Spanish Modernism and the Generation of ’98
Modernism
It is a 20th-century art movement that evolved from the concern for beauty in social and existential matters. The realism of the previous century no longer expressed the new sensibility of the 20th century. This break is a new conception of reality.
Features of Modernism
Its philosophy is art for art’s sake, incorporating Parnassian elements. Key features include:
- Sophistication
- Escape from reality
- Symbolism: Use of symbols and images evoked through language.
Modernists care for beauty, and social and existential concerns. They often depict places that offer an escape from reality through exotic and unreal worlds.
Meter: They mix French metrical forms and Alexandrine verses.
Style: Modernist poems are sensual and focus on sound.
Ruben Dario
His works reflect an intense and turbulent life, transferred to his prose and poetry. He often reflects on exotic worlds in his writing.
Notable Works:
- Azul… (Blue…)
- Prosas Profanas y Otros Poemas (Profane Prose and Other Poems)
- Cantos de Vida y Esperanza (Songs of Life and Hope)
Juan Ramón Jiménez
His works include Platero y Yo (Platero and I), Almas de Violeta (Souls of Violet), Rimas (Rhymes), and Arias Tristes (Sad Arias). His writing often features a precious tone, focusing on beauty, poetry, and the truth of things.
Canarian Modernism
Canarian Modernism, along with Catalan Modernism, are the most obvious examples of Spanish Modernism. It was influenced by the English in the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria) (1860-1936) and by French poets like Verlaine and Baudelaire in Paris.
Key Features:
- Rejection of the ordinary, escaping in time or flying in space.
- Inspiration from Parnassian perfection.
- Use of symbols inspired by nature, such as sunsets.
- Themes centered on the sea and Canarian mythology.
- Great lexical renewal.
- Pursuit of beauty through images, adjectives, alliteration, and synesthesia.
Canarian Mythology
Important myths include:
- The Garden of the Hesperides: After conquering most of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Romans found some wild, exotic, and beautiful islands.
- Atlantis: The Canary Islands are believed to be the peaks of a continent as large as those of the Aztecs that collapsed.
- Doramas: A Canarian warrior who fought to keep his land from the conquerors.
Tomas Morales and Alonso Quesada are the leading representatives of Modernism in the Canaries. Their works manifest the different interpretations of reality found in Hispano-American Modernism. Two strands can be identified:
- Ornamental and Escapist: Rhetorical, concerned with sensuality and formal perfection, set in a fantastic world, recreated in an exotic or medieval place (more typical of Tomas Morales).
- Intimate and Existential: Deep, existential meditation, marked by pessimism towards mundane experiences and the inevitability of death (more typical of Alonso Quesada).
Tomas Morales
Born on October 10, 1884, and died on August 15, 1921. The sea is always present in his work, singing to a port city as a symbol of cosmopolitanism and cultural progress. He worked as a doctor and developed his literary activity in Agaete. His notable works include Ode to the Atlantic and Roses of Hercules (Volumes I and II). He is considered one of the leading exponents of Modernism.
Alonso Quesada
Born on December 5, 1886, and died on November 4, 1925. A poet, storyteller, and playwright, he worked in various specialties, forced to leave his studies after the death of his father. He cultivated all literary genres, recording his existential bitterness and deep irony.
His most important works are Smoking Room and El Lino de Los Sueños (The Linen of Dreams).
The Generation of ’98
This is the name traditionally given to a group of Spanish writers, essayists, and poets who shared similar ideals, protesting the state of Spain. It is so named because, in 1898, the last three colonies of the Spanish empire (Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines) became independent, highlighting the poor economic and cultural situation of the country.
The members of this generation were profoundly affected by Spain’s economic and cultural situation and the independence of the last Spanish colonies. Almost all were born between 1864 and 1876.
Key Features:
- Sobriety and elegance in writing, in contrast to the more elaborate style of Modernism.
- Authors reflect their own feelings, similar to Modernism.
- Analysis of Spain’s ills and a search for solutions, unlike the Modernists’ evasion of reality.
- Expression of opinions on the situation, whereas Modernists did not express such beliefs.
- Literary genres: poetry, novels, essays, Art Deco theater, lyric poetry.
- A critical and pessimistic attitude, in contrast to the Modernists’ criticism of avoidance.