Modernism and the Generation of '98: Spanish Poetry Analysis

Poetry XX: Modernism and the Generation of '98

To analyze Spanish poetry from the early twentieth century to the postwar period, we focus on two movements: Modernism and the movement promoted by the poets of the so-called Generation of '98. The poetic movement known as Modernism, introduced in our country by the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío, developed concurrently with the Generation of '98 during the final years of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (1888–1910).

The Renovation of Spanish Poetry

This movement possessed the ability to completely renovate Spanish poetry, providing the basis for its further development. It arose as a reaction against the realistic spirit of the age, seeking a refinement of form, the perfection of expression, the projection of the subjective, the use of exotic environments, and the philosophy of "art for art's sake," where art is an end in itself rather than a means.

Romantic Influences and Rebellion

Modernism received a spirit of rebellion and a desire for renewal and originality from Romanticism. This movement acted as a second reaction against bourgeois positivism.

Themes in Modernist Poetry

The themes of modernist poetry focus on two main areas:

• Historical and Legendary Evocation: The modernist poet flees the vulgarity of everyday life, taking refuge in unreal worlds or better times to indulge in the creation of absolute beauty.
• Intimate Feelings: The predominant feeling is sadness, steeped in longing—often more literary than real. Melancholy and nostalgia became fashionable, frequently utilizing symbolic motifs such as:
  • The Swan: A symbol of purity, grace, and elegance.
  • The Peacock: A decorative and beautiful figure.
  • Precious Stones: Symbols of luxury and splendor.

Style and Formal Beauty

In terms of style, color and music are crucial to highlighting formal beauty. The line is enriched with unexpected sounds and rhythms, utilizing exotic words, neologisms, and rhetorical figures such as:

• Cultisms and hyperbatons
• Antithesis
• Alliteration
• Synesthesia

Furthermore, there is a profound change in metrics, including the use of heroic verse, the revival of the Alexandrian line, and innovations such as the creation of sonnets with serventesios instead of quartets, and the creation of the modernist Sistine sonnet.

Major Influences

Finally, we must point out the major influences on Spanish Modernism: two French schools from the last third of the nineteenth century that developed aspects of Romantic aesthetics:

• Parnassianism: A return to the ancient Greek ideal.
• Symbolism: Represented by Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, and Baudelaire, who considered poetry a means of understanding the subconscious through suggestion and symbols.