Pedro Salinas: Life, Works, and the Generation of ’27
Pedro Salinas: Life and Work
Pedro Salinas: Pedro Salinas studied law, philosophy, and letters, and devoted his life to university teaching. He married Margarita Bonmatí in 1915. Salinas wrote a love letter to her every day, which was reflected in his epistolary love letters to Margarita. In 1918, Salinas became a professor at the University of Seville. He was later appointed professor at the Central School of Languages, where he met an American student named Katherine. She became the subject of
Read MoreSpanish Narrative: Late 19th Century to the 1960s
Linguistic Features of Narrative
Narrative typically employs connectors, numerous action verbs, and a predominance of predicative syntactic structures. It often includes descriptive textual sequences, dialogue, and expressions of the circumstances of time and place. Narrative can be classified into various forms, such as news, features, stories, memoirs, autobiography, and personal diary.
Narrative Transition to the 20th Century
At the end of the 19th century, the Spanish cultural environment was in
Read MoreSpanish Post-War Novel: Exile, Social Realism, and Experimentation
The Novelists of Exile
The Novelists of Exile: Ramón J. Sender (Chronicles of Alba), Max Aub (The Magic Labyrinth), Francisco Ayala (Head of the Lamb). These are some of the writers of this period. Their work, done outside of Spain, is generally focused on the theme of war.
The Immediate Post-War Novel (1940s)
The Immediate Post-War Novel (1940s): The extreme censorship of the time prevented critical social commentary. The natural breakdown of literary evolution is evident immediately after the war.
Read MoreSpanish Literature: From Medieval Times to Pre-Renaissance
Ages
From the demise of Lir until the discovery of America.
- In the Peninsula, it is marked by the presence of Arabic, and religion inspires art and literature.
- It is divided into medieval literature and pre-Renaissance literature.
Traditional Lyric
Jarchas (10th and 11th Centuries)
Short lyrical compositions whose theme is the lament of a woman who lost her beloved.
Cantigas de Amigo (13th, 14th Centuries)
Item, the same as that of jarchas. Parallelism of verses.
Mester de Juglaría (12th Century)
- They tell
Spanish Literature: From 19th Century to the Generation of ’27
Spanish Historical Context
The nineteenth century in Spain ended with the so-called Disaster of ’98. Spain lost its last overseas colonies—Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines—as a result of the military defeat suffered against the U.S. fleet. These events took place at a time when the country was experiencing strong social tensions due to the poor living conditions of the proletariat. The scientific and technological backwardness, coupled with the unstable social situation, worried the intellectuals
Read MoreCatalan Modernism: Art, Society, and Literature
The Modernist Movement
Modernism was the movement that emerged in Catalonia between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the aim of transforming traditional Catalan culture into a modern culture.
The promoters wanted to bring Catalonia into Europe. They believed that traditionalists had to banish all aspects of Catalan culture and introduce innovative ideas.
Modernism and Society
Bourgeois Hegemony
The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy was accompanied by a period of social peace that helped
Read More