A New Iberian Social Critique: Clarín's Reception of Guilherme de Azevedo's Revolutionary crónicas

Abstract

Guilherme de Azevedo traded his promising poetic career for journalism at a young age. Following the polemical 1871 Casino Conferences in Lisbon, he founded the revolutionary periodical O alfageme, which was discontinued under government pressure. Azevedo's early poetry was also censored. A alma nova (), initially titled Poesia da revolução, was slated for publication in 1871 but delayed three years, with its original title subverted. Later in his career, Azevedo moved to Paris and wrote biting crónicas about Paris and Lisbon for Portuguese newspapers until his death in 1882. Upon Azevedo's death, Spanish novelist and literary critic Leopoldo Alas (known as Clarín) published an extensive tribute to Azevedo's crónicas in the newspaper La Diana, arguing that the humorous approach of Azevedo's hastío (weariness/ boredom) differentiated his works from famous Spanish writers. This article analyzes Clarín's reception of Azevedo's social poetry and crónicas by exploring Clarín's 1882 homage. In his review, Clarín argued that Azevedo's poetic and journalistic works were innovative in both literary style and sharp editorial content (i.e., op-ed). Through Clarín's reception, this article demonstrates how Azevedo's revolutionary crónicas provided a potential model of social critique for Iberian, and particularly Spanish fin de siglo writers, to emulate.