Echoes of 18th-Century Spanish Literature in the British Romantic Press, 4 December 2020 – Seminar write-up

This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

The final seminar talk of the Semester 1 Modern Languages Core Disciplinary Research Group series took place on Friday 4th December. The seminar, ‘Echoes of 18th-century Spanish literature in the British Romantic Press’, was presented by Dr Leticia Villamediana (Hispanic Studies, University of Warwick).  

Dr Villamediana began by contextualising her research, explaining that it is part of a larger project with universities in the UK and Spain. The project, ‘Hispanic Literature in the British Romantic Periodical Press: Appropriating and Rewriting the Canon’, aims to build a map of British Hispanism in the Romantic period by exploring Hispanic literature featured in the British periodical press between 1802 and 1832. Reviews of Spanish literature in British periodicals helped to broaden readers’ knowledge of foreign culture and played a role in shaping public opinion. 

British interest in Spanish history, culture and literature emerged only in the beginning of the 19th century, the cause of this being the Peninsular War. In the eyes of Great Britain, Spanish literature had previously been regarded as backward and the antithesis of Enlightenment ideals. However, during the Romantic era, reviews of Spanish literature and other foreign works began to appear more prominently in British periodical publications, such as Richard Phillip’s The Monthly Magazine. Periodicals such as these aimed to show the progression of the liberal arts in different countries and published a list of Spanish works and authors. Over time, the section increased, showing the growing interest in the field. The press gave a positive review of Spain and praised its literary progress. Robert Southey, a leading Hispanist of the Romantic period, was a notable contributor to these periodicals. He translated many Spanish Romance texts, wrote a History of the Peninsular War, and was responsible for the publication of a new section on Spanish poetry in The Monthly Magazine.

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, public domain image

Dr Villamediana stated that ‘at a time when the critical activity underwent a revolution, the space and value awarded to Spanish literature, including that of the 18th-century, expanded into some of the most iconic literary magazines.’ Reviews and translations of 18th-century canonical figures, such as Feijoo, Moratín and Iriarte, were discovered in some of the most famous periodicals. Translations of Feijoo’s famous works Teatro crítico universal and Cartas eruditas began to appear in English at the end of the 18th-century, followed by reviews of his essays. There was also a growing interest in the work of poet Tomás de Iriarte, thanks to Robert Southey’s inclusion of his plays and literary fables in The Monthly Magazine. Iriarte ended up becoming the 18th-century author with the most critical review, despite many translations of his work into English facing criticism. 

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Dr Villamediana’s work in this up-and-coming project and found it interesting to discover the importance of literal reviews in the dissemination of foreign texts and how, until now, there has been a gap in studies of how the periodical press helped spread Spanish literature, culture and history in Great Britain. 

Report by Holly Glenn, final-year undergraduate in French and Spanish

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