Modernism: Traits, Unamuno, and Key Literary Works

Modernism: Key Characteristics and Societal Impact

Modernism exhibits varied traits, expressing both spiritual and social concerns. Modernists desired originality and aimed to elevate social and ethical values in opposition to the bourgeois world. Modernism is often perceived as a divisive and anarchic force. A parallel can be drawn between the Romantic revolt against society after the Industrial Revolution and the Modernist expression. Modernists also held an idealistic perspective, rejecting the vulgar materialism and pragmatism characteristic of bourgeois society. A sense of decline is significant in this art form, immersed in both excitement and darkness. It reflects a widespread dissatisfaction with society.

Another significant feature, influenced by Latin American Modernism, was cosmopolitanism, particularly a fondness for travel to Paris, considered the most advanced city at the time. Spiritualism also emerged from this same dissatisfaction with the world. Aestheticism represents an almost religious cult of Beauty. Finally, syncretism is evident, where the poet seeks to engage with the texts of the Generation of '98.

The Generation of '98: Shared Traits

The Generation of '98 authors agreed on several key aspects: an interest in the Castilian landscape, a focus on the daily lives of the people, and a return to the classics. They also shared a pursuit of simplicity in form and the use of direct language.

Miguel de Unamuno: Life and Philosophical Struggles

Unamuno was born in Bilbao in 1864. He pursued studies in Arts in Madrid. He opposed Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and was exiled to Fuerteventura, escaping to France. He remained in exile until the dictator's fall, returning to Spain as a hero to Republicans. Unamuno always enjoyed controversy. His life was a constant struggle, an agony; he defined himself as an agonist.

Unamuno's Core Philosophical Ideas:

• The fear of death.
• The need to believe in a God that guarantees personal immortality.
• The rational certainty that such a God does not exist.

Unamuno's Novels: Blurring Reality and Fiction

Unamuno's novels are characterized by their experimental nature and philosophical depth.

Key Works:

• Peace in War: Employs a technique close to the realistic novel, with abundant autobiographical elements.
• Love and Pedagogy: Breaks with traditional narrative forms and approaches the essay genre. It shares similarities with Azorín's Will and Baroja's Way of Perfection, all published in the same year.
• Mist: The author himself becomes a fictional character, confronting the protagonist's demands to control their future. Characters seem to escape their fictional fate, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
• Other notable novels include Aunt Tula and San Manuel Bueno, Martyr.

Unamuno experimented with narrative techniques, the structure of his stories, and the conception of his characters. His novels are intellectual games that present the reader with many questions.