Spanish Literature: A Journey Through 20th-Century Movements
Avant-Garde Movements
The avant-garde aimed to revolutionize artistic expression and reflect the contemporary world. This resulted in an explosion of simultaneous movements, including:
Expressionism (1905):
A literary and artistic movement emphasizing intensified and distorted reality to express irrationality. Key figure: Ramón del Valle-Inclán.Futurism (1909):
Launched by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, futurism celebrated science, technology, and modern culture. Introduced to Spain by Ramón Gómez de la Serna in 1910.Cubism (1907):
Originating with Pablo Picasso and championed by Guillaume Apollinaire, cubism prioritized intellectualism, visual poetry, and playful humor.Dadaism:
Embraced primitivism and manifestos as key forms of artistic expression.Ultraísmo:
A literary movement specific to Spanish America, characterized by visual poems and metaphorical language. Key figure: Jorge Luis Borges.Creationism:
Focused on creating a new, poetically invented world, replacing the real one. Key figure: Gerardo Diego.Surrealism:
Aimed for a complete revolution of human conditioning and liberation from repression. Key figure: Luis Buñuel.
Spanish Theater Before 1936
Two main types of theater existed:
Commercial Theater:
Bourgeois Drama/High Comedy:
Comedies set in wealthy society. Key figure: Jacinto Benavente.Modernist Poetic Verse Drama:
Featured elaborate staging.Castizo Popular Theater:
Included humorous skits, operettas, and comedies. Key figures: The Álvarez Quintero brothers and Carlos Arniches.
Innovative Theater:
Key figures: Ramón del Valle-Inclán and Federico García Lorca, whose works gained international recognition.
Key Authors and Poets
Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958)
A link between Modernist and Generation of ’27 poets, Jiménez’s career is divided into three periods:
Sensitive Period (1896-1915):
Characterized by the pursuit of beauty, identification with nature, and themes of death and sorrow.Intellectual Period (1916-1936):
Focused on pure poetry, precise language, and the essence of meaning.True Enough Period (1936-1958):
Marked by exile, psychic depression, and a search for absolute truth.
Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
A member of the Generation of ’27, Lorca’s poetry combined passion, formal perfection, humanism, and popular themes. His later works explored discomfort, frustration, and love marked by pain.
Miguel Hernández (1910-1942)
Hernández’s poetry transitioned from Gongorism to a humanized, classic style, with recurring themes of love, life, and death.
Luis Cernuda (1902-1963)
Known for his sensitivity and themes of social upheaval, rebelliousness, freedom, and individual dignity.