The influence of writers in the Spanish language
Literature scholars tend to divide history into several successive periods, but it is not a simple convention, totally artificial and without any real anchor. On the contrary, from one moment to the next, depending on foreign influences and internal movements, religious and philosophical circumstances or the quality of exchanges, the structure of our language has been changing until it forms contemporary Spanish.
¿ What is the influence of writers in the Spanish language ?
During the Renaissance, it began to be written in the vernacular, and Latin and Greek began to be relegated to the background. At this time, writers of the stature of Fray Luis de León, Garcilaso de la Vega, Lope de Vega and Miguel de Cervantes left their mark. Thanks to them, our language experienced a time of change. The century of the humanists saw vernacular languages, with all their diversity of accents, spellings, and literary works, take flight.
In the Golden Age (XVI, XVII), one of the greatest milestones of our language took place: the publication of the Castilian Grammar of Nebrija (1492), the first work completely dedicated to the study of the Castilian language, its structure and its rules. Although it was highly criticized at the time, this study allowed for the first time marking spelling rules based on the phonetics of the language.
In the 18th century, the so-called Age of Enlightenment begins, the age of the Enlightenment, where the conscience and the mind are emancipated. The famous Spanish Royal Academy is founded, which publishes for the first time its Dictionary of the Castilian language (1726-1739). At this time, Spanish began to be used as a scientific language and some of the most outstanding works of international literature began to be translated into our language.
Romanticism arrived in Spain late, but it brought us great artists such as Mariano José de Larra, José Zorrilla, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer or Rosalía de Castro. A little later, Literary Realism came from the hand of Galdós, Clarín and Pardo Bazán.
During the 20th and 21st centuries, Spanish became more flexible and collected all the variants spoken by the world. Javier Marías, Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortázar, Isabel Allende, Buero Vallejo, Miguel Delibes, Camilo José Cela, etc. How many great! The influence of writers in the Spanish language