Spanish Modernism in Poetry and the Generation of '98

Modernism and the Generation of '98

Modernism: Unconformity with art and literature of the last third of the nineteenth century led writers to seek a new literary aesthetic — a major renovation that affects both form and content. Modernism contributes most notably in poetry, but also in prose and drama. For the first time in Castilian literature, the initial impetus comes from Latin America, thanks to authors such as the Cuban José Martí and Rubén Darío.

Characteristics of Modernism

The Modernist poetry, which receives influence from Romanticism and Symbolism and from French Parnassianism, anxiously pursues aesthetic and formal beauty. It can be characterized by the following features:

• Style: Renewal and richness of the lexicon, profuse adjectives, careful use of images and symbols, and resources such as phonetics and musicality.
• Metrics: Recovery of classical verse forms such as the dodecasyllabic (12-syllable) or Alexandrine; experimentation with free verse; variation or invention of stanzas, which contributes to rhythm and musicality.
• Themes: Fantasy and imagination that lead to an escape from reality, introspection and exploration of the inner world, and often a resolute pessimism expressed as anguish, sadness, or melancholy.

Modernist poets: Rubén Darío, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Generation of '98

Generation or group of '98: Even today the name is debated, but the group commonly includes authors such as Maeztu, Unamuno, Azorín, Baroja, Machado and Valle-Inclán. In many respects they converge with the modernists in their disagreement with previous literature and aesthetics. They expressed renewal across genres, although some critics still identify recurrent constants in their works.

Rubén Darío

Rubén Darío: The Modernist poet par excellence. He is the author of Azul (Blue), Prosas profanas (Profane Prose) and Cantos de vida y esperanza (Songs of Life and Hope).

Azul consists of a series of stories written in delicate and elegant prose, together with various poems. Rubén channels his path under the influence of French modernist poetry. In the bright and musical verses of Prosas profanas, he accentuates the new aesthetic: exotic motifs abound, with sensuous notes and rich coloration. Cantos de vida y esperanza is a masterpiece that is more intimate and of greater spiritual depth; many of its verses show an increased presence of Hispanic motifs.

Darío was an excellent poet, gifted with dazzling, colorful and lyrical expression of feeling and melancholy. His poems infused new impetus into Castilian poetry by renewing poetic vocabulary with vivid images and formidable, varied metrics.