Miguel Hernandez: Tradition, Modernity, and Influences
Tradition and Modernity in Hernandez’s Work
In the work of Miguel Hernandez, the classic and the new converge: tradition and renewal. In this sense, his work is a good example of the aesthetic of the early decades of the twentieth century.
Roots in Popular Tradition
Miguel Hernandez’s love for traditional folk poetry can be explained by his rural background; from the beginning, he was drawn to nature and immediate reality. The poets of the Generation of ’27 had already recreated learned poetry within the popular tradition. Hernandez reworks and rebuilds popular forms like ballads and ditties from the beginning of his work, but especially towards the end, as seen in Romances de ausencias and Cancionero y romancero de ausencias, where traditional poetry acquires a more human accent and extends its meaning through a concern for universal solidarity.
At this early stage, given his commitment to the land, he is equally influenced by regional customs but stays away from the superficiality of popular dialect; sentimentality and intimacy are added to his voice.
Echoes of Spanish Classics
Moreover, the educated tradition, belonging to the Spanish classics, is also present very early in his poetry.
Early Poetic Influences
El rayo que no cesa is a pagan and sensual reworking of the poetry of San Juan de la Cruz, the Petrarchism of Garcilaso, and the best pessimistic existentialism of Quevedo. Influences from his good friend Vicente Aleixandre are also present in this collection.
In the beginning, Hernandez feels the need to demonstrate his mastery of educated and elevated poetic language. He uses references to Greek and Roman mythology, imitating Rubén Darío’s Modernism, and even recreates the fine sensibility of Juan Ramón Jiménez.
Dramatic and Romantic Echoes
His own voice is not yet fully formed, but at this stage of training, one can even discern echoes of Romantic writers such as Bécquer, Espronceda, or Zorrilla, whose epic tone interests him, aiming to revitalize the “Winds of the People”.
In Hernandez’s plays, one can discern the influence of Calderón de la Barca, which promotes the resurrection of the auto sacramental, banned in Spain since 1975.
In Quién te ha visto y quién te ve y sombra de lo que eras, a morality play, Hernandez adds a social and political dimension to the religious one, in this case, a conservative one.
Later, as he moves towards political commitment, other authors such as Lope de Vega will influence him.
The Impact of Góngora
But the most striking poetic personality influencing the young Hernandez is that of Luis Góngora. The influence of Gongoristic metaphor and complexity sprouts in Perito en lunas (1933), his first book. The paradox is that something as formal as Gongorism is reused to create irrational and Cubist-inspired images.
Stylistic Shift and Civil War
In 1935, Hernandez experiences an ideological turn resulting in a stylistic shift. The language used at the time of El rayo que no cesa and its own resources, including surreal elements, will be permanently abandoned as he needs to address the common people when the Civil War breaks out. He then opts for clear exposition and chooses the most popular and traditional forms, the “wind of the people”.
From Aesthetic Purity to the People
In short, the stage of aesthetic purity and the Juan Ramón Jiménez-inspired “vast minority” gives way to the “vast majority”, in an attempt to commune with the people and rehumanize his own poetry.