.
Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
led to a revival of regionalism in the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. Languages besides the official Castilian Spanish were reevaluated. In contrast to the universalizing Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, a positive value was placed on regional traditions, languages, and dialects. In Galicia, Castilian Spanish had become the language of the cities and of the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
, while Galician had become a largely rural language without a live literary tradition. This created some degree of diglossia
Diglossia
In linguistics, diglossia refers to a situation in which two dialects or languages are used by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety , a second, highly codified variety is used in certain situations such as literature, formal...
, with Castilian Spanish dominating literary and business use, and Galician being strictly a language of daily life.
The road to the Rexurdimento
The transitional phase from the séculos escuros to the Rexurdimento is referred to by literary historians as the Prerrexurdimento. Within the Prerrexurdimento, two phases can be roughly distinguished, before and after the unsuccessful Solís UprisingSolís Uprising
The Solís Uprising was an unsuccessful military uprising in Galicia in 1846. The soldiers executed after the defeat became known as the Martyrs of Carral .-Context:...
of 1846. The first phase involved a rather diffuse revival of the Galician language; the second is more concentrated, including the first new Galician-language works in centuries to gain acclaim.
From 1840 onward, groups of intellectuals saw Galicia as a backward region whose advancement was dependent on the formation of a regional or national identity. This provincialist movement centered at the University of Santiago de Compostela
University of Santiago de Compostela
The Royal University of Santiago de Compostela - USC is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia....
; its most prominent figure was Antolín Faraldo Asorey.
The failed Solís Uprising of 1846, an uprising against centralism, ended with the summary execution of the so-called Martyrs of Carral. This political and military defeat nonetheless awoke Galician literary consciousness. Authors who shared the idea of Galicia as their fatherland published in magazines such as El Centinela de Galicia ("The Galician Sentinel") and La Aurora de Galicia. Benito Viceto published a History of Galicia (1865–1866) a heroic narrative of Galician history in six volumes. Important works from this period include the Proezas de Galicia ("Prowess of Galicia") by Fernández Neira, A gaita gallega ("The Galician Bagpipes") by Juan Manuel Pintos (1853), the founding of the Juegos Florales de Galicia ("Floral Games of Galicia") in A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
(1861), as well as publications such as El álbum de la caridad ("The Charity Album") and newspapers that published fragments of Galician-language novels and plays.
The two foremost Galician-language genres from this time were political writings and the revival of Galician as a literary language. The first of the political writings were linked to the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, viewed throughout Spain as a war of independence against Napoleonic
Napoleonic Era
The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory...
France: Un labrador que foi sarxento ("A farmer who was a sergeant", 1808) and several dialogues, the first of them being Proezas de Galicia explicadas baxo la conversación rústica de los dos compadres Chinto y Mingote ("Prowess of Galicia explained through the rustic conversation of two comrades Chinto and Mingote") by José Fernández de Neira (1812). Later, pamphlets and newspapers published polemics on both sides in the struggle between absolutism
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
and liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, and other polemics critical of the administrative situation of the region. On the literary front were villancico
Villancico
The villancico was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. With the decline in popularity of the villancicos in the 20th century, the term became reduced to mean merely "Christmas carol"...
s (intended to be sung), one play (A casamenteira by Antonio Benito Fandiño, published in 1849 and centered on arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
), satirical sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s, two books of poetry by Nicomedes Pastor Díaz, and various other works. Francisco Añón was another author relevant in this period.
Professor Dolores Vilavedra, while cautious in drawing conclusions, sees this phase of the Prerrexurdimento as basically a Galician form of artistic and political Romanticism. Some institutions developed during this period, such as an Academia Literaria de Santiago with its official organ El Idólatra de Galicia, and magazines such as Revista de Galicia. However, many of these institutions were repressed after the 1846 Solís Uprising.
The intellectual heirs of this thwarted movement were a group of young people, among them Manuel Murguía
Manuel Murguía
Manuel Murguia was a Galician journalist and historian who created the Real Academia Galega. He was one of the main figures in Galician Rexurdimento movement. He is also remembered as Rosalía de Castro's husband, publisher and main supporter.-Life:...
, Eduardo Pondal
Eduardo Pondal
Eduardo María González-Pondal Abente was a Spanish poet, who wrote in both Spanish and GalicianOf Hidalgo origin Pondal was the youngest of a family of seven. From 1884 onwards he studied Latin in a school in Vilela de Nemiña which belonged to his cleric relative, Cristobal Lago...
, and Rosalía de Castro
Rosalía de Castro
María Rosalía Rita de Castro , was a Galician romanticist writer and poet.Writing in the Galician language, after the Séculos Escuros , she became an important figure of the Galician romantic movement, known today as the Rexurdimento , along with Manuel Curros Enríquez and Eduardo Pondal...
. Their gathering in 1856 at the Banquete de Conxo ("Banquet of Conxo") marks the founding of the Liceo de la Juventud as a gathering place and a base for cultural activism.
The Rexurdimento proper
The Rexurdimento is conventionally considered to begin with the publication of Rosalía de CastroRosalía de Castro
María Rosalía Rita de Castro , was a Galician romanticist writer and poet.Writing in the Galician language, after the Séculos Escuros , she became an important figure of the Galician romantic movement, known today as the Rexurdimento , along with Manuel Curros Enríquez and Eduardo Pondal...
's book of poems Cantares Gallegos in 1863. Nonetheless, there is no sharp break from the Prerrexurdimento to the Rexurdimento, and there were no other significant publications in Galician for over a decade after the Cantares Gallegos, a period that includes Spain's Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution (Spain)
The Glorious Revolution took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II.An 1866 rebellion led by General Juan Prim and a revolt of the sergeants at San Gil barracks, in Madrid, sent a signal to Spanish liberals and republicans that there was serious unrest with the...
and the subsequent liberal era.
However, beginning in 1875 more works were published in Galician, including, again, newspapers, the most famous of which was O Tío Marcos da Portela ("Uncle Marcos from Portela", 1876–1889). The Biblioteca Gallega ("Galician Library") published 52 works beginning in 1885, including such prominent works as Aires da miña terra ("Airs of My Land") by Manuel Curros Enríquez
Manuel Curros Enríquez
Manuel Curros Enríquez was a Galician writer and journalist in the Galician language, and is considered to be one of the leading figures of Galician culture and identity.-Early life:...
and Queixumes dos Pinos ("Moans of the Pines") by Eduardo Pondal.
1880 was a particularly outstanding year, with the publication of Follas Novas ("New Leaves") by Rosalía de Castro, Aires da miña terra by Curros Enríquez, and Espiñas, follas e frores. Ramiño primeiro ("Spines, Leaves, and Fronds. First Sprigs") by Valentín Lamas Carvajal.
In 1886, for the first time, a literary contest was held, confined to Galician-language works. Poetry was particularly prominent, and anthologies of Galician poetry began to appear. In a more political vein, that year saw the publication of Los precursores ("The Precursors") by Manuel Murguía.
These years also saw the publication of many grammar books, dictionaries, and critical literary studies, and further history books, including another History of Galicia by Manuel Murguía. Furthermore, there was a recovery of the splendid works in Galician by medieval troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s ), the Cantigas. The first such work to be published was the Cancionero de la Vaticana (1875), followed by Colocci Brancuti (1889), Cantigas de Alfonso X El Sabio (1889), and Cancionero de Ajuda (1904).
The first significant published prose fiction in Galician was by Marcial Valladares Núñez. His Maxina ou a filla espúrea ("Maxina or A Spurious Daughter") appeared in the 1880s in a series of inserts in a magazine; the manuscript dates from 1870). The book is particularly unusual in its mix of Galician and Castilian Spanish to suggest the bifurcated lives of its characters.
The canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Antonio López Ferreiro is considered the true father of the Galician nove. He wrote three novels, the best known of which is A tecedeira de Bonabal ("The Weaver of Bonabal"), published in installments in Galician newspapers. These realistic works with aspects of the historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
are set at different points in Galician history.
Costumbrismo, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, was also active in Galicia, as it was elsewhere in Spain. However, in Galicia it focused almost entirely on rural life. Urban narratives in Galician began to appear only toward the end of the 19th century, as in the work of Francisco Álvarez de Novoa, urban, bourgeois, and psychological. This was a prelude to the innovative writers of the Irmandades da fala
Irmandades da Fala
The Irmandades da Fala was a Galician nationalist organization active between 1916 and 1936.It was the first political organization of Galicia that only used the Galician language.-Origin:...
.
There were very few theatrical works associated with the Rexurdimento.