20th-Century Spanish Poetry: An Overview
20th-Century Spanish Poetry
The Impact of the Civil War (1936-1944)
The Spanish Civil War significantly disrupted poetic creation, leading to:
- A generational gap.
- Deaths of prominent figures like Lorca and Hernández.
- Exile of poets like Alberti.
- Cultural isolation, ideological censorship, and restricted travel.
Poets were divided between those who supported the new regime and those who criticized it.
Rooted Poetry (1936-1944)
Poets sympathetic to the regime often used traditional forms and praised the land or religious sentiment. They favored classical metrical forms and sometimes artificial language. Key characteristics include:
- Focus on inwardness: natal, family, and God.
- Recovery of Golden Age metrics and poetic formulas.
- Themes of love and the Castilian landscape.
Important poets include Luis Rosales, Leopoldo Panero, Ridruejo, and Luis Felipe Vivanco.
Minority trends during this period included:
- Postismo: Surrealist games, musical rhythm, unusual imagery, and humor. (Eduardo Chicharro, Carlos Edmundo de Ory, Juan Eduardo Cirlot)
- Song (1947): Intimate tone and formal refinement. (Ricardo Molina, Pablo García Baena)
Post-War Poetry (1944-1964)
1944 marked a turning point with the emergence of the magazine Espadaña. Dámaso Alonso’s Hijos de la ira and Vicente Aleixandre’s Sombra del paraíso exemplify the shift towards engagement with contemporary reality.
Existentialist Poetry (1944-1950)
Following Alonso’s lead, this trend explored:
- The poet’s struggle with existence.
- Themes of existential and historical commitment, life affirmation, love, faith, death, loneliness, and despair.
- Use of a raw, almost violent language with flexible metric forms.
- Influence of Miguel Hernández.
Social Poetry (1950-1964)
Building on existentialist themes, social poetry aimed to:
- Give voice to the masses.
- Testify to social injustices.
Two main themes emerged:
- The yearning for a better future and a reconciled Spain.
- Focus on the needy, the marginalized, and the uprooted.
Poetic language was simple, colloquial, and direct. Censorship led to a refined and compressed style.
The Generation of ’50 (1955-1966)
This group of young poets shared the critical perspective of social poets but with a distinct focus on:
- Formal beauty and stylistic awareness.
- Careful use of language.
- Renewal of traditional poetic themes with humor and irony.
Key poets include Ángel González, José Ángel Valente, Claudio Rodríguez, José Agustín Goytisolo, Francisco Brines, Carlos Sahaún, and Antonio Gamoneda.
The Generation of ’68 (Novísimos) (1966-1975)
Skeptical of poetry’s power to change reality, this group adopted a formalist aesthetic, incorporating:
- Exotic elements and influences from foreign authors and mass media.
- Aspects of surrealism and postismo, while retaining the conversational tone of the ’50s poets.
Key poets include Pere Gimferrer, José María Castellet, Guillermo Carnero, Antonio Colinas, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, and Leopoldo María Panero.
Current Poetry (1975-Present)
Contemporary Spanish poetry is characterized by diverse trends, including:
- Continuations of earlier movements (visual poetry, culturalism).
- Revivals of classical forms (epic poetry, neo-romanticism, neobarroquism, neorealism), often with humor or parody.
- A focus on daily life and human existence (neorealism).
Notable poets and trends include:
- Neosurrealism: Blanca Andreu, Ana Rossetti, Leopoldo María Panero.
- Neoexistentialism: Amalia Iglesias, Luis Castro.
- Classical and Symbolist: Francisco Castaño, Joan Margarit.
- Intimate: Víctor Botas, Juan Luis Panero, Jon Juaristi, Felipe Benítez Reyes, Luis García Montero.
- Post-Novísimo: Andrés Trapiello.
Miguel Hernández (1910-1942)
Associated with the Generation of ’27, Hernández’s poetry is marked by its depth, authenticity, and social commitment. His early work, like Perito en lunas (1933), shows Góngora’s influence. However, his later poems reveal a growing commitment to social justice.
- Perito en lunas (1933)
- El rayo que no cesa (1936)
- Viento del pueblo (1937)
- Cancionero y romancero de ausencias (1938-1941)