Spanish Avant-Garde Movements in the 1920s

Vanguards and "Isms": Ramón Gómez de la Serna

In the 1920s, Novecentismo rejected mimetic and realistic poetry. It embraced a disruptive position, obsessed with aesthetic exploration and experimentation. The concept of "art" encompassed various movements, including Futurism, Cubism, Surrealism, Creationism, and Ultraism. These diverse trends rejected imitation, sentimentality, conformity, and established rules. They argued that the poet, the creator, must be original and forge their own aesthetic. The quest for originality became essential, emphasizing surprise and provocation through play and humor.

From 1926 onward, Spain witnessed the emergence of the avant-garde. Creationism, the first movement, appeared through Gerardo Diego's magazine, Carmen. It rejected reality by refusing to imitate it. Following Creationism was Surrealism, with its focus on the subconscious, which enriched the poetic language of Spanish writers. This movement proposed not just a cosmetic change but a revolt against all aspects of life. It called for the release of repressed impulses from the subconscious and emancipation from moral or aesthetic prohibitions.

Surrealists defended automatic writing: writing as if thought were unfiltered, transferring images directly onto paper without the control of reason. These images included dream visions, bizarre associations, and seemingly inconsistent relationships. Spanish Surrealism was generally less extreme than its French counterpart, but almost all members of the Generation of '27 were influenced by it.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna and Greguerías

Ramón Gómez de la Serna connected with the European avant-garde. In journals like Prometheus and gatherings at the Café de Pombo, he championed and disseminated new artistic currents, even dedicating a book to them, Ismos (1931).

Greguerías form the backbone of his extensive work. Defined by their creator as humor + metaphor, this art of "outcry" is pure language play. These very short prose poems or poetic phrases conceal an unusual concept or metaphor within a pirouette of words.

The "outcry" became a key element for the Generation of '27, cultivated by writers such as Lorca, Guillén, Gerardo Diego, and Alberti.