Spanish Poetry Movements: 1950s Social Realism and Experimentalism

Post-War Spanish Poetry: 1950s to 1970s

The Shift to Social Poetry (Around 1950)

Around 1950, existential poetry began to evolve towards social poetry. The focus shifted from the individual expression of anguish to demonstrating solidarity with others.

Key Characteristics of Social Poetry

The topics covered were social issues affecting the community: injustice and solidarity. This period also saw a recovery of political reflections on Spain and Hispanic society.

The style adopted was simple, close to colloquial, sometimes prosaic, and highly expressive. It aimed to reach the vast majority of readers.

The most important social poets included Blas de Otero with his work I Pray for Peace and the Word, and Gabriel Celaya with his work Cantos Iberians.

Poetry of the 1960s and 1970s

The poets who defined the lyrics of the sixties were the components of the Generation of the Fifties, also known as the Promotion of 1955. At the end of the sixties, a new group of poets emerged, born between 1939 and 1948, known as the Generation of '68 or Experimentalism.

The Generation of the Fifties (Promotion of 1955)

These poets were born between 1925 and 1934, including figures such as Ángela González, José Ángel Valente, Jaime Gil de Biedma, and Carlos Barral.

Themes and Style:

• Personal experience predominated, though they did not abandon social issues.
• Intimate issues included love, loneliness, and friendship.
• The critical characteristic of social poetry manifested as a civic or ethical reflection.
• They moved away from the political tone, favoring irony, confidentiality, or complicity with the reader.
• They valued poetic expression and used natural language.

Experimentalism (Generation of 1968)

These poets were born after the Civil War and were trained amidst the development of mass culture, influenced by movies, comics, music, radio, and television.

Characteristics:

• Their works abound in cultural references, drawing from both mass culture and high culture.
• They focused heavily on the renewal of style, experimenting with cutting-edge new forms of expression.
• They combined intimate issues with social or political issues, treating them with irony, humor, and distancing.
• In general, their work reflects a pessimistic and skeptical outlook.

This newest trend represented the most innovative reaction against social realism. Key figures include Leopoldo María Panero, Ana María Moix, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Pere Gimferrer, Guillermo Carnero, and Vicente Molina Foix.