Opinion Journalism and Spain’s Generation of ’27

Opinion Makers and Journalistic Genres

Opinion makers present their views through arguments. Key journalistic genres include:

  • Editorial: Reflects the newspaper’s official stance, unsigned, written by the director.
  • Column: Offers a journalist’s personal interpretation, signed.
  • Letters to the Editor: Readers’ opinions on various topics.
  • Critique: Reviews of cultural shows with data and evaluation.
  • Humor: Uses jokes to criticize negative aspects of reality.
  • Interview: Dialogue between a journalist and a public figure.

Contemporary Spanish Poetry: The Avant-Garde

Avant-garde movements in 20th-century Europe emphasized:

  • Artistic revolution against the past.
  • Originality and novelty.
  • Rejection of rules.
  • Exaltation of imagination and experimentation.
  • Limited duration, following each other in intervals.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Promoter of the avant-garde in Spain, known for greguerías: ingenious associations of ideas or metaphors in one sentence.

Generation of ’27

Named for poets who published in the 1920s, commemorating Góngora’s death. Notable members include:

  • Pedro Salinas: Explored love themes, later wrote dramatic poetry in exile.
  • Jorge Guillén: Known for pure poetry, his book Cántico focuses on joy.
  • Gerardo Diego: Blended traditional forms with avant-garde, themes like love and bullfighting.
  • Vicente Aleixandre: 1977 Nobel Prize winner, explored themes of solidarity and nature.
  • Federico García Lorca: Influenced by Andalusian folklore, known for Gypsy Ballads and Poet in New York.
  • Rafael Alberti: Varied styles and themes, from traditional to avant-garde.
  • Luis Cernuda: Focused on personal dissatisfaction and the conflict between reality and desire.