Hispanic Modernismo in the Context of European Symbolism — Towards a Comparative Dekon‐struction

Abstract

The confrontation of the terms generation of 1898 and modernismo emerges as one of the most controversial questions in the history of modern Spanish literature. In this article the problem is examined through the ideological dichotomies proposed by some scholars during the Dictatorship to argue that any discourse must be considered within the power structures which control it. Thus, the cultural scene of the late nineteeth century should be seen as a succession of readings. A deconstructive reading enables one to effect an a priori reconstruction of the period which seeks, from hermeneutics, another possible interpretation based on comparative criteria. Deconstruction questions the binary oppositions (modernismo v. noventayocho) and appropriately offers an hypothesis which shows how comparative literature, contained within a new paradigm, links critical theory with history. In this way and employing the polysystem theory of Even‐Zohar. the Spanish fin de siglo might be studied in the context of other Hispanic modernismos (Catalan, Galician, Basque and Latin American) and compared with European Symbolism. This dynamic and heterogeneous approach converts Hispanic modernismo into a movement of constant instability that questions the triple scheme of generationmovement and period to open a wider perspective that might be linked with Modernity.