Characteristics of the Generation of '98
- Birth dates: Not too distant; relationship between components of the '98 generational event.
- Core concerns: Concern about the problem of Spain; recurring themes include existential and philosophical disputes.
- Style: Based on natural language, sober and modern text.
Antonio Machado
- Features: Influence of a Romantic critical perspective on the problem of Spain; use of symbols.
- Topics: Passage of time, Castilla, the "new Spain," interest in landscape, love, dreams, people without history, and religious skepticism.
- Style: Variety of stanzas; refined poetic language; use of the "defining adjective."
- Work stages:
- First stage (1899-1907): Inwardness and symbolism.
- Second stage (1907-1917): Castellanos and regenerationism.
- Third stage (1917-1926): Philosophical and folk poetry.
Narrative of the Generation of '98
- Fiction: Narration where the story itself becomes less important than the way it is narrated; focus on a single character, life experience, and dialogue.
- Themes and style: Concern over Spain; intrahistoria; true values; subjective reality of the landscape.
Pío Baroja
- Features: Religious skepticism; suspicion of the human being; influence of European philosophical currents; central protagonist.
- Works: First and second stages.
Theatre: Jacinto Benavente
- Streams: Bourgeois comedy, poetic verse theatre, and comic theatre.
- Renovator: Valle-Inclán: Poetic drama, mythical rural environment, and the Esperpento farce.
Generation of '14
- Features: Social and political reform; sense of Spain as part of Europe; search for beautiful, pure art; contributions from other movements; effective language.
- Novelists:
- Ramón de Ayala: Autobiographical novels, lyrical novels, social criticism, and intellectual novels.
- Gabriel Miró: Prevalence of sensations; great care for language; comprehensive description of characters.
Vanguard Movements
- Features: Rejection of earlier artistic manifestations; creativity and originality above all; experimentation; irrationality; elitism; rebellion and provocation; playful intent.
Futurism
- Features: Radical rejection of the past; attraction to machines; unsentimental approach; condoning violence.
Generation of '27
- Features: Birth dates close in time; referential figures with wide literary education; strong bonds of friendship; shared lugares comunes; literary magazines.
- Aesthetics: Influence of disparate literary aesthetics; special interest in popular poetry; renewal; influence of Modernism.
- Topics: City, nature, love, and commitment.
Vanguard Narrative: Benjamín Jarnés
- Features: Urban environments; predominance of intellectuals; inner world; use of the imagination; ingenious lexicon.
