The Generation of '98: Literary and Historical Context

The Contemporary Novel: Context and Influences

Social and Cultural Transformations

• Advances in technology and science (e.g., automobiles).
• Rapid industrial and urban growth.
• Crisis of Positivism and Rationalism.

Changes in Spain: The 1898 Disaster

• The Disaster of 1898.
• General backwardness of the country.
• Calls for material reforms.

The Generation of '98: Defining Spanish Literature

The term "Generation of '98" designates a group of Spanish writers who began publishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This name originates from a significant historical event: the Disaster of 1898.

Key Characteristics and Concerns

All these writers shared a common attitude of protest against society and the prevailing state of literature. Among their primary concerns were the issue of Spain and various philosophical questions.

Prominent Writers of the Generation of '98

• Miguel de Unamuno
• Pío Baroja
• Azorín
• Antonio Machado
• Ramón María del Valle-Inclán

Miguel de Unamuno

Born in Bilbao in 1864, Miguel de Unamuno lived in Salamanca, where he taught at the university. He died in 1936. His works are consistently imbued with personal concerns. He wrote essays, poetry, drama, and novels. His most important novels include: Peace in War, Love and Pedagogy, and Mist.

Pío Baroja

Born in San Sebastián in 1872, Pío Baroja dedicated his life to literature and journalism. He died in Madrid in 1956. He held a pessimistic vision of the world, characterized by a skeptical, maverick, and independent spirit. Baroja was the author of more than 60 novels. Almost all of them are generally structured around a central, maverick, or adventurous character. Notable works include: Zalacaín the Adventurer, The Search, and The Tree of Knowledge.

Ramón María del Valle-Inclán

He began publishing collections of short stories and novellas, as well as four novels written in a careful modernist prose. His aesthetic of the grotesque, based on the systematic deformation of reality and the ridicule of characters, is evident in his novels and the trilogy Tirano Banderas, entitled The Iberian Arena.

Azorín (José Martínez Ruiz)

Azorín, the pseudonym of José Martínez Ruiz, was born in Monóvar in 1873 and died in Madrid in 1967. One of Azorín's salient features was his simple and clear style, characterized by very short sentences. He wrote several novels and plays, but is primarily known for his essays.