Spanish Literature: Modernism, Generation of ’98 & Silver Age

Posted on Apr 6, 2025 in Latin

Tema 8

Bilingualism is when one person dominates two or more languages equally.

Diglossia: when one person dominates two or more different languages, but understands one more than another.

Slang language variants are motivated by the context or situation. It is a special language of a distinct social group used by its speakers only within that group.

Stylistic varieties or registers are language variations based on the communicative situation in which they are used.

Factors defined in registration:

• Generality
• Degree of formality
• Confidence between speakers
• Communication channel (oral is more spontaneous than written)
• Intention of the sender (objective or subjective)

Classes of records include specific religious or standard, colloquial, and vulgar.

Item 6: Literature

The end of the nineteenth-century, fin de siècle crisis, also called the crisis of bourgeois consciousness, involved low political stability, scientific discoveries, technological advances, and new ideological and artistic trends. This period ends with the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918). Modernism addressed political and social issues, culminating in the Disaster of ’98.

Modernism

In Spanish-language literature, the term modernism refers to a literary movement that developed between 1880 and 1910, mainly in poetry. It is characterized by aestheticism and a search for beauty, assuming a profound renewal of poetic language. Major writers include:

• Prose: Ramon Maria del Valle-Inclan
• Poetry: Antonio Machado and Juan Ramon Jimenez

Generation of ’98

The Generation of ’98 is the name given to a group of Spanish writers, essayists, and poets deeply affected by the moral and social policy crisis in Spain brought about by the military defeat in the Spanish-American War. They highlighted the novel and essay, advocating for radical reforms based on aesthetic subjectivism. Writers include Unamuno, Baroja, Azorín, Machado, and Ramón del Valle Inclán.

• Concern for the problems of Spain, exploring the issue of Spain with a subjective psychological approach.
• Topics include existential issues affecting humanity.
• Sobriety, very elaborate in its simplicity.
• Influence of irrationalism: Schopenhauer.
• Anguish: Kierkegaard.
• Will-power: Nietzsche.
• Intuition: Bergson.

Tema 7: Literature

Silver Age

Europe experienced a series of political and economic recoveries and social rises of experimental artistic tendencies (Avant-Garde) from the end of World War I (1918) until the start of World War II (1939).

Juan Ramon Gimenez (1881-1958) conceived of poetry as a form of knowledge of truth and the essence of poetic language, continuing its progressive cleansing culminating in three stages:

• Sensitive: Arias sad.
• Intellectual: Diary of a newlywed poet.
• True: Platero y yo.

Generation of ’27

The so-called Generation of ’27 was a group of writers who became known in the Spanish cultural scene around 1927, with the tribute given to the poet Luis de Gongora at the Ateneo de Sevilla, which is normally seen as its defining moment. All members of The Generation of ’27 are now deceased, the last being Rafael Alberti, who died on October 28, 1999. The usual roster of the ’27 poetic group is limited to ten authors: Jorge Guillen, Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti, Federico García Lorca, Damaso Alonso, Gerardo Diego, Luis Cernuda, Vicente Aleixandre, Manuel Altolaguirre, and Emilio Prados.

Ruben Dario and Becquer inherited literary tradition from Juan Ramon Jimenez, who inherited pure poetry.

• Avant-garde modernity took on the concept of pure creation.
• In the beginning, they showed a tendency to be intellectual and dehumanized.

Winged Victory: Greek woman with no arms or head.