Ultraism, Prose, and the Evolution of Poetry in Spain
Ultraism and its Impact on Spanish Literature
By detaching poetry from the outside world in their eagerness to create an original reality, the artist moves away from any moral responsibility for that world. If the artist has no ethical or social responsibility, it is logical that art becomes a game, converted into something fun. Other inconsequential and formal innovations are the rejection of traditional meters and stanzas, replacing them with free verse; the deletion of adjectives; and the propensity for fragmentation (Cubism). However, what characterizes the new poetic language is the importance of metaphor. The traditional metaphor establishes a logical relationship between the real and the evoked, while the avant-garde metaphor breaks this logical link. Therefore, the only way of grasping its meaning is through intuition. This radical abstraction of poetic language and disengagement from reality alienates the public, deliberately sought by the Ultraists, since they believe that art should be separated from the masses (not based on Ortega y Gasset). Ultraism had an ephemeral life. Its main contribution was the acclimatization of Spanish avant-garde ideas. Notable figures include Jorge Luis Borges and Guillermo de Torre.
Prose: The Preferred Form of Expression
The number of intellectuals, philosophers, and other scientists made prose the preferred form of expression.
- Ortega y Gasset: Became the intellectual figure of reference. Highlights include: Meditations on Quixote, Invertebrate Spain, The Issue of Our Time, Ideas About the Novel…). He describes a process of purity and dehumanization.
- Eugenio D’Ors: Animator of Catalan culture. Short and witty commentaries on various subjects gathered in his Glosari. He advocates for the return of classicism, elegant style, and an optimistic attitude. He was opposed to Modernism. (Works: Three Hours in the Prado Museum, The Baroque).
- Manuel Azaña: Prominent intellectual and political figure. Founder of Acción Republicana (later Republican Left). President of the Republic. He died in 1940 in France. A complex character, with great wisdom and culture. His personal diaries are very interesting. He wrote plays during the Civil War.
The Evolution of Poetry
In 1914, Modernism itself ends, but its imprint lasts a long time.
- Postmodernists: Simpler and more personal language.
- The most important renovation effort in Spanish lyric poetry was carried out by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
- Neopopularism: Poetry of traditional and folk themes, also followed by Juan Ramón. Fernando Villalón can also be included.
Juan Ramón Jiménez: A Life in Poetry
Born in Moguer (Huelva). Krausism was important in his work. The death of his father caused him psychic disorders, for which he was hospitalized. He met like-minded people at the Free Institution of Education. He then returned to Moguer and wrote many works of poetry. He later went back to Madrid (he had to spend an egg and eRepublik tickets to travel…) and met Zenobia Camprubí (the Elven lord of the rings), whom he married in New York in 1916. He returned to Spain and continued with his poetry. He is said to have been a solitary writer since then, leading a secluded life, as his works indicate. When the Civil War started, he went to New York again and then to Cuba. He was a Republican and proved it every time. He died in exile. His hypersensitivity favored the quality of his work. He was egocentric and susceptible.
- Work: He considered his poetry as a single book and thought that everything he wrote were fragments of the final book. He also has prose works, including some prose poems that were rewritten.
- Poetry in verse: There are three stages: the sensitive stage, the intellectual stage, and the sufficient, or true, stage.
Stages of Juan Ramón Jiménez’s Poetry
- Stage I: Water Lilies, Almas de violeta (decadent, neo-romantic tone). Rimas (like Bécquer. There is the scar left on Juan Ramón). Influence of the French Symbolists. While in Moguer, he composed various works (Elejías, The Green Leaves of Spring Ballads…) showing identification with nature and a search for the everyday, simple life.
- Second stage: Starts with a key work (Diary of a Newly Married Poet) that opens Spanish poetry to cutting-edge innovations (free verse, English phrases, prose poems, chaotic enumerations…). Other works include: Poeta en Nueva York,Eternidad, Stone and Sky, Beauty. The Total Station collects the poems written by him between 1923 and 1936.
- Last step: All of his production in the years of exile. On the Other Side, God Desired and Desiring.
Juan Ramón had a unique spelling style, with many intentional “errors.”