The Generation of ’27: A Deep Dive into Spanish Poetry
Modernism
Distinguishing Features:
- Searching for the musicality of artistic perfection.
- Prose-verse and abundant use of rhetorical figures.
- Full of sensuality and colorful descriptions.
- Escapism.
- Rebellion against bourgeois society.
Poetry:
- Rubén Darío: Musicality and preciousness. Blue, Profane Prose, Songs of Life and Hope.
- Juan Ramón Jiménez: Search for absolute beauty. Three stages in his work:
- Modernist poetry: Gardens Far, Arias Tristes.
- Pure poetry: Diary of a Newly Married Poet.
- Poetry: Animal de Fondo, Dios Deseado y Deseante.
- Manuel Machado: Decadence and the influence of flamenco. Soul, The Bad Poem.
- Valle-Inclán: Humor and mystery. Key Lyrics.
Prose:
- Rubén Darío: Legends, Azul.
- Ramón del Valle-Inclán: Affairs, irony. Sonatas and Tirano Banderas.
Theater:
- Ramón del Valle-Inclán: Mythical world, Galician environment. Eagle Blasón.
Generation of ’98
Poetry:
- Antonio Machado: The “careful simplicity.” Solitudes and Campos de Castilla.
Prose:
- Miguel de Unamuno: The Nivola, Niebla.
- Azorín: Mixture of novels and essays. Castilla.
- Pío Baroja: The open novel. The Tree of Knowledge and Zalacaín, the Adventurer.
Theater:
- Ramón del Valle-Inclán: The Scarecrow, Divinas Palabras and Luces de Bohemia.
Generation of ’27
In the 1920s, a new group of poets emerged, rejecting the prevailing poetic trends. With university educations, greater affluence, and progressive, liberal attitudes, they sought to modernize poetry. This group included: Salinas, Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Dámaso Alonso, Vicente Aleixandre, Cernuda, Lorca, and Alberti.
The Generation of ’27 arose from an event in 1927 commemorating the 300th anniversary of Góngora’s death. This movement was characterized by:
- Similar birth dates (1891-1902).
- Similar intellectual formation.
- Close personal relationships.
- Participation in collective actions, celebrations, or magazines.
- A generational event that shaped them (an economic boom resulting in increased opportunities for youth and intellectual growth).
- The presence of ideological guides – Juan Ramón Jiménez and Ortega y Gasset.
- Shared anxieties and experiences.
- A generational language with a growing preference for metaphor and aesthetic factors (poetry as an end in itself, unlike the ’98 generation’s view of poetry as a vehicle for social commentary).
- Rejection of Modernism without sacrificing innovation.
- Embrace of cultural trends.
Stages:
- 1922-1928: Dominated by pure poetry and admiration for Juan Ramón Jiménez. Characterized by the suppression of sentimentality and a search for beauty. Rigorous poetic construction and a tendency towards short poems.
- 1928-1936: Cohesion begins to break down as some poets seek new forms of expression, such as Surrealism. The influence of the Civil War and exile brought an end to the Generation of ’27.
Notable Members:
- Dámaso Alonso: Works: Poemillas of the City, The Wind and the Verse (influenced by Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez), Dark News, Children of Wrath (a peak of his uprooted poetry belonging to the 1940s). This work marks his second, Surrealist stage. With Man and God, Joy of Seeing, and Doubt and Love About the Supreme Being.
- Pedro Salinas: Considered the love poet par excellence, exploring all its forms: painful, intimate, triumphant. Three stages:
- Initial: Marked by Juan Ramón Jiménez’s influence: Presagios, Seguro Azar, and Fábula y Signo.
- Plenitud: Formed by the La Voz a Ti Debida trilogy, Razón de Amor, and Largo Lamento. For Salinas, the beloved is the source of his passionate stories.
- Exile Poetry: Comprises El Contemplado, Todo Más Claro, and Confianza.
- Jorge Guillén: Some consider him the most direct disciple of Juan Ramón Jiménez due to his pure poetry. His first major work, published in 1935, is Cántico, followed by Homenaje, Clamor. The complexity of his work lies in its refined style and pursuit of pure poetic ideas.
- Gerardo Diego: Represents the Generation of ’27’s ideal of blending traditional poetry with avant-garde mastery. Traditional poetry includes: El Romance del Río Dulce, Soria, Versos Humanos, and Alondra de Verdad, where his poetry takes on a direct and concrete form. Avant-garde poetry: His penchant for the cutting edge led him to explore Ultraism and Creationism. Key works include: Imagen, Limbo, Manual de Espumas, and Fábula de Equis y Zeda.
- Vicente Aleixandre: His career is typically divided into two phases:
- Pure poetry, beginning with Ámbito.
- Surrealist poetry, which allowed for greater freedom of expression and subject matter. Notable works include: Espadas como Labios, Pasión de la Tierra, La Destrucción o el Amor, and Sombra del Paraíso. In his later work, the focus shifts to the human condition within the poetic universe, as seen in Historia del Corazón and En un Vasto Dominio.
The Generation of ’27: The Most Important Poets of 20th Century Spanish Poetry
- Concept: A synthesis of the main innovations of the European avant-garde and the poetic tradition of Spanish literature.
- Origin of the Term: Emerged from a cultural event honoring Góngora, whom they saw as an example of art for art’s sake.
- Members: Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Dámaso Alonso, Vicente Aleixandre, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, among others.
- Cultural Context: Highly favorable due to:
- Influence of the previous generation’s poetics.
- Dissemination of European avant-garde movements in Spain.
- Shared experiences in student residences and cultural centers, fostering friendships and the exchange of ideas.
- Proliferation of literary magazines.
- Influences: Pure poetry, avant-garde movements, Baroque, folk poetry, and Surrealism. They merged the new with the old.
- Stages: Three distinct periods:
- Youthful stage: Humanized poetry.
- Pure poetry stage.
- Exile and commitment during the Franco regime: Rehumanized and politically engaged poetry.