The Generation of 1927: A Spanish Literary Movement
The Generation of ’27: A Literary Movement
The Generation of ’27 was a constellation of writers who emerged in the Spanish cultural scene around 1927. Their aesthetic sought common elements between popular culture and literary tradition, as well as the aesthetic avant-garde. This included Spanish and European influences, and evolved from pure poetry, the avant-garde dehumanized (Futurism, Cubism, Ultraism, Creationism), and the Góngora-influenced ‘metáfora gélida’ (icy metaphor), to human engagement which resulted in the revelation of Surrealism and even a reduced political commitment.
The metric and strophic formulas enriched modernist expressive culture. The culture of free verse and ‘impure’ verse and poetry, as advocated by Pablo Neruda, was embraced. Some of the most important poets of the Generation of ’27 include Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, and Dámaso Alonso.
Poetic Facets
Lorca’s poetic facet expresses a duality. First, an overwhelming vitality, full of sympathy; on the other, an upset and frustration. This second facet is manifested in the tragic theme of destiny. Popular and high culture are smoothly assimilated and united. Although Lorca embraced new literature, his work is full of traditional elements. Music and traditional songs are a constant presence in his poetry. He delves into the constants of the traditional spirit of his land and people: tearful love, courage, melancholia, passion…
Lyrical Works
Book of Poems
Reflects the deep longing and malaise of the poet. Evokes infancy with children, likely a prospect of a youth crisis.
Early Songs and Songs
Tragic subjects predominate, enrolled in environments such as the morning, night, the Andalusian city, or ‘lunares’ (spots). These are very heterogeneous works with avant-garde influences.
Poema del Cante Jondo (Poem of the Deep Song)
Presents thematic and formal unity, with a predominant expression of feelings, partly due to his ‘neuopopularista’ folk lyric inspiration.
Gypsy Ballads (Romancero Gitano)
- Deals with death and the incompatibility of the Gypsy with bourgeois society.
- Of popular origin, it is based on the topic of the Gypsy and what amounts to Andalusian character.
- Lorca employs the Gypsy as a literary myth.
- Uses the rank of romance, his language in a fusion of popular and cult elements.
Poet in New York (Poeta en Nueva York)
The vision of New York is one of nightmare and desolation. To express the anguish and longing for communication that seized him, he used surrealist images. His expressive freedom is at its greatest.
Divan of Tamarit
A book of poems inspired by the Eastern Arabic-Andalusian poetic atmosphere. The central theme of love is the subject of bitter and frustrating experiences.
Lament for the Death of Ignacio Sánchez Mejías
An elegy of pain and uncontrollable emotion that acts as homage to the bullfighter from Seville, supported by the poets of the Generation of ’27.
Styles
Metaphors are the main rhetorical device of Lorca’s poetry, influenced by Góngora. Lorca uses very risky metaphors: the distance between the real and the imaginary term is considerable. Metaphors related to Lorquian opposites of reality mixed transmit sensory effects.
- Metaphors based on synesthesia
- Volitional metaphors
- Metaphors of existential possibility