Ángel González: Life and Poetic Evolution of a Generation of '50 Master

Ángel González: Life and Poetic Evolution

Biography of Ángel González

Ángel González, a distinguished poet and professor of literature, belonged to the renowned group known as the Generation of '50. His work is characterized by a committed, deeply human poetry, often tinged with subtle irony and humor. Born in Oviedo, Spain, his childhood was profoundly marked by the shadow of the Spanish Civil War and the untimely death of his father when he was barely two years old. He earned a law degree from the University of Oviedo and later studied journalism at the Official School of Journalism in Madrid. González also worked in the Ministry of Public Works, where he served as an official on leave. In his later years, he taught Contemporary Spanish Literature at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, USA, and served as a visiting professor at the universities of New Mexico, Utah, Maryland, and Texas.

Poetic Stages and Major Works

First Poetic Stage: Trauma and Social Commitment (1956-1967)

This initial stage spans from 1956 to 1967. In his early work, González explores experiences stemming from the trauma of the Spanish Civil War, reflecting the clash between the dreamlike innocence of childhood and a cruel, harsh reality. This period is marked by deep existential depression and pessimism. Subsequently, his stance became more militant, as seen in Without Hope, With Conviction (1961), which includes a social analysis of defeat and places him among social poets. Later, he shifted to poetry testifying to his own experience, focusing on the precise word. Key themes include the passage of time, love, heartbreak, the absurdity of life, childhood as a lost paradise, and history.

Notable works from this period include:

• Rough World (1956)
• Without Hope, With Conviction (1961)
• Elementary Level (1962) – where irony parodies the social and political environment.
• Word on Word (1965)
• Treaty of Urbanism (1967)

Second Poetic Stage: Playfulness and Semantic Experimentation (1971-1984)

This stage spans from Brief Quotations for a Biography (1971) to Prosem or Less (1984). It features texts where playfulness, irony, and humor gravitate towards inversions and semantic distortions, with an abundance of broken phrases, neologisms, and puns.

Other significant works from this period include:

• Narrative Procedures (1972)
• A Sample of Some Narrative Procedures and Attitudes Which Would Normally Involve Sentiment (1976)

Literary Studies by Ángel González

Ángel González was also the author of several insightful studies on other prominent Spanish poets, including:

• Juan Ramón Jiménez's poetry (1973)
• The Poetical, 1927 (1976)
• Gabriel Celaya (1977)
• Antonio Machado (1979)

Third Poetic Stage: Time, History, and Existential Decay (1992-2000)

This final stage opens with Deixis: A Ghost (1992) and continues through Fall and Other Lights (2000).

This stage marks a period of pessimistic meditation, driven by an obsession with the passage of time and the testimony of historical events. Ángel González's later poems reflect on the relentless march of time, existential decay, and the profound effects of old age.