Spanish Generation of ’27: Poets, Influences, and Stages
Generation of ’27: Context and Influences
The Generation of ’27 emerged during a turbulent period in history.
Economic Depression and Political Instability
The Great Depression of 1929, a global economic crisis, originated in the financial sector and spread to industry and the rest of the world. Europe experienced extreme political instability, with the rise of the Nazis in Germany in 1933. This critical situation eventually led to World War II in 1939.
In Spain, the Second Republic, proclaimed in 1931,
Read MorePopol Vuh: Mayan Creation Myths and Venezuelan Literature
Popol Vuh
Source
The original text was destroyed by fire during the era of conquest. A few years later, a Christianized Indian reconstructed the book as he knew it from oral tradition, using the Quiché language but the Spanish alphabet. In the 18th century, a missionary went to a population of Chichicastenango and won the confidence of the Indians. They revealed the existence of the book that tells of their origin. The priest translated the book into Spanish because of its historical value.
Parts
Read MoreRenaissance Lyric Poetry: Garcilaso, Fray Luis, and San Juan
Characteristics of Renaissance Lyric Poetry
The sixteenth century saw the renewal of Castilian lyric poetry thanks to the incorporation of Italian forms. Juan Boscán began to use Italianate themes and forms, but it was his friend Garcilaso de la Vega who brought these compositions to their highest perfection.
Key Changes
- Regarding Meter: The use of hendecasyllables and heptasyllables became predominant, with the sonnet as the preferred verse form.
- Regarding Themes: Love is the central theme of the
Spanish Poetry Evolution: 1940s to 1970s
The 1940s
The Spanish Civil War marked a decisive break in all aspects of the intellectual and artistic life of Spain. The consequences of the conflict and the subsequent dictatorship include the death of some writers and the exile of many others, besides the division of poetry into two streams, differentiated by the ethical principles and style of their creators.
Spanish poetry developed in:
- Spain: Poets of the Generation of ’27 continued to write, in addition to those of the Generation of ’36 who
Spanish Poetry After 1939: Trends and Key Figures
Spanish Poetry After 1939
If in 1927 the tercentenary of Góngora erected the banner for the new poets, in 1936 the centenary of Garcilaso de la Vega was the summary of the new taste. Hence the talk of “Garcilasoism”: a poetic power that is modeled for the recovery of classic-like and excuse for a theme based on Love, God, and the Empire, which clearly conflicts with the Spanish reality of the time.
1944 marked a turning point in this scenario of cardboard, and this is due to Children of Wrath (1944)
Read MoreSpanish Poetry: Masterpieces from Machado to Aleixandre
**Antonio Machado**
And not really pain, I know: expresses the deep anguish that torments him and manifests an unknown origin.
It’s Spain, charanga and tambourine (The Ephemeral Morning): describes society critically in early 20th-century Spain.
An evening, gray and cold (Childhood Memory): over time, a lost time that is located in childhood.
The afternoon is dying (Field): dialogue of the poet with elements of nature that become clues to the melancholic state of the decadent soul.
Memories of my childhood
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