The Dissonant Legacy of Modernismo

The Dissonant Legacy of Modernismo: Lugones, Herrera y Reissig, and the Voices of Modern Spanish American Poetry examines the intricate evolution of modernista poetry in Spanish America, focusing on the works of key figures such as Leopoldo Lugones, Julio Herrera y Reissig, and their successors. The book explores the contradictions and shifts within modernismo, a literary movement defined by its ornamental style and the tension between tradition and innovation. Lugones, known for his diverse body of work, epitomizes the fragmented nature of the movement, offering a precursor to the dissonant trend that would influence later poets. His early works, starting from 1893, signal a break from inherited poetic traditions and social structures, employing innovative thematic elements and technical procedures that defy conventional poetic forms. This drive for reform, despite Lugones' later authoritarian leanings, positions him as a central figure in understanding the dissonant legacy of modernismo.

The study then shifts to other poets like Herrera y Reissig, who, like Lugones, questioned and subverted modernismo's conventions. These poets expanded the movement's boundaries, challenging European models and incorporating elements of the colloquial, the ridiculous, and the avant-garde. By exaggerating and naturalizing European influences, they not only resisted but also transformed traditional poetic structures. Through metaphors like the map, the landscape, and the city, the book reveals how modernista poetry’s sensory overload created gaps that allowed for the emergence of new poetic possibilities. As social and economic changes reshaped Spanish American societies, poets began to fragment poetic structures, deconstructing rhyme, rhythm, and meter. This deconstruction laid the groundwork for the radical experiments of vanguardista poets and the broader transformation of Spanish American poetry in the twentieth century. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how the dislocations in modernismo, often seen as imperfect imitations, were in fact innovative subversions that dissolved traditional hierarchies, allowing for the development of a distinct Spanish American poetic voice.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.