The Generation of ’27: A Deep Dive into Spanish Avant-Garde Poetry
The Generation of ’27: Avant-Garde Poetry in Spain
The year 1927 marked a significant gathering at the Ateneo de Sevilla, commemorating the tercentenary of Góngora’s death. This meeting brought together a group of authors who admired Góngora for his innovative use of poetic language. This date, 1927, became synonymous with this group, known as the Generation of ’27.
Intellectual Background and Relationships
The members of this group shared a strong intellectual bond, with many being university professors. They fostered cordial relationships and often collaborated in literary magazines like The Gazelle, Literary Magazine Coast, or The West.
Key Figures
The Generation of ’27 traditionally includes renowned poets such as Federico Garcia Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Pedro Salinas, Damaso Alonso, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti, Emilio Prados, and Manuel Altolaguirre. Some, like Lorca and Alberti, also excelled in drama.
Characteristics of the Generation of ’27
- Aesthetic Renovation: They sought to revolutionize Spanish poetry by embracing avant-garde innovations while respecting the Spanish literary tradition.
- Linguistic Innovation: Their poems exhibited a conscious effort to renew poetic language by incorporating religious vocabulary, slang, and terms previously considered outside the realm of poetry.
- The Power of Metaphor: Metaphor became a central literary device, skillfully employed to convey surrealist concepts.
- Metric Diversity: While using classical forms like sonnets, romances, and carols, they also embraced blank verse, free verse, and other innovative metric forms, showcasing their characteristic freedom of expression.
- Thematic Evolution: Initially focused on the art of poetry itself (art for art’s sake), they gradually evolved, influenced by Surrealism, towards a more humanized poetry. This shift emphasized pain, joy, and memories.
- Impact of the Civil War: The Spanish Civil War profoundly impacted their work, leading many to address its themes and further emphasizing the human aspect of their poetry. For instance, Rafael Alberti’s work transitioned from the pure and aseptic style of Marinero en tierra (1924) to the deeper social engagement of The Poet on the Street (1936).
Key Features and Themes
- Dissatisfaction with the past and a search for new artistic expressions reflecting the modern human experience.
- Abandonment of superficial themes in favor of those resonating with the complexities of the new man.
- Exploration of the interplay between words and visual art.
- Extensive use of symbolism.
- Rejection of traditional versification rules in favor of greater freedom of expression.
- Reaction against Modernism and its imitators, coupled with a social consciousness that led them to address the human condition.
- Introduction of new themes, poetic language, and formal experimentation.
- Shift away from traditional narratives towards suggestion and implication, requiring active reader participation.
- Exploration of multiple narrative perspectives.
- Emphasis on the connection between characters’ environments and their inner lives.
- Deep dives into the psychological complexities of characters, revealing their hidden states of mind.
- Focus on psychological time and the presentational aspect of narrative, encouraging readers to piece together the story.
Influences on the Generation of ’27
While the Generation of ’27 carved its own path, several influences shaped their work:
Future Influence
Although Futurism’s influence on the Generation of ’27 was limited, it did impact some members, notably Pedro Salinas and Rafael Alberti.
Creationism
This avant-garde movement, championed by Vicente Huidobro, advocated for the creation of new realities within poetry rather than mere imitation. Gerardo Diego, influenced by Creationism, explored this concept in poems like “Picture” (1922), where words themselves, not just their meanings, take center stage.
Ultraism
This movement, embracing fragmented imagery and illogical perceptions, found a platform in the magazine Greece after the publication of the Ultra Manifesto in 1919.
Surrealism
Emerging in the late 1920s, Surrealism profoundly impacted almost all members of the Generation of ’27. This movement, advocating for the expression of the subconscious, dreams, and visions, is evident in the works of Lorca, Alberti, Aleixandre, and Cernuda. Surrealism liberated poetry both thematically and formally, leading to a resurgence of human-centered themes in 1930s poetry.
Literary Giants
The Generation of ’27 drew inspiration from established poets like Juan Ramón Jiménez and Antonio Machado, admiring and respecting their work despite differing aesthetic approaches. They also found influence in French poets like Valéry and Mallarmé, the introducer of avant-garde in Spain, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, and the leader of the Generation of 98, Miguel de Unamuno. Additionally, they were influenced by the renowned essayist and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset.
Spanish Literary Tradition
Despite advocating for a break from the past, the Generation of ’27 maintained a deep appreciation for Spanish literary tradition. They admired works by Jorge Manrique, Garcilaso de la Vega, San Juan de la Cruz, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo. They appreciated the artistic language of Rubén Darío and the seemingly simple yet profound themes and forms of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. Some, like Alberti and Lorca, even incorporated elements of Spanish folk tradition, such as romances and ditties, into their work, a trend known as neopopularismo.
The Avant-Garde Movement
s, the future, promoted by the Italian Marinetti, called for breaking with the aesthetic and themes of the past and celebrate the art, mechanical civilization, sports, etc. “Dada, was born thanks to the Romanian Tristan Tzara. His ideas, which opened the way to Surrealism advocated fantasy, irrationality, the rejection of logic and inconsistency. Like Futurism, was short-lived. Creationism, the poet does not seek to imitate reality but rather to create in the poem. Ultraism, includes part of the futurist and Dadaist influence. In the last two movements is used, sometimes, a certain visual poetry, especially the verses which provides a unique way.