Spanish Generation of 1927: Poets, Playwrights, Prose
Generation of 1927
The Generation of 1927 refers to a group of Spanish writers and poets who emerged after 1920. This generation’s key components include generational traits, influences, and stylistic traits. We can distinguish between poets, playwrights, and prose writers.
Poets
- Pedro Salinas: His work can be divided into three stages:
- First stage: Mixes avant-garde modernist heritage, as seen in Fable and Sign.
- Second stage: Features humane, loving, and conceptually rich poetry, such as Voice Due to
Spanish Literature: 18th and 19th Century Authors
José Cadalso (18th Century): Poetry & Prose
Works: Numancion (or Tenacious), Solaya y Circasianos, Don Sancho García, Conde de Castilla, Moroccan Letters, Gloomy Night, The Pseudo-Intellectuals, Good Soldier to the Violet.
Other 18th Century Authors
- Montesquieu: Persian Letters.
- Argens: Puppets and Turkish Letters.
Nicolás Fernández de Moratín: Theater & Tragedies
Works: Lucrecia, Hormesinda, Guzman the Better.
Vicente García de la Huerta: Tragedies
Work: Raquel.
Ramón de la Cruz: Classic
Read MoreFray Luis de León and Lope de Vega: Renaissance to National Theater
Fray Luis de León
The poems of Fray Luis de León are heirs to the Renaissance in both form and content.
In form, he used Italianate verse stanzas, above all, the lira and hendecasyllabic and heptasyllabic verses. The content includes classic topics (locus amoenus, Golden Mean) combined with religious themes.
Fray Luis, in both prose and verse, was extremely careful with language and style. He eschewed bombast and excess, and imbued his words with naturalness, simplicity, and harmony, to say “what
Read MoreRenaissance Prose: Didactic, Fiction, and Novels
Renaissance Prose: Didactic and Fictional Works
The prose of the Golden Age, encompassing both didactic prose (dialogues) and fiction (novels), transmits the new Renaissance ideas. Dialogues contributed to the development of the novel. Highlights include Dialogue of Language by Juan de Valdés and Dialogue of Mercury and Charon by Alfonso Valdés.
Doctrinal Treatises
St. Teresa of Ávila’s prose is widespread on doctrinal aesthetic levels. Teresa of Jesus was a great prose writer, both classical and
Read MoreSpain in the Early 20th Century: Literature and Society
Narrative of Early 20th Century Spain
Introduction: Historical Context
The 19th century concluded with the Disaster of ’98, where Spain relinquished its last colonial holdings: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. This led to a sense of defeat and decline. In 1902, Alfonso XIII’s reign began, with conservatives and liberals alternating in government peacefully. General Primo de Rivera seized power from 1923 to 1930. The monarchy weakened, and Republicans, supported by socialists and Catalan left-
Read MoreAncient Greece: Society, Classes, and Mythology
Ancient Greece: Society and Mythology
Athenian Social Classes
Athenian society was structured into several distinct classes:
- Politai: Divided into ten tribes across territorial districts (plain, mountain, and coast). They possessed full civil rights, acquired by birth. Their responsibilities included serving in the heavy infantry or cavalry, participating in magistracies, serving in courts, and paying special taxes.
- Metics: Foreigners residing in Athens. Despite being free, they lacked citizenship rights.