Spanish traditionalism and French traditionalistic ideas of the nineteeth century in Spain

280 Pages·015.889 MB·English

by  Salvador, Graciano

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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
SPANISH TRADITIONALISM
AND
FRENCH TRAD ITI ON ALIS TIC IDEAS OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY IN SPAIN
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
for the degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES
BY
GRACIANO SALVADOR
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
AUGUST, 1943
ProQuest Number: 10101914
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION The origins of the traditionalistic move­
ment in Spain; historical background.
CHAPTER I French antecedents of Spanish traditional­
ism.
CHAPTER II Traditionalism in philosophy; Jaime Luciano
Balmes.
CHAPTER III Juan Donoso Cortes.
PART TWO
Traditionalism in Literature
CHAPTER IV The press; the drama: Jose Zorrilla,
Adelardo Lopez de Ayala, and Manuel Tamayo
y Baus.
CHAPTER V The novel: Fernan Caballero, Pedro Anto­
nio de Alarcon. The critics: Marcelino
Menendez y Pelayo and Angel Ganivet.
CHAFTER VI Regionalism: its nature, its significance
and its development. Its most outstanding
exponents: Fernan Caballero and Jose
Maria de Pereda.
CONCLUSION
ii FOREWORD
11
|
j| In his Panorama de la litterature esoagnole. the Hispar-
sj
Inist, Jean Cassou, wrote the following: "De merae que l*on
I!
!|distingue deux Frances, la France traditionaliste et la
il
ii , ^
!France revolutionnaire, de meme on peut distinguer deux
ii
s!
IjEspagnes, l'Espagne religieuse et l'Espagne lafque." There
|jis a great deal of truth in this statement, first, as to
;i
|the duality of the Spanish nation, a nation with a divided
■ j
soul: the old and the new Spain, the traditionalist and
S)
the liberal; secondly, as to the implication that as it is
1 in France so it is also in Spain.
!i
'*i We are here concerned with traditionalist Spain. The
!!
ihistory of Spanish liberalism, in its multiple phases, has
already been written. Many are those writers who have
interested themselves in this subject and dealt with it at
I
jjgreat length, but the history of Spanish traditionalism is
ii
||still to be written.
I The bibliography of this subject of traditionalism is
II
fpractically nonexistent. As yet there is no work which
jjcompletely covers the relations between France and Spain
!i
during the nineteenth century, such as the monograph of
j■ ii
■ipaul Merime,e regarding Franco-Spanish relations in the
8 1
||eighteenth century . Traditionalism, the touchstone of
1)1. L 1 Influence francaise au dix-huitieme siecle (Paris, 1936) .
|Spanish political, Bocial, and literary struggles for the
I
I last one hundred and thirty years, has not been treated in
jj
|any systematic or comprehensive way. While valuable and
s
ppertinent remarks, as well as abundant, informative ma­
ll
i[ terial on the subject may be gathered from much of the
jj
jjwork of Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo, especially the third
I ~
Is volume of his Historia de los heterodoxos espanoles. his-
s
•tories of Spanish philosophy, as well as histories of Span-
■j
|] ish literature, either ignore the matter of traditionalism
P
|altogether, or dismiss it with one or two short paragraphs.
) An article on Spanish traditionalism was written by
ii
; Gumersindo Laverde in 1868 and reprinted by Menendez y
■ j
Pelayo in the appendix of the third volume of his monu-
jj
;!mental work, La ciencia espanola. The article, however, is
I very brief, and its purpose was rather to show possible
|i
j Spanish sources for French traditionalism. An article of
|considerable length is found under the word Tradicionalismo
jj t
I in the Enciclopedia Espasa. But the article, long though
jj
;j it is, deals mainly with the political aspects of tradi-
1tionalism, especially as represented by the Carlist movement
;j Furthermore, a distinguished hispanist, Edgar Allison
l!
j! Peers, who has devoted a considerable amount of research to
l| Franco-Hispanic relations, principally with reference to
I!
ij the Romantic movement, expresses the opinion that Chateau—
briand exercised no fundamental influence on any Spanish
|i
ii
I writer of note, with the exception of Enrique Gil y Carrasco
iii
jAgain the editor of one of Pereda's major works, Ralph
1
iEmerson Bassett, asserts that, although Pereda was a man
;j
|of wide culture, he was singularly immune to outside in-
j|
jjfluences. Our investigation of the problems has convinced
;!
I us that such opinions are ill-founded and need to be re-
|vised.
j!
:j
i| Our main purpose, however, is not to write the history
I of traditionalism in Spain, but to analyze it as a doctrine
1 i
|and as a positive force that has been, so to speak, the
!axis of Spanish political, social and literary life for
jalmost a century and a half; to ascertain the extent of
:the influence, direct or indirect, if any, which French
; i
traditionalists may have exercised upon the Spanish tra-
i
jditionalists of the nineteenth century; and, likewise, to
jdiscuss certain modifications, which Spanish theorists may
have developed, independently of their French predecessors.
■js
;j We are glad to take this opportunity to express our
•I
jj sincere thanks to Professor Alphonse Roche, who suggested
jto us the subject of this dissertation and has directed
jour research. We are also grateful to Professor Edwin B.
jPlace, who has served as co-director, and to our colleagues,
Professors James. J. Young and Julius Kuhinka of Loyola
;University, for their valuable criticism of the English
style of the present study. The responsibility, however,
Ifor its content and for any errors that may appear therein,
jrests solely upon the writer.
ii - 1 -
; INTRODUCTION
r.
The year 1700 constituted an eventful date in the
annals of the Spanish nation; it marked a major turning
I point in its history* Politically, it simply meant a
i change of dynasty, a Bourbon instead of a Hapsburg; but
practically, and in the words of the M the
Pyrenees were levelled, no more to form a barrier between
the two sister nations, France and Spain.'1 The Du-fyfe of
Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, whom Charles II of Spain
had appointed in his last testament as the heir to the
Spanish throne, came in 1701 to take possession of it,
■under the name of Philip V* The Bourbon dynasty became
at once the channel, so to speak, through which European
thought and culture began to filter into self-isolated
Spain.
A change of dynasty necessarily brought with it a
change of ideas, of outlook, of purpose, of methods, and
of personnel* Spain was thus brought under direct French
influence. This influence was not limited to the political
field; it was extended to nearly every sphere of Spanish
life and activity. This is manifested by the many institu­
tions founded, which were modelled on French patterns—
literary, social, and economic; as well as by the large
number of professors, engineers, architects, and even
politicians who were imported from France in order to
2
i
! direct the new academies, schools, clubs, societies, and
|i
| various other enterprises. The number of books, especially
i1
! French, translated into Spanish throughout this period is
I
I also quite considerable1. The influence of new ideas
i P
;j from beyond the Pyrenees, Jansenistic , on the one hand,
Ii
jj and Encyclopaedic^, on the other, becomes gradually more
■ pronounced, especially under the successors of Philip V.
Moreover, this trend of affairs in matters so vitally af-
jj fee ting the great majority of the nation was seconded by
;many of the social and intellectual elite of the country,
!
M
1. The Royal Library with Father Robinet, confessor of
ii
the king, at its head, was founded in 1711; the Spanish
jAcademia de la Lengua in 1713; the Academia de Bellas Artes
S of Barcelona in 1729; the Academia de Medicina in 1734; the
!Academia de la Historia in 1738. The Diario de los litera-
I tos. modelled on the French Joumal des savants, was founded
|in 1737; the Academia del buen gusto, presided over by the
;Countess of Lemos, is of 1749.
:1 According to Paul Merimee (op. oft., pp. 21 ff.), the
j catalog of the Royal Library showed, before the nineteenth
century the following: nine editions of Descartes and of
|Pascal; eighteen editions of the latterfs Provinciales;
I seven editions of Rousseau; nineteen editions of the com-
jplete works of Voltaire. See also Pedro Aguado Beyle,
Manual de historia de Espana, vol. II (Bilbao. 1929). p. 5/9
| / •
2. Difficulties with the Vatican started as early as 1709
when by decree Philip V closed the Nunciatura and forbade
|all communications with Rome.
3. "Voltaire," says Merimee, "est le philosophe dont l'in-
jfluence fut la plus considerable; on lit ses oeuvres^ on
is*inspire de ses principes litteraires...; il ecrit a Aranda,
Olavide, Mayans; on lui envoie des produits de l'Espagne...
jet on s'affranchit a son exemple, de superstitions en cher-
Schant a ruiner 1*autorite deja affaiblie de l^Eglise Catho-
lique...aussi l’Espagne a~t—elle subi profondement l*in-
ifluence des philosophes, encyclopedistes et economistes
ifran9ais.K Op. cit., pp. 69 ff.