Ultraismo

Ultraismo, or Ultraísmo, was a Spanish-language literary movement that emerged in the late 1910s as a reaction against the ornate diction of Modernismo and Symbolism. It developed in Spain and Argentina and spread through magazines, salons, and early experimental poetry and prose, as writers sought more concise language and sharper imagery.

The movement emphasized economy of expression and a fresh, image-driven approach to poetry. Ultrarists favored precise, often disjunctive metaphors, the elimination or reduction of superfluous adjectives, and the rapid, density-filled presentation of ideas. They experimented with form as well as content, using free verse, unconventional line breaks, typographic play, and other innovations to intensify impression and meaning. Sound, visual arrangement, and linguistic novelty were common tools, and cosmopolitan, urban, and technological themes frequently appeared.

Ultraismo spread quickly across Spanish-speaking literary circles, influencing writers in both Spain and Latin America. It intersected with other avant-garde movements of the period, and its emphasis on brevity and invention helped prepare the ground for later developments in Spanish-language poetry, including the broader Modernist and avant-garde currents that culminated in later decades. Although it waned as a distinct current by the mid-1920s, Ultraismo left a lasting imprint on experimentation with language, form, and image in Spanish-language literature.