Generation of ’98: Spanish Literary Movement
Generation of ’98
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Generation of ’98 is the name traditionally given to a group of Spanish writers, essayists, and poets who were deeply affected by the moral, political, and social crisis in Spain caused by the Spanish-American War and the subsequent loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in 1898. The authors and poets associated with this literary movement were born between 1864 and 1876.
Inspiration and Early Influences
Inspired by the critical current of Canovas regenerationism, the Generation of ’98 offered a holistic artistic vision, blending classic and modern elements. These authors initially wrote in a hypercritical and leftist style, which later evolved into a focus on tradition, juxtaposing the old and the new. However, controversy soon arose, with figures like Pío Baroja and Ramiro de Maeztu denying the existence of this generation as a cohesive movement. Later, Pedro Salinas, after careful analysis, argued for the validity of the “literary generation” concept as defined by Peterson, particularly in his 1949 work “Spanish Literature. Siglo XX.”
Defining the Generation
José Ortega y Gasset distinguished two generations around the birth years of 1857 and 1872, one encompassing figures like Angel Ganivet and Miguel de Unamuno, and another for the younger members. His disciple, Julián Marías, using the concept of “historic generation” and the central date of 1871, included Miguel de Unamuno, Angel Ganivet, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Jacinto Benavente, Carlos Arniches, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Gabriel y Galán, Manuel Gómez Moreno, Miguel Asín Palacios, Serafín Álvarez Quintero, Pío Baroja, Azorín, Joaquín Álvarez Quintero, Ramiro de Maeztu, Manuel Machado, Antonio Machado, and Francisco Villaespesa as members of the Generation of ’98.
Criticism and Debate
Criticism of the Generation of ’98 concept was initially voiced by Juan Ramón Jiménez in the 1950s at the University of Puerto Rico (Río Piedras). Subsequently, a large group of critics, including Federico de Onís, Ricardo Gullón, Allen W. Phillips, Yvan Shulman, José Carlos Mainer, and Germán Gullón, questioned the validity of the concept and its distinction from Modernism.
Key Members and Figures
Payroll
Among the most significant members of the Generation of ’98 are Angel Ganivet, Miguel de Unamuno, Enrique de Mesa, Ramiro de Maeztu, Azorín, Antonio Machado, Pío Baroja, Ricardo Baroja, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, and philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal. Some also include Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, whose aesthetic leans towards Naturalism, and playwright Jacinto Benavente. José Ortega y Gasset, widely considered a member of Novecentismo, is generally excluded.
Artists from other disciplines, such as painters Ignacio Zuloaga and Ricardo Baroja (also a writer), and musicians Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados, are sometimes associated with the Generation of ’98 aesthetic.
Less prominent members include Ciro Bayo (1859-1959), journalist Manuel Bueno (1873-1936), Mauricio López-Roberts, Luis Ruiz Contreras (1863-1953), Rafael Urbano (1870-1924), and many others.
Most texts written during this literary period, particularly after 1910, are marked by a sense of youthful radicalism and rebellion (evident in Machado’s later poems in Campos de Castilla, Unamuno’s articles during World War I, and Pío Baroja’s essays).
Meeting Centers
Benavente and Valle-Inclán presided over gatherings at the Café de Madrid, frequented by Rubén Darío, Maeztu, and Ricardo Baroja. Later, Benavente and his followers moved to the Cervecería Inglesa (English Brewery), while Valle-Inclán, the Machado brothers, Pío Baroja, and Azorín frequented the Café Fornos. Valle-Inclán’s charisma led him to preside at the Café Lion d’Or and the Café de Levante, attracting a large number of participants.
Magazines
The Generation of ’98 authors were associated with various literary magazines, including Don Quijote (1892-1902), Germinal (1897-1899), Vida Nueva (1898-1900), Revista Nueva (1899), Juventud (1901-1902), Electra (1901), Helios (1903-1904), and Alma Española (1903-1905).
Memoirs
The Generation of ’98 authors often wrote about their peers. Pío Baroja left insightful memoirs in Juventud, egolatría and Desde la última vuelta del camino. Ricardo Baroja did the same in Gente del 98. Unamuno left several autobiographical works about his youth but fewer about his later years.
Characteristics
The Generation of ’98 authors, initially bound by close friendships, opposed the Restoration in Spain. Pedro Salinas analyzed the factors that constitute a true literary generation from a historiographical perspective. These authors shared several common traits:
Influence of Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche was a major influence on many Generation of ’98 writers, including Azorín, Maeztu, Baroja, and Unamuno.
Concern for Spain’s Identity
They distinguished between a “real Spain” (often characterized by poverty and hardship) and an official, seemingly false Spain. Their concern for Spanish identity sparked the “debate on the Being of Spain,” which continued in subsequent generations.
Love for Castile
They held a deep interest in and love for Castile, particularly its desolate landscapes, abandoned towns, and traditional culture. They revalued its landscape, traditions, and authentic language. Their travel writings and studies revived and explored Spanish literary myths and ballads.
Renewal of Literary Genres
They broke with traditional molds and renewed classic literary genres, creating new forms in narrative, poetry, and drama. Examples include Unamuno’s nivola, Azorín’s impressionistic and lyrical novels (experimenting with time and space), Baroja’s open and fragmented novels (influenced by serialized fiction), and Valle-Inclán’s grotesque and expressionistic theater, as well as Unamuno’s philosophical dramas.
Rejection of Realism
They rejected the realist aesthetic and its verbose style, preferring a language closer to everyday speech, with shorter syntax and impressionistic characterizations. They recovered traditional words and expressions from rural areas.
European Philosophical Influences
They sought to integrate European philosophical currents of irrationalism into Spanish thought, particularly the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche (Azorín, Maeztu, Baroja, Unamuno), Arthur Schopenhauer (especially Baroja), Søren Kierkegaard (Unamuno), and Henri Bergson (Antonio Machado).
Pessimism and Criticism
Pessimism was a prevalent attitude, and their critical stance led them to sympathize with earlier Romantic figures like Mariano José de Larra, to whom they paid tribute.
Regenerationist Ideology
They shared a belief in the need for regeneration, particularly influenced by the ideas of Joaquín Costa.
Criticism and Interpretations
Modernist intellectuals, sometimes supported by the Generation of ’98 authors themselves, criticized the movement for its perceived egotism, a sense of frustration, neo-romantic exaggeration of the individual, and imitation of European trends.
Furthermore, for leftist writers of the 1930s, the negative interpretation of the Generation of ’98’s rebellion had an ideological basis: the fin-de-siècle youth’s spirit of protest was seen as a symptom of a petty-bourgeois intellectual sector, destined to regress into an ambiguous, spiritualist, nationalist, and anti-progressive attitude. Ramón J. Sender maintained this thesis in 1971 (although with different assumptions).
Challenges in Defining the Generation
Defining the Generation of ’98 has always been complex, as it cannot encompass all artistic experiences of a broad period. The reality of the time was multifaceted, and understanding the generation solely based on shared historical events (the basic element of a generational phenomenon) is insufficient. This is due to several reasons:
- The political crisis of the late 19th century affected many more writers than those typically included in the Generation of ’98.
- The historical experience of authors born between 1864 and 1875 cannot be limited to the nationalist resentment caused by the loss of the colonies. Spain also underwent significant social and economic changes during this period.
- The rise of republicanism, anticlerical conflicts (1900-1910), major strikes, trade unions, worker mobilization, and anarchist bombings also shaped the context.
A key question remains: why didn’t the Generation of ’98 adopt the label of Modernism, given their simultaneous emergence and similar goals? This complex relationship between the Generation of ’98 and Modernism continues to be a subject of scholarly debate.
Historical Context
The years between 1875 and 1898 were marked by the creative stagnation of the Restoration project initiated by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. When Spain lost its colonies in 1898, society revisited the spirit of the Glorious Revolution.
The intellectuals who commented on the Disaster of ’98 were around 50 years old and at the peak of their careers. The oldest were approaching the age of Benito Pérez Galdós, and the youngest were close to Unamuno’s age. This contrasts with the Generation of ’98, which had formed intellectually during the era of the September Revolution.
What unites these intellectuals is their experience of two distinct epochs:
- The revolutionary period, characterized by ideological fervor, zeal for reform, and confidence in political solutions.
- The Restoration period, marked by sluggish spirits, skepticism towards addressing problems, suspicion of change, and growing distrust in existing politics.
These intellectuals were thus doubly disillusioned, having witnessed the failure of two contrasting political structures (Revolution and Restoration). From these experiences, they drew a common conclusion: the urgent need to find new avenues of thought and political action to rescue Spain from its state of paralysis.
The first intellectual upheaval occurred at the dawn of the Restoration. In 1876, Francisco Giner de los Ríos founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Free Educational Institution). Its mission was an indirect rejection of official education, deemed ineffective and subject to political and religious interests.
This raised the question of Spain’s historical identity (similar to discussions in France after the Franco-Prussian War). Unamuno explored the concept of Spanish purity, Ricardo Macías Picavea the loss of personality, Rafael Altamira the psychology of the Spanish people, and Joaquín Costa the perceived national decline. These intellectuals sought to understand and address the challenges facing Spain in the aftermath of its colonial losses and the broader European context.