The Generation of ’27 and Lorca’s Poetic Journey
The Generation of ’27
Overview
The Generation of ’27, a group of Spanish poets born around the turn of the 20th century, shared similar intellectual backgrounds and personal connections. Many met at the Student Residence, established by the Free Institution of Education. They participated in collective events, celebrations, and contributed to magazines like Litoral, including a tribute to Góngora, which gave the group its name. Initially influenced by Juan Ramón Jiménez and his verse and prose, they employed a generational language and recognized the stagnation of the preceding generation.
Despite individual nuances in their work, their poetry aligned with the European avant-garde, embracing artistic rigor, a minority attitude, aesthetic purity, the dehumanization of art (based on Ortega y Gasset’s theories), and metaphorical, symbolist language.
Their poetic interests drew them to the tradition of folk poetry found in songbooks and Romanceros, as well as the learned poets of the 16th and 17th centuries (Fray Luis, Góngora, Quevedo). The influence of Bécquer from the 19th century is also evident in their early works. They acknowledged the influence of Juan Ramón Jiménez and Ramón Gómez de la Serna from the previous generation.
Evolution of the Group
The group’s history can be divided into three stages:
- Ideal of Purity (1922-1928): This stage is marked by the dominance of pure poetry, characterized by the suppression of emotion, the pursuit of beauty, rigorous poetic construction, and a tendency towards short poems.
- Increased Commitment (Re-humanization Process, 1928-1936): Group cohesion lessened. Some poets remained faithful to pure poetry, while others, like Aleixandre, Alberti, Cernuda, and Lorca, explored new forms of expression through avant-garde movements, particularly Ultraism and Surrealism. The re-humanization process intensified throughout the 1930s, with some poets developing a critical attitude towards Spanish reality.
- Post-War Period: The Civil War dispersed the group. Exiled poets embarked on new poetic cycles, often marked by nostalgia for their homeland. In Spain, poetry shifted towards an anguished humanism and existential tone.
Federico García Lorca
A Dual Perspective
Lorca’s personality was marked by a duality: overwhelming vitality and an underlying sense of unease, a pain of living, and a sense of frustration, foreshadowing his tragic fate. This discomfort and frustration permeated his work. The theme of tragic destiny, the impossibility of fulfillment, unifies his lyric poetry. His approach to poetic creation was rigorous, combining passion and perfection, the human and the aesthetically pure, elements that rarely coexist. His deep roots in popular culture also contributed to this unique blend.
Poetic Stages
- First Stage (1921-1928): Lorca’s early work shows influences of Bécquer, Modernism, and Juan Ramón Jiménez. Between 1921 and 1924, he composed three key books: Libro de poemas, Canciones, and Poema del cante jondo. Poema del cante jondo is the book of “Andalusia of crying,” where Lorca expresses his own pain through the sorrowful songs of his homeland. His poetic language achieves a highly personal identification with both popular and learned styles.
- Romancero gitano (1928): In this collection, Lorca celebrates the marginalized and persecuted Roma community. The myth of the Gypsy illustrates the theme of tragic destiny prevalent in his work. Romancero gitano represents the culmination of his fusion of the learned (avant-garde) and the popular (renewing octosyllabic verse and the romance stanza form).
- Second Stage (1929-1936): Lorca’s stay in the U.S. coincided with the stock market crash. A social consciousness emerged in his work, as seen in Poeta en Nueva York, where he critiques the power of money, the enslavement of man by machine, and social injustice. This spiritual and critical upheaval found expression through Surrealism.
- Later Works: Lorca dedicated himself to theater. He also composed intimate poems in Diván del Tamarit, inspired by Andalusian Arabic poetry, and the elegy Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, which combines popular forms, romance, and soleá, with daring surrealistic imagery. Finally, he composed the Sonetos del amor oscuro, which place him among the great sonneteers of the Spanish language.