THE 3 MAIN GENRES OF MODERNISM - ART - 2025

Among the genres of modernism are poetry, prose, and drama. Each of the genres includes different subcategories of literary expressions. In this way poetry includes lyrics and odes; prose can include short stories and novels; the dramatic for its part includes the theater.

All genres of modernism are literary genres. Literary genres are expressive techniques. These are in charge of classifying all literary works within defined categories. Each literary genre has laws of both content and form that authors must respect.

In the case of modernism, literary genres are mainly focused on seeking aesthetic beauty and positioning timeless works, that is, they lack a notion of time and space.

Modernism was born in Latin America between the 19th and 20th centuries as a criticism of the spiritual crisis experienced at the time. Its main exponent is Rubén Darío, who through his production opposes realism.

However, multiple schools existed during modernism. Each of them responsible for the production of works within the different literary genres, using a renewed, musical and refined language.

Genres of modernism and their characteristics

The genres of modernism are poetry, prose and drama. Within these genres two main themes can be evidenced.

The first is the sensory, related to the cult of the senses and beauty. The second is intimate, with a more melancholic, sensual and sad tone.

All modernist authors tend to take one position or the other in their literary works.

Poetry

Modernist poetry breaks with the classical literary tone used so far. It is presented in an innovative and original way, ensuring beauty above all else.

The traditional rules of classical poetry lose importance and are modified in such a way that all literary production is more sublime and less elaborate.

Among the maximum representatives of this movement are authors such as Juan Ramón Jiménez, Antonio Machado, Salvador Rueda, Manuel Machado and Rubén Darío, the latter being the most representative of modernism.

The Nicaraguan writer Rubén Darío wrote several short stories, among which the most notable are The Wolf Motives. Source: wikipedia.org

Rubén Darío stood out for being the highest representative of modernist poetry. Juan Ramón Jiménez for his part is considered to be responsible for renewing contemporary poetry.

Antonio Machado is recognized for presenting a poetic work in which the evolution of the modernist movement is evident.

Among the subgenres of modernist poetry are mainly the lyric and the ode. However, within the literary genre of poetry the hymn, the elegy and the didactics can also be found.

Prose

Prose as a literary genre of modernism is linked to Romanticism, as an extension of it. It seeks to exalt the work of the author as the creator of the literary work, opposing the forgetting of the creative work of each author.

Modernist prose was so flawlessly developed. In this way, the works of modernism became true and prestigious works of art, recognized until today.

The narrative of modernism was determined by various poetic rules that allowed it to be structured in a prodigious way.

The novel as a subgenre of prose greatly reduced its plot and took charge of expressing in greater depth the ideas and feelings of its characters.

This is how the protagonists of each work had a function of consciousness that allowed them to express their emotions and define their world.

The language used by modernist prose has an expressive function of lyrical orientation. Some examples of modernist prose are the sonatas by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán.

Dramatic

The literary genre of drama or theater during modernism made use of new techniques that triggered an inevitable transformation of theatrical art.

Modernist drama was free in its approaches, always maintaining a dialogue between traditional forms of theater and new literary techniques. On the other hand, the design and architectural development of the scenography was improved thanks to the use of new technologies and machinery.

This is how lighting plays a fundamental role in giving more movement to the staging. The traditional idea that indicated how a stage should be arranged also underwent changes. In this way, a stage could take any form, be ephemeral, mobile or transformable.

The modernist drama freed the theater from its traditional appearance. The structure of the proscenium arch and the arrangement of the elements on stage were completely affected.

Among the most important representatives of the modernist drama is Jacinto Benavente. This proposed a new type of comedy, loaded with more realistic dialogue.

Jacinto benavente

Modernism gave way to criticism of society through the performing arts and comedy.

Another fundamental representative of this literary genre during modernism was Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, who was in charge of developing the grotesque technique and renewing the Spanish theater scene.

Characteristics of the genres of modernism

Both poetry and modernist prose and drama were characterized by sharing the following common features:

- Love for elegance: the genres of modernism had a particular fascination for elegance. This is evidenced by the repetitive use of gemstones and a constant appreciation for mythology. Modernist literature seeks to exalt aesthetic values.

- Eroticism and spiritism: in modernist prose and poetry there is a notable fixation on mystery. Eroticism for its part is highlighted through pleasure and its ephemeral nature.

- Renewal of language: the use of metrics and musicality in the works is reinvented, away from classical traditions. It gives way to the use of a more refined lexicon.

- Universal and exotic: the literary genres of modernism exceed the limits of the local, without eliminating the characteristics of the own. It delves into issues of the people and there is an exotic use of time, where it has a double direction.

- Seduction by the strange: it seeks to exalt everything that is different, and allows the works of the notion of time.

References

1. Barquín, JN (2004). The literary and journalistic genres. Nayarit: Autonomous University of Nayarit.
2. Haro, PA (2016). Idea of ​​Literature and theory of literary Genres. Salamanca: University of Salamanca.
3. Literature, W. (February 11, 2016). Wiki Literature. Obtained from Literary Genres of Modernism: wikiliteratura.net
4. Lozano, M. (July 5, 2014). Obtained from EL MODERNISMO: laliteraturamodernista.blogspot.com
5. Republic., SC (2015). Cultural Submanagement of the Bank of the Republic. Obtained from The literary genres: banrepcultural.org