Spanish Poetry: Mid-20th Century Trends and Evolution

Posted on Dec 20, 2024 in Latin

Spanish Poetry from the Mid-Twentieth Century

ITEM 12: POETRY FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Spanish Poetry After the Civil War

At the end of the war, the outlook for culture was bleak: death, exile, humiliation, or silence. The year 1939 effectively marked a year zero for poetry in Spain. With Lorca and Machado dead, and much of the Generation of ’27 in exile, the Silver Age had reached its tragic end. This resulted in a twofold division in culture: firstly, those in exile, defeated and scattered across the world, and secondly, those who remained, who in turn could be divided into winners and losers.

The Poetry of the Post-War Period: 40 Years of the period’s poetry scene shows several trends:

  • Poetry of Miguel Hernandez: Some of his works, such as The beam is constantly in dealing, explore themes like life, love, and death. His Songbook and Ballads is a collection of simple poems about jail and anguish over the fate of his wife and son.
  • Entrenched Poetry: Journals like Escorial brought together poets such as Garcilaso, Leopoldo Panero, and Luis Rosales, who advocated for classical poetry and often dealt with themes such as nostalgia for the times of the Spanish empire.
  • Uprooted Poetry: The magazine Cattail defended a more direct and less rhetorical poetry, committed to human beings.
  • Fringe Journals: Some journals, such as Song, served as an expression for poets, including Pablo García Baena, who were inspired by the exquisite and carefully crafted poetry of the pre-war period. For its part, the Postismo, with poets such as Carlos Edmundo de Ory.
  • In 1944, two important books were published: Shadow of Paradise by Vicente Aleixandre and Hijos de la Ira by Dámaso Alonso, reflecting the existential malaise of the time.

The Social Poetry of the 50s

The boom in 1950 gave rise to what is called social poetry. This aimed to show the true reality of man and the country, very different from the official version. Poetry should testify and expose injustice, social inequalities, and the lack of political freedoms. Some thematic and formal features include:

  • The subject is the basis on which the poem is built. The concern for Spain and the memory and the overcoming of hatred caused by the Civil War are standing items.
  • The ideal audience is the <<immense majority>>.
  • In order to reach a wide audience, direct, colloquial, or conversational, and often prosaic language is used.

Some notable twentieth-century poetry books are: I ask for peace and the word by Blas Otero, I know much Iron, and Cantos Iberians by Jose Celaya.


Poetry from the 60s to the Present

In the mid-50s, a new group of poets appeared who, while retaining a commitment to human problems, returned to worry about the artistic nature of poetry. At the end of this decade, a controversial movement emerged – Los Novísimos, which would lead to different tendencies in the early years of democracy. The last decades are characterized by the coexistence of varied and disparate poetic currents.

The Development of the 60s

The most important poets of this generation are, among others, González, José Agustín Goytisolo, Jaime Gil de Biedma, and José Ángel Valente. Several of them shared a close friendship, having been children of the war.

In their first books, the social influence of the poets is evident, and Antonio Machado becomes an ethical and aesthetic reference.

  • Their conception of poetry changed: it is conceived as a means of knowledge of reality and personal experiences that illuminate dark areas, enabling the human being and the world.
  • The topics gradually inclined toward intimacy and the recreation of individual experience: hence the name of poetry of the experience for this current.
  • Another novelty is the treatment of language: the colloquial tone rises to a level of artistry.

Notable works include: Treaty of town planning by Ángel González, People verb by Gil de Biedma, which includes all his poems, and Psalms to the wind by José Agustín Goytisolo.

From Novísimos to the Present

In 1970, José Mª Castellet compiled a controversial anthology, similar to that made by Gerardo Diego in the Generation of ’27: Nine newest Spanish poets. Some poets included were Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Peter Gimferrer, Ana María Moix, and Leopoldo María Panero.

Changes to the earlier poetry:

  • They embrace culture and mystify the topics of media culture. They are familiar with foreign poetry and are influenced by Cernuda, Gil de Biedma, and Hispanic poets such as Octavio Paz and Cesar Vallejo.
  • Their poetry moves away from realism and returns to experiments with avant-garde or modernism. They defend the autonomy of art and express extreme concern for language.

During the 70s, the influence of poetry diversified into different trends. The main currents are:

  • The Builder Current: The poem focuses on some event or some character of cultural history. Some representatives are Anthony Hill and Luis Antonio de Villena.
  • The Classicist Current: It draws on the metrical forms and literary style of the classics.
  • The Experimental Current: It deepens the relationship with the avant-garde of the interwar period.
  • The Metapoetic Current: In this poetry, inquiry into the nature of poetry dominates. It is close to pure poetry and influenced by oriental poetry.