Avant-Garde Art and the Generation of '27 Poets

The Rise of Avant-Garde Movements

Avant-garde: From a cultural standpoint, this era is defined by the avant-garde: artistic movements of shock, rupture, and opening at the same time. They are characterized by originality and a high dose of provocation.

Futurism

Created by the Italian Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909, Futurism is an art form that focuses on speed and the elements of the new civilization. In this movement, punctuation, linear arrangement, and adjectives are deleted.

Expressionism

Established in Germany, Expressionism has a strong character of social denunciation. Its critical issues are inspired by a vision of society and feelings of horror, suffering, and solidarity generated during the First World War.

Cubism

Cubism aims to represent various aspects of the same reality simultaneously: an image from different points of view, incorporating both external and internal elements.

Dadaism

Born from the ideas of Tristan Tzara, Dadaism is a predominantly destructive movement. A notable feature of the Dadaists is their sense of humor; they do not take anything seriously, not even art itself. Many Dadaists mimic a language of childish babbling.

Surrealism

The most transcendent of the avant-garde movements is the one initiated by André Breton. Surrealism reflects the syntactic and lexical freedoms of Futurism, Cubism, and Dadaism. Breton advocates for automatic writing.

The Generation of '27

Origins and Key Members

The Generation of '27 began when a group of poets and friends published their first books. The majority of them met at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, one of the most prestigious educational institutions of the era. The poetic group consists of, among others:

• Pedro Salinas
• Jorge Guillén
• Gerardo Diego
• Dámaso Alonso
• Vicente Aleixandre
• Federico García Lorca
• Luis Cernuda
• Rafael Alberti
• Emilio Prados
• Manuel Altolaguirre

Common Features of the Generation of '27

• They possess a broad intellectual formation.
• They are fans of the best literary traditions while showing interest in Spain's most avant-garde movements, especially Surrealism.
• They conceive of poetry as an art capable of interpreting and renewing reality.
• They are dedicated to their work, always seeking formal and conceptual perfection. For this reason, Luis de Góngora is their common model.
• They employ both traditional metrical forms and innovative styles, especially free verse.
• They alternate between cultured and popular styles, creating poetry for minorities that also addresses the vast majority.
• They typically evolve from pure poetry (vital and idealistic) to committed social poetry, especially with the advent of the Second Republic.

Gerardo Diego: A Notable Poet

A writer from Santander, Gerardo Diego was a professor of language and literature at various institutes. In 1925, he won the National Poetry Prize for Versos humanos and received the Cervantes Prize in 1979.

Gerardo Diego's poetry is characterized by a wide variety of topics and styles, ranging from the purely avant-garde to the classic. Among his other books are The Ballad of the Bride (1918) and Manual of Foams (1924).