Modernism and the Generation of ’98 in Literature
Modernism and the Generation of ’98
For a long time, attempts have been made to explain early 20th-century literature summarily and schematically, contrasting two movements or groups: Modernism and the Generation of 1898.
The Generation of ’98
The term “Generation of ’98” is a concept proposed by Azorín to refer to a group of *fin de siècle* writers like M. Unamuno, Pío Baroja, and R. Maetzu. They shared an aesthetic background and expressed a worldview, but its main purpose is to reflect the loss of the last two Spanish colonies: Cuba and the Philippines.
Another characteristic of the Generation of ’98 is that the group revolves around a series of binding events, such as:
- Participation in literary magazines
- The homage at the tomb of Larra
- The exaltation of premieres
- Reporting on the Montjuïc trials
Besides this, the authors were influenced by the philosophical climate of the time, by authors such as Comte, Spencer, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. The authors of ’98 were innovators of the Spanish narrative. They renounced the total novel model cultivated by realistic authors, favoring a more fragmented and disjointed novel.
Modernism
Modernism is a movement that breaks with the prevailing aesthetic and seeks the renewal of literary forms. It emerged as a subversive force in Latin America and as an expression of resistance to the commercialism of the bourgeois cultural revolution. In the second half of the 19th century, this movement directly influenced two streams of poetry: Parnassianism and Symbolism. Other influences included Americans Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman, and Oscar Wilde.
The main features of the movement are:
- Disagreement with bourgeois society: They bore a special grudge against the time they lived in, where people felt lost.
- Claiming art’s mission: To provide meaning and beauty.
This resulted in aristocratic attitudes such as isolation, aesthetic refinement, and contempt for bourgeois moral values.
The main Modernist themes are:
- Uneasy romantic escapism
- Cosmopolitanism
- Love and eroticism
- The Indigenous
Formal characteristics include:
- A disinterested conception of art (art for art’s sake)
- The pursuit of values
- A renewed sense of language
Key Authors and Works
Speaking of Modernism is to speak of Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, who has given us such important works as Azul…, Prosas Profanas, and Cantos de Vida y Esperanza.
Undoubtedly, the most representative author is Antonio Machado, whose main themes include time, dreams, and love. His roots are in late Romanticism and French Symbolism. Regarding his career:
- In his first cycle, he wrote Soledades, which was later enlarged and renamed Soledades, Galerías y Otros Poemas. There is an intimate modernism linked with time, death, and God, but also nostalgic memories of his childhood and evocations of landscapes.
- In the second phase, he wrote Campos de Castilla, referring to open landscape paintings of the people of Castile, without abandoning his intimate poems.
- Subsequently, he published Nuevas Canciones, a heterogeneous short book composed of proverbs and songs.
- In his final years, he published editions of his complete works and developed notebooks known as *Los Complementarios*, where, through his fictional characters, he gives voice to his philosophical thought: anti-rhetoricism, anti-dogmatism, tolerance, secularism, and republicanism.
We should also mention Juan Ramón Jiménez. During his career, three periods are distinguished: the sensitive, the intellectual, and the sufficient or true.