The Spanish American Cronica Modernista, Temporality and Material Culture

This study explores how Spanish American modernista writers incorporated journalistic formalities and industry models through the cronica genre to advance their literary preoccupations. Through a variety of modernista writers, including Jose Marti, Amado Nervo, Manuel Gutierrez Najera and Ruben Dario, Reynolds argues that extra-textual elements-such as temporality, the material formats of the newspaper and book, and editorial influence-animate the modernista movement's literary ambitions and aesthetic ideology. Thus, instead of being stripped of an esteemed place in the literary sphere due to participation in the market-based newspaper industry, journalism actually brought modernismo closer to the writers' desired artistic autonomy. Reynolds uncovers an original philosophical and sociological dimension of the literary forms that govern modernista studies, situating literary journalism of the movement within historical, economic and temporal contexts. Furthermore, he demonstrates that journalism of the movement was eventually consecrated in book form, revealing modernista intentionality for their mass-produced, seemingly utilitarian journalistic articles. The Spanish American Cronica Modernista, Temporality, and Material Culture thereby enables a better understanding of how the material textuality of the cronica impacts its interpretation and readership.