Modernism and the Generation of '98: Key Literary Figures
Modernism and the Generation of '98
Miguel de Unamuno
He creates conceptual poetry focused on existentialism, metaphysics, and mysticism. His expression is sober and anti-rhetorical, often utilizing free verse. His primary themes include family, country, and religion. Notable work: From Fuerteventura to Paris.
Antonio Machado
Solitudes, Galleries and Other Poems
This work features discrete content and language, reflecting an existential and spiritual approach. He meditates on the passage of time, loneliness, and the irretrievable loss of childhood and youth. He frequently uses symbols, colorful and musical adjectives, and a metric based on polyrhythms and varied stanzas.
Campos de Castilla
This represents a turning point in his poetic career. It contains descriptive and reflective poems about the men and lands of Castile, addressing the political and cultural crisis of the country. The final poems are inspired by Leonor. He uses sober poetic language, frequently employing the silva, popular songs, and romances.
New Songs
This collection relates to philosophy and moral society. Although it was received with hostility in the new poetic context of the Generation of '27, poets after the Civil War took Machado as a civic and literary reference.
Overcoming Modernism
Juan Ramón Jiménez
He falls within the time frame of the Generation of '14, acting as a link between modernist poets and the Generation of '27. Despite his early modernist roots, he always worked independently.
1. Sensitive Stage
Themes include love and landscape. He meets Zenobia Camprubí, the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life. Estío closes the romantic modernist stage, alongside the poetic prose of Platero y yo.
2. Intellectual Stage
The poet abandons modernist rhetoric and focuses on "pure poetry," seeking the essence and meaning of things. Total Station reflects the serene contemplation and fullness the poet feels. This book closes the intellectual stage.
3. Sufficient or True Stage
During his American exile, he seeks absolute truth, taking God as a central theme. God Desired and Desiring explores nostalgia and the fear of death. After receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, he concludes this stage and his career with the publication of The Third Poetic Anthology.
Miguel Hernández
By age, he belongs to the Generation of '36, though his uniqueness justifies a separate study.
Youth and Learning Stage
Influenced by avant-garde poetry and the Góngora-inspired poets of the Generation of '27.
Creative Maturity
The Unceasing Lightning is composed of sonnets. Three themes stand out: life, death, and love. He uses intimate, simple language alongside metaphors and repetition.
Committed Poetry
Politically committed to the Republican cause, he expresses direct and immediate suffering, anguish, and pain. Songbook and Ballads of Absences, written in prison, collects the pain of the death of his son, loneliness, and nostalgia.