Spanish Literature: 98 Generation to Avant-Garde Movements

Posted on Jan 25, 2025 in Philology

The Generation of ’98: A Literary and Philosophical Shift

The writers of the Generation of ’98 turned their texts into intellectual and philosophical concerns, reflecting on the reality of Spain. Authors like Machado and Valle-Inclan began in Modernism but evolved into a more personal literature, expressing existential problems and the theme of Spain.

Theme of Spain

In the late 19th century, a great social and political crisis ended with the disaster of ’98. This period heavily influenced the literature, focusing on Spain’s identity and future.

Existential Themes

Common themes included death, the passage of time, religion, and the pain of living. These themes were explored through various literary forms, including essays, novels, and poetry.

Key Authors of the Generation of ’98

Antonio Machado (1875-1939)

Antonio Machado’s work includes didactic prose (Juan de Mairena) and plays co-written with his brother. Initially a Modernist, his style became more intimate than that of Ruben Dario. Key works include:

  • Soledades (1903)
  • Soledades, Galerias. Otros Poemas (1907 – an expanded and corrected version of Soledades)
  • Campos de Castilla (1912) – Features a lament for the death of his wife, Leonor, and short philosophical reflections.

Machado’s poetry often features decadent landscapes and a poetic voice that projects its mood onto the surroundings.

Miguel de Unamuno

A man of complex and contradictory personality, Unamuno’s production includes essays, novels, poetry, and dramatic works, all reflecting his philosophical ideas. He advocated for using Europe as a model to overcome Spain’s political and economic backwardness.

  • Essays: Focused on ideas about Spain and philosophical reflections.
  • Key Work: The Life of Don Quixote and Sancho (1905)
  • Novels: Protagonists embody the author’s obsessions, with dialogues and monologues predominating.
  • Key Work: Niebla (Mist) (1914)

Pio Baroja

Pio Baroja was a great novelist known for the narrative strength of his characters. His novels incorporate philosophical concerns that reflect his existential ideas.

  • Themes: Recreation of a hostile world, analysis of action, and characters who are separated from the world after losing faith in changing it.
  • Characters: Praise of characters who rebel against society, men of action.
  • Works: Novels set in the Basque Country, focusing on race and the struggle for life.

Valle-Inclan

Valle-Inclan was a poet, novelist, and playwright who began his career in Modernism. Notable early works include the Sonatas and a cycle of four novels featuring the Marquis of Bradomin. His significance comes from the creation of the “esperpento” (grotesque) style.

Novecentismo and the Avant-Garde Movements

The desire for modernization and rebellion concentrated on Novecentismo and the Avant-Garde movements.

Novecentismo

This group of intellectuals saw Europe as a model to imitate and rigorously examined Spain’s problems to find efficient solutions. Key figures include:

  • Jose Ortega y Gasset: Known for articles and essays like Invertebrate Spain and The Revolt of the Masses.
  • Other Notable Figures: Gregorio Maranon, Eugenio d’Ors, and Juan Ramon Jimenez.

Avant-Garde Movements

The Avant-Garde was characterized by its zeal for artistic renewal. Key movements include:

  • Futurism: Led by Marinetti, extolling mechanical and technical civilization.
  • Cubism: Apollinaire used geometric shapes to show a fragmented reality.
  • Surrealism: Breton explored images and realities suggested on an individual basis.
  • Creationism: Huidobro aimed to create a new reality within the poem.
  • Ultraismo: Focused on valuing items that are not usually given importance.

Key Figures of the Avant-Garde

Juan Ramon Jimenez

A writer dedicated to poetry, Juan Ramon Jimenez started in Modernism. His works alternate between brief, intimate, and melancholic tones (Jardines Lejanos) and descriptive poetry (Elegias). He also wrote Diario de un Recien Casado, set in New York.

Ramon Gomez de la Serna

Ramon Gomez de la Serna spread avant-garde ideas through magazines and literary gatherings (“tertulias”). He authored essays, novels, plays, and “greguerias.”

  • Greguerias: Short texts that use surprising linguistic associations to present different perspectives.

Poetic Structure and Language Functions

External Structure

Poems can be monostrophic (single stanza) or polystrophic (multiple stanzas). Types of poems include:

  • Romance: A traditional Spanish verse form.
  • Triplet: Three verses with an ABA rhyme scheme.
  • Quartet: Four verses with an ABBA rhyme scheme (older form).
  • Quatrain: Four verses with an abba rhyme scheme (newer form).
  • Serventesio: Four verses with an ABAB rhyme scheme.
  • Couplet: Two rhyming verses (aa).

Internal Structure

This includes the division into parts, rhyme scheme, disposition of rhyme, and pauses (internal, verse, unpaused verse).

Functions of Language

  • Aesthetic: Creating a sense of strangeness or defamiliarization.
  • Representative: Using declarative sentences.
  • Expressive: Using signs to convey emotion.
  • Conative: Giving orders or commands.
  • Metalinguistic: Always present, referring to language itself.
  • Phatic: Establishing or maintaining communication, as in dialogue.