Modernist Literary Vanguards: Defining European and Spanish Art

The Literary Avant-Garde: Movements and Impact

The term Vanguardias Literarias (Literary Vanguards) was coined during World War I to describe a range of artistic concerns. The Avant-Garde consisted of a huge number of movements, all sharing the desire to create a radically new art, breaking completely with Realism.

European Avant-Garde Movements

• Futurism

  Started in Italy (1909) by F.T. Marinetti. Characterized by:

  • A dynamic, fast style, often employing verbal breaks and syntactic disruption.
  • Hatred of the intellect, favoring intuition.
  • A complete break with the past.

  Influence: Heavily influenced the Spanish Generation of '27 (e.g., Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti).

• Cubism (Fine Arts Influence)

  Appeared around 1907 with painters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Its literary influence sought to:

  • Create works of art that possess their own independent life.
  • Eliminate anecdote and traditional representation.
  • Embrace spontaneity.

• Dadaism

  Born in Switzerland (1916) led by Tristan Tzara. Its spirit emphasized:

  • The artist's desire for independence from society.
  • Absolute artistic freedom.
  • Making a "clean slate" with all existing norms.

  Themes: Creating a new expressive language; showing the world and art's true goal; mockery of everything accepted by society. Followers who transitioned to Surrealism included Paul Éluard and André Breton.

The Avant-Garde in Spain: Stages and Movements

The Spanish Vanguards are generally divided into four stages:

1. 1908–1918: Initial Vanguards. Highlights include Ramón Gómez de la Serna.
2. 1918–1925: Birth of Ultraism and Creationism.
3. 1925–1930: Peak of Surrealism.
4. 1930–1936: Movements begin to disappear.

• Ultraism

  The first Manifesto appeared in 1919 in the journal "Cervantes," created by Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Key characteristics:

  • Inclusion of themes related to drivers and sports.
  • Key initiator: Guillermo de Torre.

• Ramón Gómez de la Serna

  He incorporated features from Futurism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. His work stems from the idea that the world is absurd. He demonstrated a:

  • Dislike for the traditional interpretation of reality.
  • Desire to break with previous art forms.
  • Focus on creating new realities rather than merely observing the existing one.

• Creationism

  Began in Paris (1918) led by the Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro. Key Spanish authors include Juan Larrea and Gerardo Diego. This movement sought a:

  • Visible break with reality.
  • Creation of a new reality that makes sense purely by itself.

• Surrealism

  Born in France (1920), created by André Breton. Surrealism sought to transform life by:

  • Seeking to free human beings from their own repressions, heavily influenced by Freud's theories of psychoanalysis.
  • Aiming for the release of repression imposed by societal norms and state models.