„Unheimlich“, „metaphysisch“, modern. Zur Rezeption Baudelaires in Spanien

Katharina Niemeyer; Klaus Meyer-Minnemann

doi:10.1515/roma.63.13

Abstract

This article investigates from a literary historical and cultural point of view the reception of Baudelaire, especially of his Les Fleurs du Mal, during the Restoration period in Spain. After a short survey of the Spanish poetry of the time in view of its aims and ideological foundations, attention is drawn to the first testimonies of the readings of Baudelaire in Spanish criticism. A focal point of interest remains Leopoldo Alas Clarín’s great essay on Baudelaire, published in 1887/1889 in reaction to a denigrating article on the poet by the influential French critic Ferdinand Brunetière. Clarín’s essay shows his understanding of Baudelaire as a poet deeply characterized by metaphysical preoccupations, in contrast to the tradition of romantic feeling, parnassian impassibilité and symbolist vagueness. At the same time, it becomes clear why Clarín’s sensible view of Baudelaire did not find much response (unlike the situation in Catalonia) in the contemporary Spanish criticism, which was involved in an intense debate about the rising of Hispanic modernismo and often looked at Baudelaire as a representative of cultural (and even physical) degeneration. It is only after the definite implantation of modernismo in Spain that the great importance of Baudelaire is recognized. This is evident in the appreciation of his poetry by Juan Ramón Jiménez.

„Unheimlich“, „metaphysisch“, modern. Zur Rezeption Baudelaires in Spanien

Abstract

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