Spanish Literature Evolution: Generation of 50 and Novísimos

General Characteristics of Spanish Literature

During these years, Spanish literature was characterized by the improvement or rejection of social realism. Writers realized the futility of politics and the social and aesthetic poverty of social literature. Prominent authors focused not on the community, but on the individual, utilizing auto-analysis and personal knowledge to reach an understanding of reality.

Experimentalism and Language Renewal

Experimentalism involved seeking new techniques and forms of expression, with special attention to the use and renewal of literary language.

Poetry: The Generation of 50

In the 1960s, a group of poets who had begun to publish in the previous decade reached poetic maturity and consolidated the group known as the "Generation of 50." These poets, born between 1925 and 1938, may be considered "war children."

• Key Authors: Ángel González, José Manuel Caballero Bonald, Ángel Crespo, etc.

All these poets shared a specific conception of poetry: delving into personal experience and raising a problematic vision of existence.

Themes and Style of the War Children

• Themes: Childhood memories of the war, adolescence, love, friendship, loneliness, the passage of time, criticism of the bourgeoisie, and the language of poetry.
• Style: They sought a more developed poetic style than social poetry, yet remained natural and anti-rhetorical. Lyrical images were combined with a conversational and narrative style.
• Metrics: Dominated by free verse.

The Novísimos: A New Poetic Trend

In 1970, critic José María Castellet published the anthology "Nueve novísimos poetas españoles" (Nine Newest Poets), which included a group that broke away from previous poetry.

• Key Poets: Pere Gimferrer, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and Leopoldo María Panero.

Aestheticism and Mass Culture Integration

• Aestheticism: Cultural figures and motifs evoke an elitist culture. References include art, classical music, the Greco-Roman world, literature, and mythology.
• Recovery of the Avant-Garde: Surrealism, automatic writing, collage, and language games were recovered. At times, capitalization and punctuation were dispensed with.
• Integration of Mass Culture: Inclusion of movies, comics, radio, songs, and rock and roll.

Characteristics of the Modern Experimental Novel

• Problematic Protagonist: A character that explores consciousness.
• Rupture of Argument and Chronology: The timing of the action is often non-linear. Techniques like hindsight or flashbacks are used to narrate events prior to the story's present.
• Internal Monologue: Reflects the inner thoughts of the characters.
• Multiple Perspectives: A mix of different narrative points of view (third person, first person, and second person). These voices may correspond to the author-narrator, the protagonist, or different characters.
• Counterpoint: Fragments of different actions intersect, overlap, and occur at different times or spaces.
• Linguistic Innovation: Use of different linguistic registers, broken syntax, and the omission or alteration of punctuation.