Generation of '27: Phases, Poets, and Literary Themes

The Evolution of the Generation of '27

The evolution of the Generation of '27 can be set in three stages:

Initiation Phase (1920-1927)

This period saw poets publish their first books. Gerardo Diego was an early proponent with his creationist works. In the same period, Rafael Alberti published Marinero en tierra, and Federico García Lorca published Poema del Cante Jondo, both reflecting a Neopopulist trend.

Stage of Maturity (1928-1936)

This was the golden age of the group. Notably, two important books published were Cántico by Jorge Guillén, and Romancero Gitano by Federico García Lorca. Within this period, creationism and surrealism gave way to works such as Vicente Aleixandre's La destrucción o el amor and Federico García Lorca's Poeta en Nueva York. Towards the end of this stage, in the last years of the Republic, a major social commitment emerged. At this time, Rafael Alberti published El poeta en la calle (1936).

Stage of Disintegration (1936 onwards)

This stage began in 1936, when the Spanish Civil War scattered the Generation of '27. In Granada, Lorca was assassinated. Alberti, Cernuda, Salinas, Guillén, Gerardo Diego, and Altolaguirre began their experience of exile. The impact of the war and exile strongly influenced their works. The playful aspect of their earlier poetry was abandoned to make way for avant-garde poetry concerned with the great problems of human existence:

• Jorge Guillén published Clamor (1950), a work in which the author expresses the horror of war.
• Nostalgia for the homeland and lost youth appears in Rafael Alberti's works such as Entre el clavel y la espada and Retornos de lo vivo lejano.
• Vicente Aleixandre, who remained in Spain, published Historia del corazón (1954), a book that incorporates the social tendency of post-war poetry.

Literary Devices and Forms

Calligrams

These are visual poems that combine text with line drawings.

Homophones

These are words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and different meanings.

Rhymed Formulas

These are brief (between 3 and 6 words) consonant rhymes that often have a figurative meaning and are usually used in colloquial language.

Key Themes of the Generation of '27 Poets

The poets addressed universal poetic themes such as love, plenitude, and death, and added new elements like the inconsequential game of expression or social concern.

Theme of Love

A passionate vision highlights the mixture of pleasure and pain, notably in poets like Vicente Aleixandre (La destrucción o el amor, 1934) and Luis Cernuda (Los placeres prohibidos, 1931). Furthermore, Pedro Salinas (La voz a ti debida, 1933) conceives love as an art that requires imagination and a daily effort that transforms the lovers.

Theme of Plenitude

Jorge Guillén expresses this in Cántico, where he conveys the wonder of the world, carried by a harmony that produces a sense of natural opposition. Luis Cernuda, on the other hand, expresses his disregard for society and the feeling of uprooting in Desolación de la quimera (1962).

Theme of Death

Death is not accepted with resignation by any of the Generation of '27 poets. In Lorca's early poems, death appears as a subject, almost as an omen of his own destiny. His elegy Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías expresses the pain for his dead friend, but also reflects on death itself.