Romantismo

Romantismo, the term used in Portuguese for Romanticism, was a cultural and artistic movement that originated in late 18th-century Europe and spread to Portugal and Brazil in the 19th century. It arose as a reaction against the rationalism and rigid forms of the Enlightenment and classicalism, emphasizing imagination, emotion, and individual experience as sources of truth and creativity.

Core features of Romantismo include the valorization of subjectivity and feeling, a reverence for nature and the sublime, and an interest in folklore, national history, and medieval legends. It often embraced the exotic and the grotesque, celebrated personal liberty and heroism, and favored expressive, lyrical forms in poetry and prose. Political tones ranged from liberal to revolutionary, reflecting a belief in freedom and social change.

In the Portuguese-speaking world, Romantismo took distinct paths. In Portugal, figures such as Almeida Garrett and Camilo Castelo Branco helped shape early Romantic literature, with works that blend passion, fate, and national history. In Brazil, Romanticism flourished with poets like Gonçalves Dias and novelists such as José de Alencar, who forged a national literature through Indigenous and regional themes; a later Ultra-Romantic phase introduced darker and more introspective tones.

Legacy of Romantismo includes a lasting impact on education, arts, and national consciousness, contributing to the development of national literatures and continuing to influence later movements, such as Realism, while leaving a enduring imprint on poetry, novel, drama, and visual arts through the emphasis on emotion, imagination, and the right of the individual to dream and resist confinement.