Ultra-Romanticism (Portuguese:Ultrarromantismo) was a Portuguese and Brazilian literary movement that took place during the second half of the 19th century. Aesthetically similar to (but not exactly the same as) theGerman- andBritish-originatedDark Romanticism, it was typified by a tendency to exaggerate the norms and ideals ofRomanticism, namely the value ofsubjectivity,individualism, amorousidealism, nature and themedieval world. The Ultra-Romantics generated literary works of highly contendable quality, some of them being considered as "romance of knife and earthenware bowl", given the succession of bloody crimes that they invariably described, whichrealists fiercely denounced.
In Portugal, the first Ultra-Romantic piece ever written was the poemO noivado do sepulcro ("The tombstone engagement") byAntónio Augusto Soares de Passos, while in Brazil the first major Ultra-Romantic works were the booksLira dos Vinte Anos (Twenty-year-old Lyre) andNoite na Taverna (A Night at the Tavern) byÁlvares de Azevedo.
In Brazil, it is called "the second phase of theBrazilian Romanticism", being preceded by the "Indianism" and succeeded by the "Condorism".
The "Ultra-Romanticism" changed the ways of the Romanticism in Brazil. Values such asnationalism and valorization of theIndian as the Brazilian national hero, a constant theme of theprevious Brazilian Romantic generation, are now almost, if not completely, absent. This new generation, heavily influenced byGerman Romanticism and works byLord Byron andAlfred de Musset, among others, now focalizes in obscure and macabre themes, such aspessimism, thesupernatural,Satanism, longing for death, past and childhood, and themal du siècle. Love and women were heavily idealized,platonic and almost alwaysunrequited, and the presence of a strongegocentrism and exacerbatedsentimentalism in the poetry is clearly noticed.
