Diffuse Modernity : The Hispanic Reception of Eugénio de Castro

This work addresses the Hispanic reception of Eugénio de Castro (1869-1944) between the end of the 19th century and the first forty years of the 20th century. I propose a reinterpretation of Castro’s relevance in the definition of Iberian modernity, contradicting the traditional national and linear vision that assigns him a secondary role in Portuguese history. Adopting the transnational perspective advocated by Iberian Studies, this perspective articulates the diversity of trends that coexist in the modernist period, of which the poet is himself exemplary, given the diversity of his work and action.

Describing and analyzing Castro's Spanish reception, I will verify the importance of modern Iberian relations with Ibero-American cultures, the inaugural setting for Castro’s Hispanic reception, and with France, the central cultural referent. I will also observe the intergenerational diversity and longevity of Spanish attention to the poet, which affects authors usually segregated in modernismo, Generation of 98, historical Avant-gardes, or Veintisiete. These data support the redefinition of Modernism as a heterogeneous periodological category.

I intend to characterize the Iberian identity invented through Castro’s Spanish approach, underlining his ideological frame. I will notice its peripheral profile, witnessed by the presence of the French referent in the Spanish comments to the poet. I will also note that, while in America Castro is instrumentalized in the context of Ibero-American cultural decolonization, in Spain he is appropriated by a Castilian-centric, progressively institutionalized, and politicized iberization. Such appropriation has a post-imperial content, in which the constructed Iberian identity has a supplementary character.

Thus, the Iberian identity invented through Castro's reception is peripheral, Castilian-centric, and post-imperial, progressively institutionalized and politicized. Finally, I will note that this peripheral character justifies the ambiguity of Castro’s Hispanic readings, which motivate a re-reading of his work and action, responding both to an idea of ​​modernity and a counter-modern dimension.