The Generation of '98: A Literary Movement in Spain

The Generation of '98

The Generation of '98 is the name traditionally given to a group of Spanish writers deeply affected by the political, social, and moral crisis in Spain following the military defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898. The loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines had a profound impact on the nation's psyche.

Key Authors

Authors who comprise this generation include:

• Miguel de Unamuno
• Pío Baroja
• Azorín
• Ramiro de Maeztu
• Antonio Machado
• Valle-Inclán

Cultural Context

The cultural scene in the early twentieth century was marked by a sense of hopelessness. Intellectuals of the late nineteenth century, led by Francisco Giner de los Ríos, founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Free Institution of Education). This institution sought to provide an alternative to the official instruction of the time, which was considered ineffective, insufficient, and subject to oppressive political and religious interests. Students of this institution participated in literary meetings, gatherings at cafes, and published in the same journals.

The Generation of '98 was also influenced by a sense of frustration, a neo-romantic exaggeration of the individual, and the imitation of European fashions of the moment.

Criteria for Inclusion

Azorín outlined several criteria that defined this artistic group of writers:

1. Born around the same period.
2. Concern for national identity and a deep patriotism.
3. Great interest in and love for Castile.
4. Breaking the mold and renewing classic literary genres, creating new forms.
5. Rejection of the realist aesthetic and preference for a language closer to everyday speech, with simpler syntax and a lexicon that sometimes recovered traditional and typical words.
6. Attempt to acclimate Spain to different philosophical currents such as those of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Kierkegaard.
7. Pessimism as the most common attitude, leading them to sympathize with Romantic figures like Mariano José de Larra, to whom they paid tribute.

Realistic Features

• Interest in everyday reality. Novelists replaced historical themes and exotic Romantic settings with actual characters and environments.
• Treatment of contemporary issues. They addressed the social and political conflicts of their time.
• Search for objectivity and realism.
• Presence of the author-critic.
• Use of the omniscient narrator.
• Simple and clean style.
• Careful recreation of the characters' speech.

Characteristics of Romanticism

• Rebellion
• Evasion
• Projection of nature
• Nationalism