Post-1936 Poetry: Trends, Authors, and Social Commentary
Poetry After 1936: A Literary Overview
From 1936 to 1939, both the Republican and Nationalist sides developed a literature of ideological propaganda. The poem became a weapon of struggle, praising those who were different, the dead comrade, or attacking the enemy. From a literary quality standpoint, this was rather low, though the figure of Miguel Hernández is noted. Since the Civil War, poetry can be divided into four stages:
- The 1940s: Classic poetry of nationalist fervor and evasion, alongside existentialist poetry expressing the angst of human beings and new avant-garde proposals.
- The 1950s: Social poetry triumphs, aiming to list injustices.
- The 1960s: A search for new aesthetic and literary paths.
- The 1970s: Triumphs of language, aesthetic experimentation, and culturalism.
Parallel to this peninsular poetry, exile poetry developed, composed by poets of the Generation of ’27 and Juan Ramón Jiménez. This poetry stands out because it reflects the anguish of the lost homeland and is usually about Spain.
Post-War Poetry of Miguel Hernández
The poetry of Miguel Hernández was born in the transition between cutting-edge innovation and rehumanization, united by the authors of the Generation of ’27. The basic themes of his poetry are love, eroticism, and unsatisfied love for his wife and son, the pain and death closely linked to his own life, autobiographical themes, life, and hope. From his works, we can mention “The Lightning That Never Stops” with the “Ramón Sijé Elegy” and “Winds of the People,” his most political poetry.
Poetry Trends During the 1940s
During the 1940s, three trends include:
- Rooted Poetry: Classic, published in magazines “Escorial” and “Garcilaso.” Intimate poetry of a meditative character, reflective, revolves around three themes: religion, love, and empire. The authors highlighted in this current are Leopoldo Panero and Luis Rosales.
- Existentialist or Uprooted Poetry: In the journal “Cattail”, involved with the publication of a book by Dámaso Alonso, “Children of Wrath.” It is a poem critical of the world and covers topics such as loneliness, injustice, and death. His most important authors are Dámaso Alonso and Vicente Aleixandre.
- Avant-Garde Poetry: Two movements can be highlighted: the Pathos of Charles Edmund King Group and Song of the magazine “Song.” The two movements claim the resources of the pre-war avant-garde.
Social Poetry of the 1950s
The Poetry of the 50s, called social poetry, intended to complain of pain and social injustice and try to use literature to bring about social and political change. This poetry is characterized by concern for reality, rejecting previous formalism, using a narrative tone, everyday language, and a tendency to prose. The most prominent authors are Gabriel Celaya with a work that is “Quietly Talking” and Gabriel Otero with “I Ask for Peace and the Word.”
Poetry in the Late 50s and 60s
In the late 50s and during the 60s, a group of poets seek further elaboration of language, not to mention social issues. The topics covered include time (transience of life, the destructive effects of time, and the flow of time). As a counterpoint, it evokes the nostalgia of the lost paradise of childhood and adolescence. Another theme of these authors is love with many variants (eroticism, poetry, intimate, friendship) and the poetic, reflections on poetry itself, the so-called metapoetic. These are generally very thoughtful poems that keep the colloquial language and free verse and, as a novelty, feature humor and irony to distance themselves from reality. The most prominent authors are José Hierro, Ángel González, and Claudio Rodríguez.
Poetic Change in the 60s and 70s
Since the 60s and during the 70s, a poetic change is brewing, reflected in “Nine Last Things” (1970). It is a poetry away from the realism of the earlier poetry, with reference to cultural elements of art, history, mythology, and literature, what is called culturalism, i.e., references of the text. Popular myths created by the media, typical of urban areas, appear. There are references to elements of comics, movies, or politics. There is a trend toward an emerging linguistic experimentation, expressive neobarroquismo, with rich lexical poems, irrational pictures, chaotic enumerations, and intertextuality, combining text and quotations from literature, including poetry or ads. The poets of this movement are Luis Antonio de Villena with “Blue Station”, Pere Gimferrer, Guillermo Carnero, Ana Rossetti, and Ana María Moix.