The Generation of 1898: Literary Impact and Social Critique

The Generation of 1898

Authors of the 98

A group of late nineteenth-century writers strove to intervene in the purification of public life, highlighting the miseries and evils of Spanish society. In 1901, Baroja and Azorin formed the "Group of Three" with Ramiro de Maeztu, and in 1913, they coined the term "Generation of 98." Other authors of this generation include Unamuno, Machado, and Valle-Inclán.

Criteria

• Age proximity: The difference between the oldest and youngest members is no more than 15 years.
• Predilection for Castilla: Despite being born in the periphery, they share a deep connection to the region.
• Anticlericalism: They share similar secular views.
• Larra's influence: They share the concerns of Mariano José de Larra.
• Mentorship: They take Larra as a master.
• Collaboration: They relate and collaborate through newspapers.
• Historical context: They are united by the Disaster of '98, a historical event highlighting the crisis and decay of the era.
• Terminology: They prefer the term "Generation of the Fin de Siècle."

Features

1. Social and Artistic Reflection: They address the deep crisis in Spain; the nation is the major theme of the 98.
2. Centripetal Perspective: They seek to unify Spain, with Castilla becoming the symbol of the country.
3. Bourgeois Rejection: They reject the bourgeois class, to which the majority of them belonged.
4. Anti-realism: They declare themselves anti-realist in literature and thought, introducing subjective and anti-positivist elements.
5. European Influence: They are influenced by the philosophical currents of the moment and the "regeneration" of the century.
6. Individualism: They propose individualistic, subjective, and idealistic solutions.
7. Social Influence: They maintain a desire to influence society through their publications.
8. Literary Innovation: They reclaim the essay as a new literary genre, alongside a taste for traditional language.

Coincidences Between 98 and Modernism

• National Regeneration: A shared need to overcome the failure of the bourgeoisie during the Restoration.
• Social Origin: Both groups of writers share a bourgeois background.
• Overcoming Realism: A need to move past realism as the dominant aesthetic model through subjectivism and irrationalism.
• Political Disdain: Contempt for parliamentarism and typical Western bourgeois political formulas.
• Artistic Freedom: Reclaiming total freedom for the artist and viewing the creator as superior to others.

Ultimately, the 98 and Modernism are simultaneous expressions of the internal crisis of the bourgeoisie as a social class and ideology. They are two different aesthetic forms of breaking with realism and positivism—two parallel paths, two symptoms of the same crisis, not only Spanish but Western.