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The writers of Spanish America in the last quarter of the 19th cent. broke with the nationalistic expression of the previous generation and immersed themselves in a world of artifice. These were the modernistas, who believed in "art for art's sake" and were influenced by the French Parnassian and symbolist schools. They wrote on rare and exotic themes and experimented with language and meter.
Those who initiated this literary movement, known as modernismo, were the Mexican Manuel GutiErrez NAjera, the Colombian JosE AsunciOn Silva, and the Cubans JuliAn del Casal and JosE MartI, the latter known also for his struggle to gain Cuba's independence from Spain. The movement reached its peak with the publication of the Nicaraguan RubEn DarIo's Selected Poems (tr. 1965), which influenced writers throughout Spanish America and many in Spain. Among others there were Amado Nervo of Mexico, JosE Santos Chocano of Peru, Ricardo Jaimes Freyre of Bolivia, Guillermo Valencia of Colombia, Julio Herrera y Reissig and JosE Enrique RodO of Uruguay, and Leopoldo Lugones of Argentina.
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