20th-Century Spanish Poetry and Prose: An Overview

The lyrical 60-Present

A mid-50s is a group of authors that raise the artistic quality of the poetry:
Angel Gonzalez, Goytisolo, Gil de Viedma, Jose Angel Valente, Félix Grande … Unites a close friendship since they are the children of war and have lived in the hard times after the war.
His concept of poetry has changed, its purpose far apart to communicate is using poetry as a means of knowledge of reality, every one knows well the same reading or creating poetry.
The first books are marked by the influence of social poets like Machado is for them an example of ethics and aesthetics. Many authors are inclined toward intimacy and toward the expression of individual experience (poetry of experience.)
Another difference is the treatment of language: fleeing exaltation of speech and prose, looking for a personal style, humor and irony, echoes of readings and songs are intimate and friendly conversation with the reader.
Works were published as: Treaty of urbanism, A. Gonzalez, Don of drunkenness, of Rodriguez, or Psalms to seeing Goytisolo.
The poets have continued to create a poem different from its beginnings and have evolved into different paths, but still with the quality of the works.

The arrival of the newest



1970, Joseph M. Castellet made a controversial anthology: nine in the newest Spanish poets who are authors such as M. Moltanbán Vázquez, Carnero, Ana María Moix, Panero … They lend born in war and are the first generation within the consumer society, American film, tv and pop-rck.
They admire the poetry of the Spanish foreign saving Cernuda and Gil de Viedma and a few Hispanic Americans. They antirealists, dumped into a lyrical relating it to experimental or avant-garde Modernism.

Apart from the fall of the anthology others in this trend, although individual character: Antonio Colinas, Antonio Carvajal, Jaime Siles … Characterized by extreme experimentalism as the overwhelming exhibition culture.

Recent years

Since 1975, a noticeable change in these poets, slow down and rupturitas culturalist excesses and begin a more formal and intimate poetry.
It is difficult to establish trends in the poetry of the ’80s and ’90s because we can find a great variety and disparate. The anthologies to group what they do and often complicate the picture further.
Julio Llamazares with poetry Leon, Blanca Andreu, heiress of Surrealism and Luis García Montero, Benitez Reyes and Jon Juristi with them we find a poetry critic of the modern world.


Narrtivas Continuing trends of the late twentieth century, however, in this era when there is a reaction against realism and naturalism. Young Naturalists have a great desire for innovation. Modernism and 98 have in common the attempt to renew the literature in all genres. But modernism is identified more with the poetry and the generation of 98 with the novel and the essay. Within the historical context, two problems cause the interruption of the authors of the time.
The atmosphere of the twentieth century crisis deepened with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines and agotambiento of themes and forms of literature of the last century.
Themes. The theme of Spain. Since reformist and patriotic, lyrical impressionistic or perception. In any case there is in all of them a desire to discover the soul of Spain through its landscape, history and literature.The existential theme, ranging from concerns about the meaning of life, including psychological conflicts or problems of religiosity. The different activities vary from angustria and obsession for inmortalidadad de Unamuno. The style. The most characteristic of his style is the rejection of the expression gradilocuente. They advocate a return to simplicity and clarity without losing general expresiva.Caracteristicas force reflects the everyday, the author is omnipresent, the story focuses on a person who focuses the action … The novelists of 98, Miguel de Unamuno, is the most peculiar writer of 98 critical and independent character. His concern and anguish on the issues that are created his literary output also has philosophical knowledge. (Love and pedagogy, tia tula, fog and xan Manuel Bueno, martyr. His works have several obsessions Spain the issue of existence and death, the relationship between God and man. Niebla, is the novel ke best reflects the characteristic themes and how to tell. It focuses on the relationship between the Creator and his creatures through a character. This theme is derived from the anguish and human existence. Pio Baroja, is the greatest novelist of his generation its main theme is the protest against the time sociendad (hypocrisy, falsehoods, progress of the bourgeoisie ..) uss some of most important books are the tree of science. Jose Martin Ruiz Azorin. He claims that his novels are a reflection of the delicate and lyrical essence of reality. It reflects the reality in detail in a beautiful way and its main theme is the passage of time, so melancholy. Valle-Inclan, is one of the most avant-garde writers of the time. His modernist work progresses to the creation of the grotesque. His first prose work is, sonatas which presents a peculiar memories of Don Juan. In 1926 he wrote his second novel, tyrant flags, which tries to reflect the language use and constumbres of America through the portrait of a dictator.