Modernism and Generation of ’98 in Spain & Latin America

Modernism and the Generation of ’98

In the period covering the last years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, several important authors and two movements are made available in Spain: Modernism and the Generation of ’98. For some, they are two distinct groups; for others, like Juan Ramón Jiménez, Modernism and the Generation of ’98 are the same thing and represent the response to the end-of-the-century crisis in Spain. They have elements in common as well as differences.

  • Modernists prefer poetry; the Generation of ’98 prefers prose.
  • Modernism moves towards the search for sensory beauty; the Generation of ’98 declares themselves deeply Spanish.

Modernism

Modernism was born around 1875 in Hispanic-American poets like José Martí and Rubén Darío, but Nájera confirmed its bases. All its influences affect Parnassianism in themes and Symbolism in two directions: sensitive externality and related privacy of the poet. The most important is romantic uneasiness and love.

The most important traits that characterize the modernist aesthetic are marked by two stages:

  1. One distinguishes formal preciousness (prose, prophase of Darío).
  2. The second intensifies intimacy and is more profound and reflective poetry (Songs of Life, especially in Darío).

In Spain, the leading Modernist figures are Machado (Soledades) and Juan Ramón Jiménez (Sonetos Espirituales).

Generation of ’98

A reaction against the political crisis (the crisis of ’98). Ideology and aesthetics in Spain at the end of the 19th century: Baroja, Maeztu, Unamuno, Azorín, and somewhat prominently Machado and Valle-Inclán met the requirements to be generated:

  • Birth in somewhat distant years.
  • Collective intellectual relationships.
  • Common generational event (Cuba).
  • Presence of a guide.
  • Generational language and presentation in groups.

Themes: the landscape of Spain (Machado’s Campos de Castilla) and religious and existential problems.

  • Novel: Unamuno (Niebla and San Manuel Bueno, Mártir), Azorín (La Voluntad), Baroja (La Busca and El árbol de la ciencia), and Valle-Inclán (from the modernist Sonatas to the esperpento of Tirano Banderas).
  • Essay: Azorín (Castilla), Unamuno (En torno al casticismo and Del sentimiento trágico de la vida).
  • Poetry: Campos de Castilla by Machado.
  • Theater: Benavente (La malquerida and Los intereses creados), Valle-Inclán’s very personal esperpento (Luces de Bohemia).

Hispanic-American Literature

First Third of the 20th Century

Marks the continuity of the realistic line in the regionalist novel, whose main theme is nature: La Vorágine by José Eustasio Rivera, or Doña Bárbara by Rómulo Gallegos. In the novel highlighting social realists, there is El mundo es ancho y ajeno by Ciro Alegría, and the Novel of the Mexican Revolution, such as Los de abajo by Mariano Azuela.

1940s and 1950s

There is a narrative renovation. The influence of European Modernism is greater than breaking realism: Magical Realism. Important authors combine nature with expressive American Baroque: Alejo Carpentier (El siglo de las luces), Miguel Ángel Asturias (El Señor Presidente), and Juan Rulfo (Pedro Páramo). Special mention should be made of Borges; his short stories include a philosophical and ironic tone (Ficciones and El Aleph).

1960s: The Boom of the Hispanic-American Novel

A period of great splendor began and remains until now. The subject matter is renewed, breaking time and space, mixing real and mythical elements. Of all the authors, the most stressed are:

  • Julio Cortázar: One of his important works is Rayuela. He also wrote short stories (Bestiario).
  • Gabriel García Márquez: He invented a geographical area called Macondo. His masterpiece is Cien años de soledad. Other titles include El amor en los tiempos del cólera and Crónica de una muerte anunciada.
  • Mario Vargas Llosa: He takes reality and places it in mythical worlds removed from his own life and Peru (La ciudad y los perros and La fiesta del chivo).

Other authors include Carlos Fuentes (La muerte de Artemio Cruz), Ernesto Sábato (El túnel), and Isabel Allende (La casa de los espíritus), Manuel Mujica Lainez (Bomarzo).