European Avant-Garde Movements and the Generation of ’27

Posted on Mar 14, 2025 in Latin

European Avant-Garde Movements

The period following World War I saw the rise of numerous avant-garde artistic movements and isms across Europe. These movements aimed to break away from traditional culture and propose a new, modern, and original vision for art and literature.

Major European Avant-Garde Movements

  • Cubism: Introduced calligrams, poems where the verse arrangement forms images (e.g., fountains, propellers).
  • Futurism: Rejected sentimentality and romanticism, celebrating the beauty of machines, speed, and technology.
  • Dadaism: Radically destructive towards traditional art, offering humorous, fantastical, and free-form literature, devoid of logic or reason in artistic creation.
  • Expressionism: Presented a pessimistic and tragic view of reality and the human condition, advocating for pacifism and opposing war and destruction.
  • Surrealism: The most revolutionary and influential movement, aiming to transform human lives by liberating individuals from oppressive constraints. Surrealists explored the subconscious to release repressed impulses, employing techniques like automatic writing, where thoughts are written without rational control. Surrealism manifested across various art forms, including painting, sculpture, and film.

The Avant-Garde in Spain

Spain quickly embraced these innovative European ideas, largely through the influence of Ramón Gómez de la Serna (1888-1963). Two movements particularly captured the avant-garde spirit in Spain:

  • Creationism: Emphasized absolute freedom in artistic creation.
  • Ultraism: Incorporated futuristic themes into poems celebrating modern technological advancements.

The Generation of ’27

In the 1920s, amidst this artistic renewal, emerged one of the most brilliant groups of poets in Spanish literature: the Generation of ’27, including Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Rafael Alberti, and Federico García Lorca. Miguel Hernández can be considered a later representative.

Tradition and Avant-Garde

The Generation of ’27 initially embraced the rebellious spirit and experimental nature of the avant-garde. A key feature was the integration of poetic tradition with the most valuable aspects of these new movements. This integration manifested as:

  • Admiration for and knowledge of Spanish classics, such as Garcilaso.
  • Renewed interest in poetry, with Juan Ramón Jiménez paving the way for pure poetry.
  • Use of traditional metrical forms alongside free verse.
  • Combination of folk and intellectual poetry, influenced by popular lyrical authors like Lorca and Alberti.

The Literary Career of the Generation of ’27

The poets of the Generation of ’27 followed a common trajectory, which can be divided into three stages:

  1. Pure Poetry: Early works advocated for poetry characterized by formal precision, aiming to create emotional-intellectual experiences rather than sentimental ones.
  2. Influence of Surrealism: Surrealist influences began to appear, with Lorca and Alberti incorporating irrational elements into their poetry.
  3. Civil War and Exile: The Spanish Civil War profoundly impacted the entire generation. Lorca was executed, and the pain and anger of the war were reflected in the poems of those years. Nostalgia for the homeland and the wounds of war remained present in many compositions.

Major Poets of the Generation of ’27

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)

Poetic Career:

  • Andalucismo, playfulness, and neopopular poetry.
  • Surrealism and rebellion.
  • Intimacy and themes of love.

Works:

  • Gypsy Ballads (1928)
  • Poet in New York (1930)
  • Sonnets of Dark Love (1936)

Rafael Alberti (1902-1999)

Poetic Career:

  • Neopopular poetry.
  • Personal crisis, social commitment, and Surrealism.
  • Political themes.
  • Exile and nostalgia for Spain.

Works:

  • Sailor on Land (1925)
  • About the Angels (1929)
  • The Street Poet (1937)
  • Return of the Living Far (1952)

Miguel Hernández (1910-1942)

Poetic Career:

  • Early influence of Góngora.
  • Classicist era.
  • Combative literature.

Works:

  • Expert on Moons (1933)
  • That Does Not Stop the Reyo (1936)
  • The Man Lurking (1937)