El 'Krausismo' y la generacion de 1898. (Spanish text)
Description
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a philosophical movement of German origin, called krausismo, was introduced in Spain by a University professor, Julian Sanz de R(')io. As a philosophy krausismo was short-lived, but it evolved to become a powerful cultural and educational movement destined to transform many facets of Spanish society. One of the principal concerns of the followers of Krausism was the reform of the country's educational system. They believed that many of the Spain's problems stemmed from the dogmatic, partisan education which isolated it from the rest of Europe. Krausismo became the burning issue of the day, and the liberal krausistas found irreconcilable enemies in the neo-Catholics. In 1876, when a group of the Krausist professors was expelled from their chairs, they found the Institucion Libre de Ensenanza, the first independent educational institution in Spain. This act was to become Krausism's most valuable contribution to the country. A large number of intellectuals were attracted by the institucionistas, among them such writers as Leopold Alas, Emilia Pardo Bazan, and Benito Perez Galdos, as well as members of the Generation of 1898 The cultural climate created by the krausistas led to a change of attitude towards literature in general and the novel in particular. This genre was considered the best medium by which to carry a message to the people. In our opinion, it is not mere coincidence that the years of greatest Krausist activity were also those of the rebirth of the modern Spanish novel. This dissertation explores the relationship between Krausism and the novel of the turn of the century, in order to establish this movement's link with the Generation of 1898 The study is divided into an introduction, five chapters, a conclusion, and two appendixes. In Chapter I, we define krausismo and summarize its origin and evolution. Chapter II, analyzes its influence on the novelists Alas, Pardo Bazan, and Galdos. It is our conclusion that their novels reflect the krausist concept regarding this genre. A third chapter systematically explores the contact between nineteenth century writers and intellectuals associated with Krausism and the Institucion Libre, and the Generation of 1898 in the years 1898-1905. For this purpose we have examined their correspondence as well as newspaper and magazines of that period In Chapter IV, we study the content of those periodicals and letters, in order to point out krausist ideas echoed or shared by Unamuno, Azor(')in, and Baroja in their formative years. Principal among them are their ideas about pedagogy, antidogmatism, and the 'Europeanization' of Spain. Chapter V, analyzes krausist themes in such works as En torno al casticismo, El alma castellana, La voluntad, El arbol de la ciencia and Camino de perfeccion, thus establishing the strong link between krausismo and the early works of Unamuno, Baroja, and Azor(')in. The appendixes reproduce two documents which are difficult to obtain. One is Krause's 'Mandamientos de la Humanidad al Individuo', and the other is an article on Francisco Giner de los Rios by Azor(')in, in which he evaluates this educator's influence on 98