Generation of ’27: A Deep Dive into Spanish Literature

Posted on Sep 27, 2024 in Latin

Generation of ’27

Introduction

The Generation of ’27 was a group of Spanish poets, writers, and artists who rose to prominence in the 1920s and 1930s. The group’s first members were listed in the magazine Verse and Prose in 1927: Salinas, Guillén, Diego, Aleixandre, Lorca, Damaso, Cernuda, and Alberti. Although Miguel Hernandez was younger, he maintained close ties with the group and was considered a “cool follower” by Damaso. This era also saw the rise of talented novelists, playwrights, painters, filmmakers, and musicians like Rosa Chafel, Casona, Dali, Bunel, and Manuel de Falla.

Stages of the Generation of ’27

Stage 1 (Until 1927)

The first phase was dominated by a trend towards pure poetry, stripped of rhetoric, sentimentality, and unnecessary elements. This desire for poetic nudity and formal perfection was inspired by Juan Ramón Jiménez (JRJ), particularly his work “Diary of a Newlywed Poet.” The avant-garde movement known as “Ultra” also promoted the idea of pure poetry. This stage also saw a revival of classical and folk poetry.

Stage 2 (1927-1939)

The homage to Góngora solidified the group’s aesthetic ideals and marked the beginning of a new phase characterized by the humanization of poetry. This coincided with the emergence of Surrealism, which had a profound impact on Spanish poetry. Surrealism proposed that art should explore the subconscious, where individual dreams surface. It became a movement of freedom, employing a variety of techniques such as the suppression of logical connections and the use of unusual metaphors to address the reader’s subconscious.

Stage 3 (Post-1939)

The Generation of ’27 was largely Republican, and as a result, most of its members were exiled after the Spanish Civil War. The assassination of García Lorca in 1936 effectively dispersed the group, and each member evolved according to their own personality and aesthetics.

Authors

Pedro Salinas (1891-1951)

Born in Madrid, Salinas lived in Paris and was a professor of literature. He died in exile in Boston. His poetic career mirrors the three stages of the Generation of ’27:

  • Stage 1: Works like “Omens,” “Insurance Random,” and “Fable and Sign” show the influence of JRJ and Futurism. His themes often involve a dialogue between the lyrical self and the world of objects.
  • Stage 2: This period produced his best works, including “The Voice Due to You,” “Reason of Love,” and “Long Regret.” Love is portrayed as a positive and vital force, but also as a source of distress when the beloved is absent.
  • Stage 3: After the war, Salinas’s poetry became imbued with pain and drama, exploring themes of death, war, anguish, and exile. Notable works include “The Contemplated,” “All Clearer,” and “Confidence.” Salinas was also a playwright, short story writer, and literary essayist.

Style: Salinas’s work is characterized by a search for the essence of life and formal beauty through reason. He utilizes paradoxes, puns, and impossible metaphors. His style features short verses, assonance or free verse, minimal use of adjectives, and a precise choice of words.

Rafael Alberti (1902-1999)

Alberti’s poetic work is divided into two stages:

  • Bourgeois Poetry (Pre-1931):
    • Stage 1: Characterized by neopopularism and neotraditionalism, drawing inspiration from ballads and songs of the 15th and 16th centuries. “Marinero en tierra” showcases his poetic characteristics: circular structure, irregular metrics, and parallelisms.
    • Stage 2: Influenced by Góngora, he links Gongorism with avant-garde tendencies and cultivates metaphors. He writes “Cal y canto.”
    • Stage 3: Embraces Surrealism with free verse and neoromantic influences. He writes “On Los Angeles.”
  • Committed Poetry and Poetry of Nostalgia (Post-1931): Two parallel trends emerge. Committed poetry is iconoclastic and close to anarchism, exemplified by the play “With Shoes On I Die.” With the arrival of the Second Republic, he embraces revolutionary Marxism and writes “Street Poet” (1938), reflecting the repression of the Civil War. In exile, he alternates between political poetry and nostalgia for Spain. “Between the Carnation and the Sword” represents this period. He also writes about childhood memories, school life, love, and his hometown in “Cadiz and its Bay.” In 1988, he published his complete works and his biography, “The Lost Trees.”

Miguel Hernandez (1910-1942)

Hernandez represents a generation broken by war. Some consider him a member of the Generation of ’27, while others see him as a link between this group and subsequent generations. His work reflects three trends in contemporary poetry:

  • Pure Poetry: “Puppy in Moons” (1933) shows influences of Góngora, Ultra, JRJ, and the early Generation of ’27.
  • Love Poetry: “The Lightning That Never Stops” (1936) features an abundance of metric structures, including sonnets. It presents love in a destructive and vital way, characteristic of the Generation of ’27.
  • Social Poetry: “Wind People” (1937), composed during the war, demonstrates his commitment to the lower classes. He also writes “The Man Lurking” (1939) and “Ballad Songbook and Absences” (1941), the former marked by the death of his son and the loss of the war, and the latter dedicated to his wife and second child in simple language.

Luis Cernuda (1902-1963)

A student of Salinas at the University of Seville, Cernuda moved to Madrid and later to Toulouse, where he worked as a teacher. His work is marked by the clash between reality and desire, the strength of the heart, and the limitations imposed by society. Three stages can be identified in his work:

  • Beginnings: He approached pure poetry with classical influences, as seen in “Profile of the Air” and “Eclogue, Elegy, and Ode.”
  • Surrealist Phase: He produced his best works, “Un rio, un amor” (1929) and “Forbidden Pleasures” (1931).
  • Fullness: “Donde habite el olvido” (1932-1933) showcases his unique language and style, characterized by bleakness, sadness, and sincerity.

Vicente Aleixandre (1896-1984)

A leading representative of the Generation of ’27, Aleixandre became a reference point for young poets after the Civil War. He received the National Prize for Literature in 1934, joined the Royal Spanish Academy in 1950, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1977. His work seeks integration with nature while retaining elements of classical poetry. His language is rich and complex, and his themes revolve around love and death. His production is divided into three periods:

  • Avant-Garde: Aligned with Surrealism, he focuses on imperfection, anguish, and human fragility. Notable works include “Scope,” “Espadas como labios,” and “La destrucción o el amor” (1932-1933).
  • Abandonment of Surrealism: He turns to human problems in “History of the Heart” and “In a Vast Domain.”
  • Metaphysics: He reflects on his youth with nostalgia and questions the meaning of life in “Poems of Consummation” and “Dialogues of Knowledge.”

Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)

Born in Granada, Lorca studied law, philosophy, and music, and was interested in painting and drawing. He moved to Madrid and lived in the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he associated with JRJ, Dalí, and Buñuel. He traveled to New York between 1929 and 1930, an experience that deeply impacted him. Upon returning to Spain, he founded La Barraca, a traveling theater company. In 1936, he fled to Granada with his family, where he was executed shortly after.

Works: Lorca’s predominant themes are death, love, and frustration, often leading to tragedy. He was tormented by anxiety, an inability to understand the world, loneliness, and frustrated passion, all of which are reflected in his works. Several stages can be distinguished in his work:

  • Stage 1 (1921-1928): Influenced by modernist and popular trends, as well as Surrealism, particularly in his use of metaphors. Works include “Book of Poems,” “Songs,” “Poema del Cante Jondo,” and “Gypsy Ballads.”
  • Stage 2 (1929-1936): His time in New York significantly changed his style, leading him towards social consciousness. His most representative works from this period are “Poet in New York” and “Sonnets of Dark Love.”

Style: Lorca’s poetry is marked by a masterful command of technique combined with a personal aesthetic rooted in traditionalism. The fusion of the popular and the occult pervades his work. His symbology, representing life, death, fertility, and eroticism, is highly characteristic. He also incorporates avant-garde influences and displays an original conception of rhythm in verse.