Generation of '27: Key Poets, Works, and Literary Impact

The Generation of '27: The Silver Age of Spanish Literature

The Generation of '27 included prominent poets such as Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda, and Dámaso Alonso. Their period of artistic and cultural splendor is known as the Silver Age.

General Features and Evolution

• Relationships: Bonded by birth dates, friendship, and a shared homage to Góngora.
• Formation: Common cultural interests and intellectual pursuits.
• Evolution:
  • 1918–1925: Training stage.
  • 1926–1929: Maturity.
  • 1930 onwards: Personal, social, and political concerns emerged, leading to the group's dissolution following the Spanish Civil War.

Neopopularismo

Neopopularismo is characterized by the use of short compositions, brief lines, refrains, and intense lyricism, utilizing repetitions, parallelism, and surface simplicity.

Influences and Key Works

The poets of '27 were influenced by Spanish classics, particularly Góngora. Notable works include:

• Jorge Guillén: His poetry extols the joy of existence, everyday objects, and the perfection of nature.
• Avant-Garde Movements: Influenced by Creationism, Ultraism, and Surrealism.
• Luis Cernuda: In The Forbidden Pleasures, he uses free verse to explore the limits of love, desire, and the connection between love and death.

Federico García Lorca

Lorca revolutionized theater and poetry. His dramatic works are defined by themes of frustration, love, and death. Key plays include:

• Blood Wedding
• Yerma
• The House of Bernarda Alba

Post-Civil War Literature

Following the Civil War, literature was dominated by ideological propaganda, often overshadowing literary quality. Under Franco's dictatorship, strict censorship was enforced. Spanish literature became linked to state policies, evolving through stages of social literature, formal renewal, and contemporary trends.

Miguel Hernández: Poetic Trajectory

The themes of Miguel Hernández's poetry include love, death, pain, and political commitment:

• Early Works: Influenced by the avant-garde and Baroque styles, featuring surreal imagery and symbolism.
• Committed Poetry: Focused on the dignity of the people.
• Final Works: Written in prison, these poems revisit themes of love through the lens of pain, utilizing neopopularismo resources.

Since the Civil War, Spanish lyricism evolved from Garcilacismo into postwar social poetry and formal renewal.