Difference between revisions of "Ruben Dario" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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After leaving school, Darío traveled to Mangua in hopes of receiving financial support from the government to study abroad; instead, he was offered a stipend on the condition that he enroll at a Nicaraguan school. He rejected the offer and traveled to El Salvador, where he was introduced to contemporary Eurpoean literature. Here, he met [[Francisco Gavidia]], who introduced him to [[Spanish language|Castilian]] and [[French language|French]] poetry that would influence his own writing.
 
After leaving school, Darío traveled to Mangua in hopes of receiving financial support from the government to study abroad; instead, he was offered a stipend on the condition that he enroll at a Nicaraguan school. He rejected the offer and traveled to El Salvador, where he was introduced to contemporary Eurpoean literature. Here, he met [[Francisco Gavidia]], who introduced him to [[Spanish language|Castilian]] and [[French language|French]] poetry that would influence his own writing.
 +
[[Image:RubenDario.jpg|right|thumb|A framed picture of Rubén Darío hanging in the [[Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío|National Theater]].]]
  
 
In 1883, Darío returned to Nicaragua, where he took a position working for President Adán Cárdenas on the plan for a Central American Union, until he was offered a job at Nicaragua's National Library in Managua.
 
In 1883, Darío returned to Nicaragua, where he took a position working for President Adán Cárdenas on the plan for a Central American Union, until he was offered a job at Nicaragua's National Library in Managua.
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In 1887, Dário earned first prize for his ''Canto épico a las glorias de Chile.'' That same year, Dário published ''Abrojos'' (Thistles) and ''Rimas'' (Rhymes). In 1888, Dário published ''Azul'' (Blue), a collection of poems and verse that contained experimental and new forms, and marking a departure from Dário's more traditional work.
 
In 1887, Dário earned first prize for his ''Canto épico a las glorias de Chile.'' That same year, Dário published ''Abrojos'' (Thistles) and ''Rimas'' (Rhymes). In 1888, Dário published ''Azul'' (Blue), a collection of poems and verse that contained experimental and new forms, and marking a departure from Dário's more traditional work.
  
[[Image:RubenDario.jpg|right|thumb|A framed picture of Rubén Darío hanging in the [[Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío|National Theater]].]]
+
In 1889 Dário returned to Central America after receiving news of his father's death. In June he traveled to El Salvador where he founded ''La Unión.''
 +
 
 +
Dário married Rafaela Contreras on June 21, 1889, and later moved to Guatemala. Here he launched the newspaper ''El Correro de la Tarde.''
 +
 
 +
In 1890 the second, enlarged edition of ''Azul'' was published, which further reflected Dário's trend toward modernism.
 +
 
 +
In 1891, Dário and his wife traveled to Costa Rica, where their son, Rubén Dário Contreras was born on November 11. Dário then contributed to ''La Prensa Libre,'' before writing for ''El Heraldo'' in 1892.
 +
 
 +
A few months later Dário returned to Guatemala, where he was informed that he had been nominated as the Nicaraguan representative to the Quadricentennial Celebrations in Spain, which marked the discovery of America. Thus, Dário departed for Spain later that year, also on assignment for the Latin American newspaper ''La Nación.''
  
In 1889 Dário returned to Central America after receiving news of his father's death. In June he traveled to El Salvador where he founded ''La Unión.''
+
==Modernismo==
  
 
==Death and legacy==
 
==Death and legacy==
 +
[[Image:Ruben Dario.JPG|thumb|right|Rubén Darío; Nicaraguan Postage, 1967]]
  
 
==Original article==
 
==Original article==
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He later moved to Chile at the age of 19. There he published an unsuccessful first novel, ''Emelina'' and fell under the protection of [[Pedro Balmaceda]], who helped him to publish his book of poems, ''Azul'' in 1888. This 134-page, privately printed book, printed in [[Valparaiso]], a city that at the time was not a notable intellectual center, was nonetheless, in González Echevarría's words, "a turning point in Spanish-language literature." Initial reviews were disparaging, but [[Spain|Spanish]] critic [[Juan Valera]] of the [[Real Academia Española]] launched the young poet's career, praising his poems, although sharing other critics' disparagement of his degree of adoption of French models.  
 
He later moved to Chile at the age of 19. There he published an unsuccessful first novel, ''Emelina'' and fell under the protection of [[Pedro Balmaceda]], who helped him to publish his book of poems, ''Azul'' in 1888. This 134-page, privately printed book, printed in [[Valparaiso]], a city that at the time was not a notable intellectual center, was nonetheless, in González Echevarría's words, "a turning point in Spanish-language literature." Initial reviews were disparaging, but [[Spain|Spanish]] critic [[Juan Valera]] of the [[Real Academia Española]] launched the young poet's career, praising his poems, although sharing other critics' disparagement of his degree of adoption of French models.  
  
In 1883, Dario returned to Nicaragua. He married Rafaela Contreras in 1890; they moved to [[El Salvador]]. Contreras died in 1892. Some time after Contreras' death, he married Rosario Murillo; they separated soon after but were never divorced.
+
Contreras died in 1892. Some time after Contreras' death, he married Rosario Murillo; they separated soon after but were never divorced.
  
 
Rubén Darío produced many exquisite literary works that greatly contributed to revive the literarily moribund Spanish language, thus he became known as the Father of [[Modernismo]] <!--not to be confused with Anglo-American [[Modernism]]—>. Other great literary writers call him "Príncipe de las Letras Castellanas" (The Prince of Spanish Literature).
 
Rubén Darío produced many exquisite literary works that greatly contributed to revive the literarily moribund Spanish language, thus he became known as the Father of [[Modernismo]] <!--not to be confused with Anglo-American [[Modernism]]—>. Other great literary writers call him "Príncipe de las Letras Castellanas" (The Prince of Spanish Literature).
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He has been cited as inspiration for later Latin American and Carribean writers such as Álvaro Mutis, Reinaldo Reinas, Lezama Lima, Luisa Valenzuela, Clarice Lispector, and Giannina Braschi.
 
He has been cited as inspiration for later Latin American and Carribean writers such as Álvaro Mutis, Reinaldo Reinas, Lezama Lima, Luisa Valenzuela, Clarice Lispector, and Giannina Braschi.
  
[[Image:Ruben Dario.JPG|thumb|right|Rubén Darío; Nicaraguan Postage, 1967]]
 
 
Darío marks an important shift in the relationship between literary [[Europe]] and  [[The Americas|America]]. Before him, American literary trends had largely followed European ones; however, Darío was clearly the international vanguard of the Modernist Movement.
 
Darío marks an important shift in the relationship between literary [[Europe]] and  [[The Americas|America]]. Before him, American literary trends had largely followed European ones; however, Darío was clearly the international vanguard of the Modernist Movement.
  
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:"If the homeland is small, one dreams it large."
 
:"If the homeland is small, one dreams it large."
  
== Further Reading ==
+
==Selected bibliography==
'''English:'''
 
*''Poet-errant: a biography of Rubén Darío'', Charles Dunton Watland, 1965.
 
*''Ruben Dario centennial studies'', Miguel Gonzalez-Gerth, 1970.
 
*''Critical approaches to Rubén Darío'', Keith Ellis, 1974.
 
*''Rubén Darío and the romantic search for unity'', Cathy Login Jrade, 1983.
 
*''Beyond the glitter : the language of gems in modernista writers'', Rosemary C LoDato, 1999.
 
*''An art alienated from itself : studies in Spanish American modernism'', Priscilla Pearsall, 1984.
 
*''Modernism, Rubén Darío, and the poetics of despair'', Alberto Acereda, 2004.
 
*''Darío, Borges, Neruda and the ancient quarrel between poets and philosophers'', Jason Wilson, 2000.
 
*''The meaning and function of music in Ruben Dario a comparative approach'',  Raymond Skyrme, 1969.
 
 
 
'''Spanish:'''
 
*''Miradas críticas sobre Rubén Darío'', Nicasio Urbina, 2005.
 
*''La poesía de Rubén Darío : ensayo sobre el tema y los temas del poeta'', Pedro Salinas, 2005.
 
*''Luis Cernuda y Rubén Darío : modernismo e ironía'', James Valender, 2004.
 
*''Rubén Darío'', Julio Ortega, 2003.
 
*''Rubén Darío visto por Juan de Dios Vanegas'', Juan de Dios Vanegas, 2003.
 
*''Rubén Darío, puente hacia el siglo XXI y otros escritos'', Carlos Tünnermann Bernheim, 2003.
 
*''Rubén Darío'', Blas Matamoro, 2002.
 
*''Paralelismo entre Rubén Darío y Salomón de la Selva'', Nicolás Navas, 2002.
 
*''Bases para una interpretación de Rubén Darío'', Mario Vargas Llosa, 2001.
 
*''La angustia existencial en la poesía de Rubén Darío'', Roque Ochoa Hidalgo, 2001.
 
*''Rubén Darío, addenda'', José María Martínez Domingo, 2000.
 
*''Aproximación a Rubén Darío'', Teodosio Muñoz Molina, 2000.
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Revision as of 06:27, 24 November 2007


Félix Rubén García y Sarmiento
170px
Pseudonym(s): Rubén Darío
Born: January 18, 1867
Ciudad Darío, Nicaragua
Died: February 6, 1916
León, Nicaragua
Occupation(s): Poet, Journalist
Nationality: Flag of Nicaragua Nicaraguan
Literary movement: Modernismo
Influences: Diaz Miron, Julian de Casal
Influenced: Pablo Antonio Cuadra

Félix Rubén García y Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916) was a Nicaraguan journalist, diplomat, and influential poet who wrote under the pseudonym of Rubén Darío. He was a leader in the movement known as Modernismo in Spanish American literature and his poetry brought vigor to the stale, monotonous Spanish-language poetry of the time.

Early Years

Félix Rubén García y Sarmiento was born on January 18, 1867 in San Pedro de Metapa, Nicaragua, which was later renamed Ciudad Darío in his honor. Rubén's parents, Manuel Garcia and Rosa Sarmiento Alemán, separated before his birth. Félix was very intelligent as a child and learned to read when he was only three years old. In 1870 he enrolled in Jacoba Tellería's kindergarten and later attended public school in 1874. Félix went to private school for a short time before he attended a Jesuit school.

Darío displayed much talent from an early age, gaining a reputation as "El Niño Poeta" ("the boy poet").

Life and work

When Félix was just 13 years old, he published his first poem "Una lágrmia" (A tear) in the periodical El Termómetro on June 26, 1880. It was then that he assumed the name Rubén Darío from his great grandfather.

As a teenager he became a regular contributor to the journal El Ensayo. In 1881, Darío attended the Instituto de Occidente; and, later taught Spanish grammar at a friend's school after he quit the Instituto.

After leaving school, Darío traveled to Mangua in hopes of receiving financial support from the government to study abroad; instead, he was offered a stipend on the condition that he enroll at a Nicaraguan school. He rejected the offer and traveled to El Salvador, where he was introduced to contemporary Eurpoean literature. Here, he met Francisco Gavidia, who introduced him to Castilian and French poetry that would influence his own writing.

File:RubenDario.jpg
A framed picture of Rubén Darío hanging in the National Theater.

In 1883, Darío returned to Nicaragua, where he took a position working for President Adán Cárdenas on the plan for a Central American Union, until he was offered a job at Nicaragua's National Library in Managua.

Dário published his first book Epístolas y poemas (Epistles and Poems) in 1885, and cofounded the newspaper El Imparcial in 1886. In June of that same year, Dário moved to Chile where he lived for the next three years, where he became a regular contrinbutor to the publication La Epoca.

In 1887, Dário earned first prize for his Canto épico a las glorias de Chile. That same year, Dário published Abrojos (Thistles) and Rimas (Rhymes). In 1888, Dário published Azul (Blue), a collection of poems and verse that contained experimental and new forms, and marking a departure from Dário's more traditional work.

In 1889 Dário returned to Central America after receiving news of his father's death. In June he traveled to El Salvador where he founded La Unión.

Dário married Rafaela Contreras on June 21, 1889, and later moved to Guatemala. Here he launched the newspaper El Correro de la Tarde.

In 1890 the second, enlarged edition of Azul was published, which further reflected Dário's trend toward modernism.

In 1891, Dário and his wife traveled to Costa Rica, where their son, Rubén Dário Contreras was born on November 11. Dário then contributed to La Prensa Libre, before writing for El Heraldo in 1892.

A few months later Dário returned to Guatemala, where he was informed that he had been nominated as the Nicaraguan representative to the Quadricentennial Celebrations in Spain, which marked the discovery of America. Thus, Dário departed for Spain later that year, also on assignment for the Latin American newspaper La Nación.

Modernismo

Death and legacy

File:Ruben Dario.JPG
Rubén Darío; Nicaraguan Postage, 1967

Original article

His childhood was filled with difficult economic and personal situations. He felt the abandonment from his parents from a very early age. During his lifetime, Rubén Darío only met his mother on two occasions and very briefly. He viewed his father like one of his uncles.

By the age of 12 he was publishing poems, the first three being "La Fe" ("Faith") and "El Desengaño" ("Deceit").

He later moved to Chile at the age of 19. There he published an unsuccessful first novel, Emelina and fell under the protection of Pedro Balmaceda, who helped him to publish his book of poems, Azul in 1888. This 134-page, privately printed book, printed in Valparaiso, a city that at the time was not a notable intellectual center, was nonetheless, in González Echevarría's words, "a turning point in Spanish-language literature." Initial reviews were disparaging, but Spanish critic Juan Valera of the Real Academia Española launched the young poet's career, praising his poems, although sharing other critics' disparagement of his degree of adoption of French models.

Contreras died in 1892. Some time after Contreras' death, he married Rosario Murillo; they separated soon after but were never divorced.

Rubén Darío produced many exquisite literary works that greatly contributed to revive the literarily moribund Spanish language, thus he became known as the Father of Modernismo . Other great literary writers call him "Príncipe de las Letras Castellanas" (The Prince of Spanish Literature).

Rubén Darío participated in, or was the leader of, many literary movements in Nicaragua, Chile, Spain and Argentina. The Modernismo movement was a recapitulation of three movements in Europe: Romanticism (romanticismo), Symbolism (simbolismo) and Parnassianism (parnasianismo). These ideas express passion, visual art, and harmonies and rhythms with music.

Darío was the genius of this movement. His style was exotic and very vibrant. In his poem Canción de Otoño en Primavera ("The Song of Fall in Spring") there is much evidence of passion and strong emotions. Soon many literary writers would start using his style in a cautious and elegant form to make music with poetry.

His fundamental collection, Azul ("Blue"), was published in 1888 and established his reputation as one of the most important Spanish-language exponents of Modernismo. Many critics consider his death in 1916 to mark the symbolic end of Modernismo.

He has been cited as inspiration for later Latin American and Carribean writers such as Álvaro Mutis, Reinaldo Reinas, Lezama Lima, Luisa Valenzuela, Clarice Lispector, and Giannina Braschi.

Darío marks an important shift in the relationship between literary Europe and America. Before him, American literary trends had largely followed European ones; however, Darío was clearly the international vanguard of the Modernist Movement.

Roberto González Echevarría considers him the beginning of the modern era in Spanish language poetry: "In Spanish, there is poetry before and after Rubén Darío. … the first major poet in the language since the seventeenth century … He ushered Spanish-language poetry into the modern era by incorporating the aesthetic ideals and modern anxieties of Parnassiens and Symbolism, as Garcilaso had infused Castilian verse with Italianate forms and spirit in the sixteenth century, transforming it forever. Darío and Garcilaso led the two most profound poetic revolutions in Spanish, yet neither is known abroad, except by Hispanists. They have not traveled well, particularly in English-speaking countries, where they are all but unknown."

In honor of Darío's 100th birthday in 1967, the government of Nicaragua struck a 50 cordoba gold medal and issued a set of postage stamps. The set consists of eight airmail stamps (20 centavos depicted) and two souvenir sheets.

"My pick is working deep in the soil of this unknown America, turning out gold and opals and precious stones, an altar, a broken statue. And the Muse divines the meaning of the hieroglyphics. The strange life of a vanished people emerges from the mist of time."
"Si la patria es pequeña, uno grande la sueña."
"If the homeland is small, one dreams it large."

Selected bibliography

Notes


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Tardiff, Joseph C. and L. Mpho Mabunda. Dictionary of Hispanic Biography New York: Gale Research, 1996. ISBN 9780810383029

External links

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