Spanish Avant-Garde Movements: From Ultraism to the Generation of '27
The Vanguard Movement in Art and Literature
The Vanguard movement gathered artists in an aesthetic known as the avant-garde. This movement was characterized by several key principles:
Key Characteristics of the Vanguard
- Fascination with Technique: Incorporating technological advances into artistic creation.
- Experimentation: Investigating all possibilities of art.
- Universal Vocation: Aspiring to make the work understandable and accessible.
- Surrealism: A highly important 'ism' that sought to escape reality through imagination and the unconscious.
Modernism and the Avant-Garde Aesthetic Shift
Modernism and the Vanguards sought to change traditional beauty, achieving a provocative aesthetic breakthrough. They aimed to interpret reality, searching for themes related to the modern human being. Key aspects included:
- Defending a refined, sensual, and musical style.
- Advocating for total liberty in verse forms and a universal poet.
- Art being concerned with the expression of elegance.
- Artists experimenting across all forms of expression, leading to mutual artistic influence.
Ultraism: Spanish Avant-Garde Poetry
Ultraism was a movement heavily influenced by European avant-garde styles, especially Cubism and Futurism. Ultraists advocated for:
- The elimination of rhyme.
- The use of jargon and driving themes.
- Seeking impactful images and metaphors.
Ultraist Authors
Guillermo de Torre, Juan Larrea, and Gerardo Diego.
Creationism: Poetry as Autonomous Reality
Creationism was founded by Vicente Huidobro, who claimed that poetry is autonomous and independent of the world; it must create a new reality. This movement conceived of pure art, independent of material reality.
Ramón Gómez de la Serna and the Greguerías
The most singular Spanish avant-garde writer is Ramón Gómez de la Serna, noted for his Greguerías: brief thoughts resulting from the union of a metaphor and humor.
The Generation of '27: Authors and Style
The Generation of '27 was a group of Spanish poets who rose to prominence around 1927. Key authors include:
- Federico García Lorca
- Rafael Alberti
- Luis Cernuda
- Vicente Aleixandre
- Gerardo Diego
- Jorge Guillén
- Emilio Prados
- Pedro Salinas
- Dámaso Alonso
- Manuel Altolaguirre
Common Traits of the Generation of '27
- Attraction to the Vanguards.
- Appreciation of literary tradition (both educated and popular).
- Desire for originality and poetic restoration.
- Purity of art and pursuit of perfection (pure poetry).
- Presence of Surrealist elements (especially in the younger poets).
- Supremacy of metaphor.
Poetic Style and Influences
Almost all members began their careers writing pure poetry. There was a strong influence from the Golden Age in both authors (such as Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca) and metrics. Other major influences included Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Antonio Machado, and especially Juan Ramón Jiménez.
They created a plain and poetic language, innovatively dominated by metaphors of a Surrealist character.