Modernism and the Generation of ’98: Literary Movements

Posted on Feb 3, 2025 in English Studies

Modernism and the Generation of ’98

The end of the nineteenth century in Europe and America produced a few political changes, but several philosophical and scientific issues affected literature. There was a desire for renewal of forms of expression. It cannot be said that Modernism was a school, but rather an attitude, an attitude of rebellion and search for new art forms, the exploration of beauty through the senses. Ruben Dario is considered the creator of literary modernism, with his work *Azul* (1888), and Juan Ramon Jimenez the most genuine Spanish representative.

The writers of the Generation of ’98 sought to reform not only literature but also to change the national consciousness through it.

Modernists and *Noventayochistas*

Narrative of the Twentieth Century

The writers of the Generation of ’98 felt the same need to renew poetry and prose as the modernists. The first concern of the *noventayochistas* was the message. Their novels were built around a dominant character. These characters are generally dissatisfied with the world in which they happen to live. Pessimism, personality conflicts, and bitterness prevail.

Miguel de Unamuno

Miguel de Unamuno was born in Bilbao in 1864. He studied in Madrid and was a brilliant student. He died in 1936 in Salamanca.

*Intrahistory*

Unamuno set out to write his story, a story of anonymous people.

Philosopher of Life and Death

Unamuno was a man deeply concerned about social reality. His main concerns were the existence of God and the immortality of the soul, the yearning for immortality, the desire for survival, not just a feeling, but what makes us human. And this is tragic; there is the anguish of spirit, the anguish.

Unamuno the Novelist

Unamuno created a different kind of novel called *Nivola*, setting aside extensive descriptions and situations, focusing on the protagonists. He used dialogue and interior monologue abundantly.

San Manuel Bueno, Martyr, written in the last years of the author (1931), reflects one of the major concerns that occupied his life: the fear of absolute disappearance after death.

Pio Baroja

Pio Baroja was born in San Sebastian in 1872. He studied medicine but left it to run his aunt’s bakery in Madrid. In Madrid, he studied journalism and began literary contacts, writing in magazines and publishing his novels. He had a shy, unsociable, very pessimistic, nonconformist character. He did not like anything around him: no political solution, religious beliefs, or love. He traveled a lot and was lonely. He did not believe in anything and was a pessimist, but underneath he was tender, compassionate, and sensitive.

Writer’s Writing

His ideal of simplicity was based on the simplicity of construction and language. He preferred brief, short sentences and simple vocabulary.

Painter of Environments

Baroja was an anarchist writer who sought a major element in the environment. He regarded space, time, and people as influencing the lives of the characters.

*The Search*

Baroja draws a society in crisis and misery. Here we see the picaresque in Madrid in the late nineteenth century. Three clusters are seen: the underworld, the urban proletariat, and the petty bourgeoisie. For the young Manuel, fending for himself touches on several jobs: his mother’s pension, his uncle’s shoe shop, a vegetable stand, and a bakery.

Manuel’s Youth

Manuel enters a situation of poverty, where he has nothing: no money, no home. A family welcomes him, and he receives and gives love.

The Struggle to Live

Manuel is a teenager who wakes up to a miserable life. His life degrades in the hands of misfortune and bad friends who will push him to the underworld they inhabit.

Parade of Human Beings

All fall into poverty, which pushes the merciless struggle for life, for the survival of each day. Poverty leads to brutality.