Generation of ’27: Spanish Literature’s Golden Age

Posted on Sep 30, 2024 in Latin

Generation of ’27

It is called the Generation of ’27, the group of writers and poets that emerged between 1920 and 1935.

This generation integrated Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Vicente Aleixandre, Federico García Lorca, Emilio Prados, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, and Manuel Altolaguirre. Dámaso Alonso is often added to this roster, but his most important books of poetry were published in the postwar period. Miguel Hernández, who belongs to the Generation of 1936, has been considered a follower of the Generation of ’27 due to his personal relationships, the style of his early Gongorine books, and his commitment to the Republic.

The date of 1927 was chosen to name this group because in that year they met at the University of Seville following the conclusion of the third anniversary of the death of Góngora. Besides Generation of ’27, other names have been proposed: the Generation of 1925, the Generation of the Republic, the Avant-Garde Generation…

Very important for the dissemination of their works was the role of some literary magazines such as Costa, Mediodía, Verso y Prosa, Carmen, Litoral, headed by Juan Ramón Jiménez, Residencia and, above all, La Gaceta Literaria and the Revista de Occidente. The latter was created by Ortega y Gasset. During the thirties, the journals reveal the conflict between the advocates of pure art (Héroe, Los Cuatro Vientos) and political and moral commitment (Octubre, by Alberti; Caballo Verde para la Poesía, by Neruda). Cruz y Raya, in a line of Catholicism, was engaged in by Bergamín.

The traits that allow us to consider these writers as belonging to the same group are: approximate age, similar intellectual education, a generational event (homage to Góngora), friendship, shared experiences at the Residencia de Estudiantes, common guides and teachers (Góngora, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Gómez de la Serna), collaboration on several literary magazines, and the fact that all authors were included by Gerardo Diego in an anthology.

Common Features of the Poets from ’27

Each of the poets of the Generation of ’27 cultivated poetry with a very original voice, but all share common traits that allow us to talk about a generational poetry:

  • Zeal for Góngora: His influence on Alberti, Gerardo Diego, Miguel Hernández, and Dámaso Alonso led to the edition of Góngora’s Soledades. He is the model for the development of image and metaphor, a fundamental element for these poets in the line of Creationism and Ultraism. Additionally, we must add the influence of Garcilaso (Cernuda), Fray Luis de León, Bécquer…
  • Pure poetry (poetry that focuses more on form, neglecting anecdote, and eliminating any pathos) affects them all, especially Guillén, Salinas, and Gerardo Diego. In this regard, the influence of French poet Paul Valéry and, especially, Juan Ramón Jiménez is important.
  • A taste for popular poetry (Alberti, Lorca, Gerardo Diego): Romance, seguidillas, parallelistic songs, carols… stylistic devices such as repetition, parallelism… Ballads (in Lorca and Gerardo Diego), traditional songbooks (in Alberti), songs of Gil Vicente and Juan del Encina, and the popular characters of Lope de Vega.
  • Importance of the avant-garde movements (Gerardo Diego, Alberti, Salinas…) and Ramón Gómez de la Serna; many of their verses are like greguerías.
  • Free verse and poetic prose coexist with classical stanzas.
  • Variety of themes: They used avant-garde themes, about technology, the modern world, and intellectual topics, but also traditional or human subjects, such as love, death, and landscape.

Stages

In the evolution of the Generation of ’27, there are three stages:

  • First phase covers the early twenties, under the influence of the avant-garde and the pure poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez. On the other hand, the presence of traditional lyricism is felt (Marinero en tierra, by Alberti; Versos humanos, by Gerardo Diego; Romancero gitano, by Lorca…). They seek the perfection of the classics, especially Góngora; they take a deep breath for a while.
  • Second stage, from 1928, the historical circumstances of Spain (end of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, economic crisis of 1929, establishment of the Republic…) mean that there is a re-humanization process that intensifies the social commitment of the poets of this generation. This coincides with the advent of Surrealism, which gives preference to human feelings (freedom, love, dreams, existential angst…). Pablo Neruda’s influence through his magazine Caballo Verde para la Poesía, which advocated an aesthetic that moved the poet away from pure poetry, was decisive.
  • Third stage, after the Civil War, the group dispersed. Some poets died (Lorca), others remained in Spain (Dámaso Alonso, Aleixandre, Gerardo Diego), and others went into exile (Alberti, Cernuda, Salinas, Guillén, Altolaguirre, Prados…). Each followed a very different aesthetic path, although everyone agreed to resume human themes, exacerbated by the suffering of war and its immediate consequences (exile, censorship, and misery).

Poetry

  • Pedro Salinas. In his work, there are three stages. In the first, until 1931, he blends the avant-garde and modernist heritage (Seguro azar and Fábula y signo). In the second, until 1939, he wrote a very human, loving poetry, rich in ideas and concepts (La voz a ti debida and Razón de amor). In the third, it becomes more objective and committed to reality (El Contemplado).
  • Jorge Guillén. He alternates between avant-garde poetry (Ultraism and Creationism) and traditional lyricism. In the first trend, Cántico and Manual de espumas stand out; in the second, Versos humanos, Clamor, Homenaje, Aire nuestro, Al aire libre, and Otros poemas.
  • Dámaso Alonso. He has two stages. The first is characterized by pure poetry (Poemas puros: Poemillas de la ciudad) and the second by social and existential poetry (Hijos de la ira opens the poetry of uprootedness; it is an anguished cry against the harsh environment of war).
  • Federico García Lorca, from Granada, was killed at the beginning of the Civil War. The central theme of his work is death, and ultimately, love driven by pain, frustration, and death. There are two stages in his poetry:
    • 1921-1928: This involves a stylization of popular and traditional forms to convey a tragic view of love and death of marginalized characters, such as gypsies, in Libro de poemas, Poema del cante jondo, and Romancero gitano.
    • 1929-1936: He embraces Surrealism and breaks with traditional verse, but maintains his attitude of solidarity with the disadvantaged, including racial and sexual minorities: Poeta en Nueva York expresses his anguish at the verses of modern civilization, Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. In Sonetos del amor oscuro, we see the passionate poet, hurt by life and unrequited love.
  • Rafael Alberti, born in Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz). Painter and poet, his verse is characterized by chromatic tones and perfect handling of rhythm and musicality rooted in Spanish tradition. There are three stages in his work:
    • He emphasizes the popular element and traditional letras in Marinero en tierra, La amante, and El alba del alhelí.
    • His poetry takes on Gongoristic accents (Cal y canto). Sobre los ángeles, a surrealist book, is motivated by a personal, ideological, and religious crisis.
    • The poet evolves into committed poetry (El poeta en la calle, Sermones y moradas, Entre el clavel y la espada, or Retornos de lo vivo lejano).
    Also noteworthy are his books dedicated to artistic themes, A la pintura, or the nostalgia for Spain, Retornos de lo vivo lejano.
  • Vicente Aleixandre, from Seville. The imprint of Surrealism (use of free verse and the visionary image) is present in Espadas como labios, La destrucción o el amor, and Sombra del paraíso, where the theme of love leads to pain or death. With this latest work, he opens the poetry of uprootedness after the war. Historia del corazón, Poemas de la consumación, and Diálogos del conocimiento eliminate the dehumanization of the avant-garde and reflect on the human condition.
  • Luis Cernuda was born in Seville. His poetry expresses the inconsistency of his tortured privacy, marked by pain and frustration resulting from the mismatch between reality and desire. This title, La realidad y el deseo, gives its name to all his work. Its development stems from pure poetry (Perfil del aire), then it is influenced by surrealism in Un río, un amor, and Los placeres prohibidos, and culminates in Donde habite el olvido, in which the poet shamelessly bares his inner self and reaches the peak of his poetry. Finally, the influence of English poetry is felt in books like Las nubes, Como quien espera el alba, and Desolación de la quimera, in which his bitterness is accentuated by nostalgia for his distant homeland.
  • Miguel Hernández, born in Orihuela (Alicante), participated in the Civil War and died in prison. He is undoubtedly one of the great Spanish poets.
    • From an avant-garde or Gongorine stage (Perito en lunas), he moves towards humanized poetry (El rayo que no cesa), where the poet’s obsessions with love, life, and death lie. The last stage, written during the Civil War, is a social and historical poetry (Viento del pueblo, El hombre acecha). Cancionero y romancero de ausencias is a move towards intimacy (his status as a prisoner, his love for his wife and son).

Novel

There are two trends:

  • The avant-garde novel, characterized by experimentation: Benjamín Jarnés with Profesor inútil, Paula y Paulita, and Locura y muerte de nadie; Antonio Espina with Pájaro pinto and Luna de copas; Pedro Salinas with Víspera del gozo; and above all, Max Aub with Fábula verde and Geografía and Francisco Ayala with the short stories of El boxeador y un ángel and Cazador en el alba, in addition to Rosa Chacel with Estación ida y vuelta and Corpus Barga with Pasión y muerte.
  • Realistic social novel: They write a 1930s novel based on nonfiction and reporting: Ramón J. Sender started this trend with Imán, Siete domingos rojos, La noche de las cien cabezas, and Mr. Witt en el cantón. In exile, he writes Epitalamio del prieto Trinidad, El rey y la reina, and Réquiem por un campesino español.
    Next to Sender, we must mention César M. Arconada, with La turbina; Joaquín Arderíus with Campesinos; and Andrés Carranque de Ríos, with La vida dura.

Essay

Francisco Ayala and Rosa Chacel collaborated with brief essays in Revista de Occidente, although it will be in exile when they fully demonstrate their talent as essayists. Within the literary essay, José Bergamín stands out with El cohete y la estrella, La mano quemada, Mangas y capirotes, and La cabeza a pájaros; Ernesto Giménez Caballero, with Yo, inspector de alcantarillas and Hércules jugando a los dados. At the end of the 1930s, an essay was published that became the manifesto of the Rehumanization of literature: La nueva literatura by José Díaz Fernández.

Theater

  • Pedro Salinas. He writes a humanist theater of ethical conflicts, showing the opposition between reality and fantasy: Judith y el tirano, El dictador, and La cabeza de Medusa.
  • Rafael Alberti. In his avant-garde stage, El hombre deshabitado stands out. In exile, he writes Fermín Galán, close to the esperpento, and Noche de guerra en el Museo del Prado, with a political theme, about the heroism of a people.
  • Max Aub. He starts with avant-garde works like Crimen and Espejo de avaricia, but in exile, he writes a committed, testimonial theater: San Juan, Morir por cerrar los ojos, and El rapto de Europa.
  • Alejandro Casona. After La sirena varada and Nuestra Natacha, he writes his best works in exile: Prohibido suicidarse en primavera, La dama del alba, La barca sin pescador, Los árboles mueren de pie, and La casa de los siete balcones. The central theme is the opposition between fantasy and reality in the lives of his characters.
  • Miguel Hernández. He writes a committed theater: Quién te ha visto y quién te ve and El labrador de más aire, and Teatro en la guerra.
  • Federico García Lorca. He believed in the power of the poet to transform reality through words. Symbolism is present in his theater. It is a total spectacle to which writing, art, music, dance, and everything capable of communicating contribute. His dramatic production is usually classified as:
    • Farce: Tragicomedia de don Cristóbal and la señá Rosita, Retablillo de don Cristóbal, La zapatera prodigiosa, and Amor de don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, whose theme is marriage of convenience and the age difference between husband and wife. All of them combine the lyrical and the grotesque.
    • Impossible comedies: These are symbolic, surreal works that are difficult to interpret and represent (El público and Así que pasen cinco años).
    • Tragedies with social themes: Mariana Pineda, in verse, recreates the figure of the heroine executed for defending freedom; Bodas de sangre reflects the tragedy of the bride kidnapped on her wedding day by a former lover. The moon, death, the knife, or the horse are symbols; Doña Rosita la soltera and El lenguaje de las flores show the melancholy of an old maid while awaiting the arrival of love; La casa de Bernarda Alba, the pinnacle of his theater. The central theme is the clash between authority and freedom.