Generation of ’98: Authors, Characteristics, and Style

Posted on Mar 15, 2025 in English Language and Literature

The Generation of ’98

Concept

Azorín proposed the concept in 1913. It includes Modernists. Soon, the name gained recognition.

The ’98 and Its Requirements

  1. Intellectuals born distantly.
  2. Similar educational backgrounds.
  3. Little involvement in personal acts.
  4. Collective relationships.
  5. A generational event.
  6. Presence of a guide.
  7. Generational language.
  8. Ankylosis of the previous generation.

Current State of the Question

One movement is Modernism. The Generation of ’98 is a separate group. Summary = A historical generation.

The Youth of ’98

Spirit of rebellion and protest. Influence of revolutionary ideas. Machado and Valle-Inclán appear separately.

Group of Three

Baroja, Azorín, and Maeztu published a Manifesto in 1901: “A new social status by applying science to all social ills.” Reformist, regenerationist type. Dodsworth and evolution toward idealism and skepticism.

Maturity: Attitudes, Thoughts, and Themes

In 1901, each author had a distinct personality. ’98 Mentality: Idealism. Existential concerns. The theme of Spain, subjectively (Castile – intrahistory). Clear ideological evolution.

Roster

In principle, 3 (Baroja, Azorín, and Maeztu), also Unamuno. Ganivet, Blasco Ibáñez, Benavente…

Style

The Generation of ’98 helped to reform literature. Taste for Larra, Fray Luis, Quevedo, Cervantes… Simplicity, style, and care (anti-rhetoric). Traditional love of words. Subjectivism and lyricism. Innovations: essays and novels. With Art Nouveau: Silver Age.

Themes and Symbols of Solitudes, Galleries, and Other Poems (1907)

A. Time

A theme of excellence by Machado. Something personal. Wrestling: Essentiality and temporality (poem VIII). The river and source symbols are the wheel of time. In the poem “The Wheel,” irony and reflection. There are 2 parts: reflective and descriptive.

Your Children

“The square of glowing orange” (III). Children’s author contrasts between the melancholy and the joy of childhood.

The Way

Theme from early poems: “The afternoon faded, ashen” – premonition of death. Eleanor. Balanced structure. Sentiment. Design of the landscape. Metric and semantic structure. Machado’s Solitudes: close to Modernism. Intimate. Stresses images and symbols. Special significance of the trees.

Afternoon

Symbol of melancholy, sadness, memories of solitude. Poem LXXVII. Existential angst. Spiritual sentiment, melancholy of old age. Part 1: Anguish. Part 2: See the cause, seeking God.

Death

Final destiny assumed. Two missions: 1st, impact on other beings and in the poet. 2nd, loss of feeling (LVIII).

B. Intimacy

A book of intimate emotions. Example: The 1st poem, Series “Galleries.” The poet seeks to unravel the mystery of his soul. “Galleries of the soul”: reflection of himself. Poem XXXVII (dialogue with death) – for deciphering his inner anguish. Cleavage of the night.

  1. Memory: Highly visible in “Gallery.” Contrast this with encouragement.
  2. Dream: Daydreaming, illusion. God appears. Quatrains. Devotion to Santa Teresa. After the death of Leonor.

C. Melancholy

Very present in Soledades. Related to a hypochondriacal character.

D. Castile

Castilian landscape. Two lines: one objective and the other subjective (although it is always subjective). Poem (IX): “Banks of the Douro.” Objective vision. Men: Bitter note (romance II). Burgesses against the common people.

  1. The City: Modern taste for the old town, opposite the modern city (Castilian and Muslim cities). It appears in many poems.
  2. The People: Like Unamuno, appreciates the quiet people… Another usual character is anonymous, Machado himself.