Spanish Generation of '27: Poets, Movements & Works

The Poetic Group of Generation '27

The poetic group of 27: The most important poets are Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Gerardo Diego, Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Rafael Alberti, Luis Cernuda and Dámaso Alonso.

Neopopularismo

Neopopularismo: Characterized by short compositions in short verse, some with a chorus, and by great lyrical intensity through repetition, parallelism and the elimination of superficial elements.

Classical Influence and Pure Poetry

Classical influence and pure poetry: Poets of the Generation of '27 received strong influences from the Spanish classics, especially from Góngora, and from more recent authors such as Bécquer and Juan Ramón Jiménez. The classical influence is visible in the use of forms like the hendecasyllable, the décima, the octosyllable and the sonnet.

Poetry of the Vanguard

Poetry of the vanguard: Art movements that influenced the Generation of '27 were essentially Creationism, Ultraism and Surrealism.

Other Productions from the Group

Federico García Lorca developed a new concept combining drama and poetry. Lorca's dramatic works feature:

• Central themes of frustration, love and death.
• Intense lyricism expressed through songs and symbolic characters.
• The mixture of verse and prose.

Key Works by Major Poets

Rafael Alberti: Marinero en tierra.
Federico García Lorca: Romancero gitano (Gypsy Ballads).
Pedro Salinas: La voz a ti debida.
Jorge Guillén: Cántico.
Gerardo Diego: Manual de la espuma.
Vicente Aleixandre: La destrucción o el amor (Destruction or Love).
Luis Cernuda: Los placeres prohibidos (Forbidden Pleasures).

Noucentisme and the Vanguard Movements

Noucentisme and the vanguards: These currents brought together a group of authors with a solid intellectual formation. Europe saw a pattern that others would follow. The vanguard comprised a set of artistic movements characterized by an eagerness to break with tradition and to pursue renewal. Important art movements include: Futurism, Cubism, Surrealism, Ultraism and Creationism.

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Juan Ramón Jiménez: His principles were influenced by modernism. His poetry pursues conceptual condensation: sustained by clarity and reason, the poet aspires to name the essence with the fewest possible words.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna

Ramón Gómez de la Serna: He disseminated avant-garde ideas in Spain through Prometeo magazine and literary gatherings. He excelled in the creation of the greguería. According to him, metaphor can be humorous and concise: his short texts relate to everyday elements and offer an original, often smoky vision of reality and linguistic play, using a variety of procedures.