Generation of ’27: Spanish Poetry and Its Evolution
Generation of ’27: An Overview
Common Features
This group of poets, emerging in the 1920s alongside the avant-garde, shared several key characteristics:
- Distinct concerns and tastes compared to other eras.
- Support for the Republic.
- Strong friendships within the group.
- Active participation in cultural events.
- A drive to modernize poetry and language.
- Generational admiration for both classic and modern influences.
Tradition and Avant-Garde
The Generation of ’27 uniquely blended tradition and innovation. They appreciated both popular and cultured forms, showing interest in Spanish and European literature. They valued traditional high culture, drawing inspiration from figures like Manrique, Garcilaso, and Góngora, while also appreciating folk songs and ballads. Influenced by Ramón Jiménez, they embraced the avant-garde’s focus on originality, provocation, and wit, incorporating elements from Dadaism and Futurism.
Evolution of the Generation
- Initial Stage (until 1927): Pure poetry and the influence of Ramón Jiménez.
- 1928-Spanish Civil War: Surrealism, rehumanization of the lyrical, themes of angst, rebellion, and social issues. This period reached its peak with Alberti and Hernández.
- Post-Civil War: Existential angst, ethical and social concerns.
Poetic Contributions
The Generation of ’27 established the image as the foundation of poetic expression. Inspired by Góngora and the modernists, they incorporated free verse alongside traditional forms, a precedent set by Ramón Jiménez. Their work is characterized by a modernized language.
Significant Works and Authors
- Federico García Lorca: Poet in New York, Gypsy Ballads
- Luis Cernuda: Eclogue, Elegy, and Ode
- Pedro Salinas: Presages, The Voice Due to You
- Jorge Guillén: Cántico, Clamor
- Gerardo Diego: Anthology, Romance of the Bride
- Rafael Alberti: Sailor Ashore, Masonry
- Vicente Aleixandre: Ambit, Destruction or Love
- Dámaso Alonso: Little Poems of the City, The Poetry of Góngora
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Life and Work
Born in Fuente Vaqueros (Granada), Lorca befriended Dalí and Buñuel. In 1932, he directed La Barraca, a university theater group. A supporter of the Republic, he was executed by Nationalist rebels during the Spanish Civil War. Lorca’s work, encompassing plays and poetry, explores themes of love, frustration, and tragic destiny. His poetry is dramatic and theatrical, expressing tragic fatalism through persona. Frustration and impossible desire are recurring motifs.
Two Key Stages
- Until 1928: Fusion of popular and high culture, tradition and modernity. Works like Book of Poems and Gypsy Ballads exalt the dignity of marginalized people in Andalusia, blending a tragic and mythical style with traditional and modern elements.
- 1928-1936: Surrealist influence evident in bold imagery, irrational rebellion, and the use of free verse. Poet in New York portrays the city as a symbol of a materialistic, mechanized society that destroys the human spirit. Themes of enslavement to machines and intimate struggles intertwine.
Luis Cernuda (1902-1963)
Life and Work
Cernuda’s life journeyed from Seville and Madrid to Toulouse, and finally to exile in Mexico and the United States. His work, marked by an intimate and romantic tone, explores the impossibility of reconciling personal desires with reality. This central theme, the clash between aspiration and existence, fuels feelings of loneliness, a longing for a different world, and a desire for beauty and love.
Evolution of Style
Cernuda’s style evolved from the pure poetry of Profile of Air and the classicism of Eclogue, Elegy, and Ode to the surrealism of A River of Love and the intensified emotional expression of Forbidden Pleasures. During the Spanish Civil War, Clouds reflects the loneliness of exile, culminating in the purified expression of As One Awaits the Dawn.
Spanish Poetry from 1936
Post-War Overview
The Spanish Civil War saw a surge in poetic activity, both in magazines and as propaganda. The war’s end brought absences through death and exile. Some members of the Generation of ’27 remained in Spain, joining the Generation of ’36, which reached maturity around 1939.
Poetry of the 1940s: Generation of ’36
Poets born between 1909 and 1922, marked by their youth and wartime experiences, shaped the poetry of the 1940s. Two main trends emerged: rooted and uprooted poetry.
- Rooted Poetry: Characterized by a smooth, orderly style, valuing classical forms like the sonnet. Themes include love, religion, and patriotism (e.g., Luis Rosales).
- Uprooted Poetry: Expressed existential disgust with the world, exploring religious and social themes, reflecting collective suffering. Dámaso Alonso’s Children of Wrath (1944) exemplifies this trend with its direct, colloquial language and powerful imagery.
Social Poetry of the 1950s
The 1950s saw the rise of social poetry, with works like Blas de Otero’s I Ask for Peace and the Word and Gabriel Celaya’s Cantos Íberos. This movement used literature as a tool for social transformation, addressing injustice and solidarity with a simple, colloquial style. This boom, from 1955 to 1960, influenced the younger poets of the Generation of ’50.
Spanish Poetry from the 1960s Onward
From the 1960s
Critical realism emerged and evolved into more complex poetic forms. The Generation of ’55, including Ángel González, José Manuel Caballero Bonald, and José Ángel Valente, explored personal experiences with a critical attitude, valuing natural language and anti-rhetoric.
Poetry of the 1970s: Experimentalism
Born after the war, this experimental and minority trend reacted against social realism. Poets like Leopoldo María Panero and Pere Gimferrer, whose childhoods were marked by post-war limitations and censorship, incorporated diverse cultural references, blending provocative and frivolous attitudes with a focus on stylistic innovation. Themes ranged from the intimate to the political, often infused with humor and irony.
Poetry of the 1980s and Beyond
This period saw a diversification of styles, including intimate neo-symbolism and neo-romanticism (e.g., Francisco Bejarano), experimental avant-garde (e.g., Félix Grande), culturalism (e.g., Antonio Colinas), minimalism (e.g., Julia Castillo), and the poetry of experience (e.g., Jaime Gil de Biedma).