According to many experts, contemporary literature begins with the French Revolution.
Literature is the art that is developed through the use of words . The concept includes both written verbal expression and that which is expressed orally . The term, on the other hand, can refer to the set of literary works of the same genre, period or territory .
The idea of contemporary , meanwhile, refers to what exists in the same time period as something else . It also qualifies what is linked to the Contemporary Age (which begins at the end of the 18th century and continues to the present day) or to the current era .
With these concepts clear, we can move forward with the definition of contemporary literature . This is what the literary production carried out between the French Revolution and the present day is usually called, although this delimitation may vary since, above all, stylistic parameters beyond the chronological issue are taken into account.
Characteristics of contemporary literature
Although it is common for contemporary literature to be considered to begin in 1789 with the French Revolution , there are analysts who establish other starting points. One position holds, for example , that contemporary literature begins after the Second World War ( 1945 ).
Broadly speaking, it can be said that contemporary literature is characterized by breaking with the traditional principles that, until then, evidenced literary expression. Authors usually combine styles and genres and may resort to non-linear or fragmented narration , particularities that were not common in previous times.
Issues linked to globalization and technology , on the other hand, are present in contemporary literature. In this context, plots that are based on reality and that are credible with true events are common.
In contemporary literature it is possible to recognize different movements or currents.
Main movements
Just as qualities or features that are associated with contemporary literature can be mentioned, it is possible to recognize multiple movements in it, each with its particularities.
Romanticism , in this framework, emerged at the end of the 18th century as a response to the Enlightenment. While romanticism revolves around feelings and creativity, illustration was based on reason.
Realism , for its part, was born in the mid- 19th century from a break with the formal criteria and ideology of romanticism. The detailed description of scenes and characters is the hallmark of this movement.
Modernism , postmodernism and avant-garde are also among the main currents of contemporary literature. Throughout history, therefore, the literary manifestations of this period have acquired different forms of expression.
Exponents of contemporary literature
Considering that contemporary literature begins with the French Revolution , it already has more than two centuries of history. In such a long period , of course, multiple writers have positioned themselves as references.
James Joyce, Joseph Conrad, Franz Kafka, Leo Tolstoy, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Paul Verlaine, Camilo José Cela, Miguel de Unamuno, Federico García Lorca y Jose Saramago son algunos autores europeos de literatura contemporánea con fama world. En el continente americano, pueden nombrarse a literatos como Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Walt Whitman, Jorge Luis Borges, Ruben Dario, Octavio Paz, Gabriel Garcia Marquez y Mario Vargas Llosa, entre muchos otros.