Generational Bridge: From ’98 to ’27

Generation of 1914: Bridging ’98 and ’27

Between the Generation of ’98 and the Generation of ’27, a group of writers emerged between 1910 and 1914, known as the Novecentistas. These philosophers, historians, and writers aimed to aesthetically renew the literature and art of the period with a more modern style, encompassing various aspects of knowledge.

Key characteristics of this movement include social and political reforms, reflecting its cosmopolitan nature, and the feeling of Spain as part of Europe. These intellectuals frequently traveled and sought to incorporate and disseminate scientific and philosophical advancements. University-oriented, they entered politics to promote real change in Spain, with figures like Ortega y Gasset and Marañón even driving the advent of the Second Republic.

Notable Novelists

Ramón Pérez de Ayala

An intellectual novelist, meticulous and elegant, Pérez de Ayala’s work is infused with irony and humor. He delves into the psychological analysis of his characters. His early, autobiographical novels, such as Troteras y Danzaderas (1913), set in Madrid’s bohemian scene, are satirical and pessimistic, echoing concerns of the Generation of ’98. Later works, like Luz de Domingo, are more symbolic and abstract, reflecting social critique. Finally, intellectual novels like Berlamino y Apolonio and Luna de Miel explore themes of love and honor.

Gabriel Miró

Miró’s works are characterized by sensitivity and lyrical prose. He focuses on sensations (intimate lyricism), meticulous language, and comprehensive character descriptions. The Alicante landscape frequently serves as his vehicle of expression. His best-known novels include El Cementerio de las Cerezas, Nuestro Padre San Daniel, and El Obispo Leproso. Figuras de la Pasión del Señor stands out for its biographical aspect.

Non-Fiction Authors

José Ortega y Gasset

A journalist and politician, Ortega y Gasset founded the influential magazine Revista de Occidente. One of Spain’s most important philosophers, his work addresses sociological, philosophical, historical, and literary themes. He argued for the dehumanization of art, defending the preponderance of intellectual activity. Key works include Meditaciones del Quijote, El Espectador, El Tema de Nuestro Tiempo, La España Invertebrada, La Rebelión de las Masas (advocating for an elite minority), and La Deshumanización del Arte.

Eugenio d’Ors

Writing under the pseudonym Xenius, d’Ors created the glosa, a short newspaper commentary on cultural and political matters. These glosas captured the pulse of the times and the desire for social and cultural renewal in Catalonia. Writing in both Catalan and Castilian, he became the chief ideologist of Noucentisme, with titles like La Bien Plantada and La Muerte de Isidro Nonell.

Generation of ’98

The Generation of ’98 comprises writers from the last decade of the 19th century, driven by a desire to renew literature and address Spain’s major problems, particularly after the loss of its colonies (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines) in the Spanish-American War of 1898.

The movement’s break with realism solidified in 1902 with the publication of Unamuno’s Amor y Pedagogía, Baroja’s Camino de Perfección, and Azorín’s La Voluntad.

Key Figures

• Pío Baroja (1872-1956): Characterized by pessimism, spontaneity, religious skepticism, distrust of humanity, and the influence of European philosophers like Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. His themes often reflected his life experiences, including everyday situations, the lower class, and landscapes. Major works include El Árbol de la Ciencia, Zalacaín el Aventurero, and Las Amores Tardías.
• Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936): Focused on the problems of Spain, time, and life. His characters, known as agonists, grapple with existential questions. Key works include Niebla and San Manuel Bueno, Mártir.
• Azorín (1873-1967): Known for his autobiographical style, evolving from religious opposition to a quiet Catholicism. He was obsessed with time and the transience of life. His works often depict Spanish landscapes with precision and clarity, focusing on detail. Notable works include La Voluntad, Doña Inés, and Los Pueblos.
• Valle-Inclán (1866-1936): Experimented with novelistic forms, evolving through various stages, including the Sonatas, the period between the Sonatas and the esperpentos, and the esperpento stage itself. His main themes were death, religion, love, and rural Spain, expressed in a carefully crafted, musical language. Key works include the Sonatas, Los Crucificados, Tirano Banderas, and Luces de Bohemia.
• Antonio Machado (1875-1939): Influenced by Romanticism, Machado offered a critical perspective on Spain’s problems, using symbolism extensively. Campos de Castilla, with its focus on Soria, his deceased wife Leonor, and the Castilian landscape, is a central work.

Literary Genres

The Generation of ’98 primarily focused on narrative, particularly the novel and essay. Their novels often centered on a single, almost tragic character, evolving through a difficult situation. Dialogue played a crucial role in the protagonist’s mental development. Unamuno pioneered this approach, which Baroja later adopted.

The essay served as a platform for disseminating ideas, with notable examples by Unamuno (En Torno al Casticismo), Baroja (El Árbol de la Ciencia), and Azorín (Castilla).

While less prominent, lyrical works explored humanity and deeper insights, including Unamuno’s Teresa and Machado’s Campos de Castilla.

Theater enjoyed less public acclaim, although Valle-Inclán achieved recognition with his esperpentos, such as Luces de Bohemia.

Modernism

Modernism, a literary trend of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emerged in Latin America, led by writers like Rubén Darío. Rejecting realism, they sought to change the mentality and lifestyle of their time, looking to Europe’s most advanced countries. Influenced by Romanticism, Symbolism, and Parnassianism, Modernism embraced escapism (particularly to the Middle Ages), fantasy, beauty, dreams, synesthesia, exotic themes, and aesthetic perfection.

Characteristics

Modernism emphasized the renewal of language, aiming to evoke ideals, feelings, and states of mind. It favored a select, vivid, sensory lexicon, creating a dreamlike, refined world. Metaphors, symbols, and evocative imagery were central to its style.

Key themes included loneliness, melancholy, the fear of death, and spiritual and exotic love. Metrically, Modernism embraced free verse and the Alexandrine.

Literary Genres

Lyric poetry was favored over the novel, with themes of escapism, sensuality, eroticism, women, mythology, spiritual crises, cosmopolitanism, and characters confronting the bourgeoisie. Key figures include Rubén Darío, Antonio and Manuel Machado, Valle-Inclán, Salvador Rueda, Francisco Villaespesa, and Eduardo Marquina.

Rubén Darío

The leading figure of Modernism, Darío’s poetic journey is divided into four stages: early formative works; the breakthrough with Azul (1888), marking the birth of his distinct modernist style; Prosas Profanas, characterized by varied stanzas and glowing language exploring love; and Cantos de Vida y Esperanza, addressing existential and political issues with thoughtful sincerity.

Other Poets

• Antonio Machado (1875-1939): While initially influenced by Modernism (evident in Soledades, Galerías, Otros Poemas), he gradually moved away from it. His work explores themes of time, memories, dreams, and love.
• Juan Ramón Jiménez: His poetry pursued a path of self-knowledge and reality, striving for essential expression. His work is divided into three stages: sensory, evident in works like Ninfeas and Almas de Violeta; a thirst for knowledge of reality, seen in Diario de un Poeta Recién Casado; and the pursuit of inner awareness, culminating in Espacio and Animal de Fondo. He also wrote notable poetic prose, including Platero y Yo, a critique of material progress.
• Manuel Machado (1874-1947): Known for his use of Andalusian couplets in works like Alma.
• Valle-Inclán: His modernist aesthetics are expressed in both his poetry (Aromas de Leyenda) and the four novels comprising the poetic Sonatas.