Fondo poético del Archivo General de Indias (siglos XVIII y principios del XIX)

Abstract

The objective of this thesis has been to compile the poetry that is conserved in the General Archive of the Indies (AGI) in Seville, in both manuscript form and published, within a period that extends from the death of King Carlos III in 1788 to 1830, when the independence of Hispano-American countries (with the exceptions of Cuba and Puerto Rico) had been consolidated, but whose literary production continued to arrive in the Iberian Peninsula. It therefore corresponds to a crucial period, in which the literary themes are adapting to the circumstances. This means that it has been necessary to take into account two different periods in almost every chapter. The first, until 1808, in which the monarchy is still an important reference for almost all Americans; and the second, from 1808 until 1830, when the break with the metropolis can also be clearly seen reflected in the poetry. The very characteristics of an archive of the administration of the modern state condition the topics being dealt with, as compositions that in one way or another are related to the state prevail; while there is a smaller presence of romantic poetry or the dramatic genres. As for the literary movements, a coexistence of various at the same time can clearly be appreciated. The Baroque, which far from disappearing remains strong, for instance in the religious poetry; the Rococo, which is reflected in the Anacreontic poems and a late neoclassicism that frequently presents elements of Pre-Romanticism. Common to all these movements is the utilisation of mythology and classical authors as models, in particular Horace and Virgil. The compilation has seriously taken into account the press, as it also served as a fundamental broadcasting medium for literature. We have thus collected a large part of the compositions in verse that appeared or were mentioned in newspapers and which then became part of the Archive. In this sense, poems that appear in newspapers are only taken into account when cited in the documentation. In many cases, these newspapers are now lost and, if they contained a poem, we have tried to recuperate them from libraries or the internet. We have also included Spanish newspapers that are or were included in the documentation of the Archive, since they are useful for completing the overview of poetic information reaching Hispano-America. The thesis is organised thematically, in accordance with the contents studied. Following the introductory chapters and the chapter dedicated to the literature of the Classical World, the thesis continues with monarchic poems, almost all of them laudatory until 1810. The following chapter is dedicated to the authorities or to poems that exalt other figures. Next come the chapters dedicated to the poems of the Wars of Independence of both Spain and America. The most striking poetic changes occur at the same time as these conflicts between the metropolis and its possessions. The themes change completely, since the political conditions require it. Homeland, freedom and heroes are the main axes of the new compositions, for both independentists and royalists. The following chapters are less representative, since the AGI was not the best destination for the works dealt with in these chapters. To be precise, poems that are metaliterary, romantic, religious, recreational and others difficult to pigeonhole. The final chapters are dedicated to those aspects that we consider to have stood out from the ensemble. On the one hand, a chapter of a more formal nature, dedicated to the literary genres and sub-genres that make up the poetry studied and, on the other, a chapter dedicated to women as authors, but also as the subjects of poems. The last chapter deals with the press as a fundamental aspect of the development of this thesis.