Generation of ’27: Spanish Literature’s Golden Age
Generation of ’27: A Literary Renaissance
The Generation of ’27 was a group of authors who revitalized Spanish literature, merging innovative approaches with classical poetry. Influenced by Juan Ramón Jiménez, Ortega y Gasset, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna, they sought balance and poetic synthesis. Stylistically, their poetic creation drew heavily from Góngora, while metrically, they employed both traditional and innovative forms, exploring a diverse range of themes.
Key Figures of the Generation of ’27
Pedro Salinas:
Salinas’ poetic language, characterized by pure poetry, combined simplicity and depth. His career unfolded in three stages: an initial avant-garde influence, a period of love poetry exemplified by The Voice You Owed, and a final phase in exile marked by an anguished vision of life.
Jorge Guillén:
Guillén, a leading exponent of pure poetry, developed a distinctive style using classical metrics. His work is divided into three major cycles: Song (a joyous affirmation of existence), Clamor (featuring Maremagnum), and Final (highlighted by Tribute).
Gerardo Diego:
Diego synthesized various poetic traditions and styles. His work encompasses both traditional and classical aspects. His avant-garde poetry ranges from Creationism (Image) to a fusion of Creationism with Góngora’s style. His traditional poetry includes sonnets, romances, and a wide array of themes, notably in Alondra of Truth.
Rafael Alberti:
Alberti’s work is marked by a variety of themes and tones, blending cultured and popular elements. His career includes three periods: Neopopularism (recreating traditional lyric forms in Sailor on Land), Avant-garde and Gongorism (reflecting avant-garde influences in Sobre los Ángeles), and Political Commitment (using poetry as a social critique in The Poet on the Street and continuing this in exile with works like A Painting).
Federico García Lorca:
Lorca possessed a boundless imagination and metaphorical perfection. His major themes, frustrated love and the premonition of death, are conveyed with a tragic and mysterious tone. His career is divided into two stages: a formative period assimilating various currents (Book of Poems and Gypsy Ballads, which combine popular and traditional elements with avant-garde influences), and a period marked by his travels to Cuba and the U.S., where ethical and social concerns emerged. This latter stage includes Poet in New York (where the city symbolizes modern civilization and man becomes a cog in the machine) and Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías.
Luis Cernuda:
Cernuda’s work explores the conflict between reality and desire. Rejecting rhyme and rhetorical excess, he employed a natural and colloquial language. His pre-1936 poetry evolved from pure poetry to a style integrating surrealism and romanticism (Forbidden Pleasures). His exile poetry shows Anglo-Saxon influences, with lyrical monologues and a focus on Spain.
Vicente Aleixandre:
Aleixandre’s Surrealist phase emphasizes the desire to merge with the physical world, exploring themes of identity, love, and death (Love Destruction). His post-conflict poetry is simpler and more transparent (History of the Heart).
Dámaso Alonso:
Alonso’s intermittent work includes two notable periods: pre-Civil War pure poetry (Poemillas to the City) and post-war poetry expressing displacement (Sons of Wrath). He used surrealism to depict a world without meaning.
Miguel Hernández:
Hernández, a poet of humble origins and Catholic education, was influenced by Aleixandre and Neruda. The Ray that Remains explores love as a tragic destiny. During the war, he joined the Republican army and wrote Wind of the People, using poetry as a revolutionary weapon. He died in prison in Alicante in 1942.
Prose, Theatre, and Lorca’s Dramatic Works
Prose of the Generation of ’27:
Notable prose works include Salinas’ Incredible Pump (stories about the dangers of progress) and Alberti’s memoir The Lost Grove.
Theatre of ’27:
Beyond Lorca, Salinas, Alberti, and Hernández also contributed to theatre. Salinas wrote symbolic plays, while Alberti’s pre-war works include Uninhabited Man (reflecting a personal crisis of faith) and his post-war Night of War in the Prado Museum (about the Civil War). Hernández wrote a sacramental play (Who Has Seen and Who Sees You), followed by social tragedies and melodramas.
The Theatre of Federico García Lorca:
Lorca’s poetic drama features characters whose desires clash with a harsh reality. He viewed theatre as a performance with an educational mission. His work includes an initial stage with historical dramas like Mariana Pineda, an avant-garde phase with impossible comedies or mysteries born from a personal crisis, and a final stage of great tragedies and dramas exploring universal themes. His prose and verse tragedies incorporate symbolic elements (Yerma), while his poetic realism is evident in dramas like The House of Bernarda Alba.
Post-War Poetry and the Novel
Rooted Poetry:
This post-Civil War poetry employed classical forms, traditional metrics, and intimate themes. It is divided into two subgroups: the Garcilaso group (practicing neo-classicism) and the Escorial group (using simple language and exploring existential pain).
Uprooted Poetry:
This style used direct language to express the anxieties of historical circumstances, conveying the fear of death and destruction. Notable works include Sons of Wrath and Shadow of Paradise.
Blas de Otero:
A key figure in uprooted poetry, Otero’s Anxious Elder explores the individual’s angst towards God, ranging from complaint to challenge, expressed in harsh language. Some poems also seek love.
Poetry of the Fifties: Social Poetry:
Aiming to transform society, this poetry used clear language and focused on themes of solidarity, freedom, and concern for Spain. Key authors include Gabriel Celaya and Blas de Otero. However, social poetry eventually faced exhaustion, leading authors to explore new directions.
The Novel:
Many novelists continued exploring Spanish themes in exile. Rosa Chacel focused on memory recovery. Ramón J. Sender wrote the Chronicle of Dawn series and an account of the Civil War. Max Aub wrote both realistic and experimental novels (The Magical Labyrinth). Francisco Ayala’s avant-garde narratives delved into gloomy reflection and critiques of power. Other novelists who developed their work in exile include Arturo Barea (The Forging of a Rebel trilogy, covering the African War, the Republic, and the Civil War) and Manuel Andújar (Vespers trilogy, about Spanish society).