Spanish Avant-Garde and the Generation of '27: A Literary Boom

Innovators and the Generation of '27

During this period, Spain experienced a decline due to the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Writers of the time expressed great discontent with the state of Spain. Despite political instability, a literary boom occurred.

The Avant-Garde Movements

The Avant-Garde movements arose, sharing several characteristics. Unlike the past, they rejected realism, sentimentality, reason, logic, and traditional metrics. They embraced free verse, original elements, neologisms, and references to current events.

The Avant-Garde can be divided into two groups:

Optimistic Avant-Garde

• Futurism: Focused on new technologies.
• Ultraism
• Creationism: A Hispanic movement created by Vicente Huidobro.
• Cubism: Figures are drawn with geometric words.

Pessimistic Avant-Garde

• Dadaism: Originating in Germany, characterized by playfulness and destructiveness.
• Surrealism: An art form based on irrational, mysterious, and disturbing elements. Authors include Vicente Aleixandre and Rafael Alberti, and artists like Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna

The most prominent Avant-Garde author is Ramón Gómez de la Serna, who created a genre called the "greguería," which he defined as metaphor plus humor. His notable works include The Incongruous and The Lost Man.

The Generation of '27

In 1927, a group of authors known as the Generation of '27 formed at a meeting in Seville to commemorate the death of Luis de Góngora. These authors shared similar characteristics: broad culture, poetry resulting from work and reflection rather than inspiration, and acceptance of free verse. Featured authors include:

• Jorge Guillén (Cántico, Final)
• Pedro Salinas (Presagios, La voz a ti debida)
• Vicente Aleixandre: (Destruction or Love, Historia del corazón)
• Gerardo Diego (Manual de espumas, Versos divinos)
• Federico García Lorca (Libro de poemas, Poet in New York)
• Luis Cernuda (Donde habite el olvido)
• Rafael Alberti (Trilogy: Marinero en tierra, El amante, La arboleda perdida)