Definition of Literary Movement

The literature and its history is studied from different perspectives. It is common to present authors within a certain genre: narrative, poetry, theater. Literature is also studied according to times or periods (the Spanish Golden Age, the Spanish-American boom, etc). A different option is the knowledge of literature through the analysis of literary movements.

A movement literary is formed by a group of contemporary authors who share some concerns (themes, style, ideology... ). The term literary movement is frequently associated with so-called isms. Ismo is a suffix that means doctrine or trend and is used in the field of art. There are many isms in literature: surrealism, realism, naturalism, dadaism, etc.

Both the idea of ​​literary movement and the notion of ism as doctrine act as synonymous terms. The literary movement has a specific name (with the suffix ism or without) when a group of writers share the same era and a series of concerns. A good example is the

Romanticism. It arose as a reaction to Realism when a group of writers began to abandon the concerns and ideas of Realism and incorporated a renewed spirit; with new themes, a more creative style and ideals with another dimension.

The same literary movement may have its equivalent in other arts. This was also the case with Romanticism, which manifested itself in painting or music. In this way, Romanticism expressed the feeling of a time and that expression it went beyond a specific artistic manifestation.

The idea of ​​literary movement is useful for ordering and better understanding literary works. It is a system of classification that allows to understand the authors within a cultural context. The classifications have certain problems when it comes to their interpretation. The problems are manifested when critics and researchers of the literature consider that a literary movement has a new trend (we talk about modernism and postmodernism, realism and neorealism). The debate Technician of specialists is typical of intellectuals and academic circles and is not usually of interest to the general public.

The concept of literary movement implies an evident reality. That each author belongs to his own time and in it there are shared values ​​and interests, so it is natural that there is a common expressive direction. This does not mean that all literary expression is within a movement, since there are authors who are attached to an ism, trend or movement.

Issues in Literary Movement